Harrower conceded the Spirit’s pre-season training had been sluggish, with injuries and unavailability of Opals squad members disrupting their progress.

“The level of intensity that we’ve show in pre-season so far is not at the level I would expect,’’ Harrower said ahead of Thursday night’s season launch at the Town Hall.

“We’ve had Kelly Wilson out injured and the Opals players away, so we’ve missed some of the players that bring the intensity to training.

“We only have one week to the season opener, so we need to find that intensity quickly.”

At the Spring Shield the Spirit plays Adelaide on Friday night, Sydney Uni on Saturday night and a final match on Sunday morning.

While the pre-season title counts for little, Harrower wants to win.

“You always want to win games because it helps you develop that winning culture that you’re striving for,’’ he said.

“At the end of the day the main thing for us is making sure we get our style of play in place.”

Belinda Snell, Gabe Richards and Tessa Lavey have returned from Turkey after helping the Opals win a bronze medal at the world championships.

The star trio will play limited minutes this weekend.

“They won’t play all three games, but they will play at some stage over the weekend,’’ Harrower said.

“The last thing I want to do is overload them with work after their trip.

“We’ll be very careful with what we ask them to do.”

Harrower said the Spring Shield fixture suited the Spirit.

“Adelaide and Sydney both have new coaches and both will run different plays to what they have in the past, so it gives us a great opportunity to have a look at them,’’ Harrower said.

Adelaide’s new coach is former Bendigo Spirit chairman and assistant coach Jeremi Moule.

“Jeremi and I shared some success at SEABL and WNBL level and now he gets the opportunity to be a head coach himself.

“It’s a good reward for all the hard work he’s put in over the years.”

Draw for the Sping Shield to be played at Bendigo Stadium: 

Friday - 5pm: Townsville Fire v Canberra Capitals crt 6. 5.30pm: Sydney Uni Flames v Melbourne Boomers show court. 7pm: West Coast Waves v Dandenong Rangers crt 6. 7.30pm: Adelaide Lightning v Bendigo Spirit show court.

Saturday - 4pm: Melbourne Boomers v West Coast Waves crt 6. 5pm: Canberra Capitals v Adelaide Lightning show court. 6pm: Dandenong Rangers v Townsville Fire crt 6. 7pm: Bendigo Spirit v Sydney Uni show court.

Sunday - 9.30am: 7 v 8 crt 6. 10am: 3 v 4 show court. 11.30am 5 v 6 crt 6. Noon: 1 v 2 show court.

Tickets available at Bendigo Stadium.