BENDIGO Spirit coach Bernie Harrower has never been one to sugar coat things.
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Despite his side having little to gain from Saturday night's final round clash with the Logan Thunder, Harrower has high expectations of his side, particularly his bench players.
With Kristi Harrower (ankle) and Elyse Penaluna (knee) missing from Saturday night's game, Maddie Garrick, Chantella Perera, Jane Chalmers and Tessa Lavey will see extra court time.
"Competition for game time in our team is tough,'' Harrower said.
"Players who perform on Saturday night will show me that they're in form and ready to go for the finals.
"If they don't play well this week, they might not get to play next week.
"It's tough, but that's the way it is with the depth we have.
"It was great to see our bench players do well last week in two tough games.
"I'm expecting the same on Saturday night."
Kristi Harrower's ankle continues to improve, but she was never a realistic chance of playing on Saturday night.
"If it was a play-off game Kristi could probably play,'' Bernie Harrower said.
"It was a pretty bad sprain and she's getting daily treatment on it. It's all about getting right for the semi-final."
Kelly Wilson trained strongly on Thursday night and she'll return to the team after suffering a head knock in last Saturday night's win over Dandenong.
Logan (6-16) has had a season to forget, but Bernie Harrower expects the Thunder to come out all guns blazing in their final match of the season.
"Logan has nothing to lose, they will be relaxed, no training to worry about next week... it's all a one-off game where they can throw everything at us,'' Harrower said.
"They've had a difficult year and I'm sure they'd love to finish on a high."