After bouncing around the Women's National Basketball League for the past decade, Casey Samuels is confident she's found her basketball home.
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The sweet-shooting guard will make her Spirit debut in Saturday night's season-opener against the Townsville Fire.
After previously playing for the AIS, Canberra, Sydney Uni and Townsville, Samuels made the move to Bendigo on the back of a strong relationship with Spirit coach Kennedy Kereama.
"Kennedy's style of play really suits my game and the group he has put together really intrigued me,'' Samuels said.
"I've put in a lot of extra work the last couple of years to improve my game.
"I hope to play strong and play my role in this team. I'm really looking forward to seeing what we can achieve."
Samuels will benefit from the Spirit's "green light" approach to outside shooting.
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Her three-point shooting is a strength of her game.
"Perimeter shooting is something we work on all the time and Kennedy gives us the confidence to take those shots," she said.
Samuels was a team-mate of new Spirit import Mehryn Kraker at the Rockingham Flames in the NBL1 West competition last winter.
Samuels said the Spirit fans will love the way Kraker plays.
"Mehryn is a little weapon,'' she said.
"She's physical, she can shoot the ball and she plays great defence.
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"She's so kind and treats everyone fairly. She's a genuine good person and plays her role within the team."
Saturday night's opponet the Townsville Fire are the defending WNBL champions, so Samuels and the Spirit will get a good gauge straight away as to where they sit in the pecking order.
"Townsville is always a battle whether they're the reigning champions or not,'' she said.
"We have to be confident that we've done the work and take our shots when they come.
"We need to play the tight defence that we know we can. We have a deep team and a tall and long team.
"We want to push the ball and play to our strengths."
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