The Adelaide Thunderbirds' dismal Super Netball season has continued with a 24-point home thrashing - their biggest of the year - by the Queensland Firebirds.
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After seven rounds, Adelaide have won just two quarters to sit on the bottom of the ladder by a whopping 22 points.
The Firebirds claimed their fourth win for the season, taking the first and second quarters by three and four points respectively before cruising home to record a 66-42 victory before a near-capacity crowd.
Following the game, Thunderbirds coach Dan Ryan said the loss was "unacceptable".
"That was our biggest losing margin and it should not be happening half way through the season after showing so much progress in the previous month," he said.
The difference between the sides was most obvious in the goal circle, with star teenager Shimona Nelson shooting for the Thunderbirds against Queensland goal keeper and former Australian Diamonds Captain Laura Geitz.
A usually effective Nelson shot 23 from just 25 attempts, while at the other end, fellow import Romelda Aiken made 46 from 61.
Ryan said Nelson's performance had a flow-on affect on the team as a whole.
"She lost her confidence, the players around her lost their confidence in giving her the ball and, at the end result, she proved ineffective as our target goaler because of that," he said after the game.
"It's a learning (curve) for her that she needs to be a little bit stronger in her positioning and not be too timid to want to move off the hold too early."
The Thunderbirds again struggled to get the ball down the court and failed to capitalise on turnovers, while a mid-court of Caitlyn Nevins, Mahalia Cassidy and Gabi Simpson worked hard for the Firebirds.
Ryan put the loss down to a poor training week after last week's bye, and said his message after the game was markedly different to the ones delivered after other losses.
"The previous six weeks it was around pulling out those positives because we could see the building blocks taking place," he said.
"I challenged the guys to have a reflection about what their approach to the game was throughout the whole week because that didn't show progress, that showed a lack of ability to keep moving forward and a lack of resilience when we really needed it the most."
Australian Associated Press
