The Thunderbirds have a solid week of preparation leading up to the game as they saw the return of their Commonwealth Games players.

“Chelsea Pitman, Fiona Fowler and Bongi Msomi all transitioned into Adelaide Thunderbirds life seamlessly and there’s a good energy amongst the group, everyone is ready to go," Ryan told Adelaide Thunderbirds.
 
“We had a closed match-day dress rehearsal on Wednesday, which was extremely valuable to fine tune the game plan, practice the new rules again and simulate the game day experience for all the new faces in the team,” he said.
 

 

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There will be five players making their debut for the Thunderbird including captain Leana de Bruin, Kaitlyn Bryce, Abigail Latu-Meafou, Bongi Msomi and Shimona Nelson with Msomi, Nelson and de Bruin also making their Super Netball debut.

The Thunderbirds, who finished two points below West Coast, are expecting a tough opening match with Jamaican goal scorer Jhaniele Fowler under the post but are up to the challenge.
 
“They are going to be extremely hard to beat every single week this season and they’ve already been earmarked as a title contender,” Ryan said.
 
“They’ll certainly start the game as hot favourites and should be one of the top teams this season, but we just can’t wait to get out there and compete damn hard.
 
“We know the challenge is a big one, but we love that, we are up for it and I know the players can’t wait to show everyone what we can do.”