Thunder's 'elite ball movement' not enough to seal a final win

A game indicative of their season was how North West Thunder coach Nick Haywood described his side's disappointing eight-point loss to southern rivals, Hobart Chargers. The Coastal NBL1 South side went toe-to-toe with their play-offs bound opposition, and managed to take a six-point lead into the last term thanks to their "electric third" quarter.  But inconsistency and a lack of leadership ultimately cost them the chance to send Haywood off in style, going down 76-68 at Hobart Netball and Sports Centre.
Haywood, whose three year tenure as coach came to an end, was impressed by his side's elite skills during patches of the game but conceded it was a similar situation to weeks gone by.  "It felt like part of what happened [on Friday night] was indicative of the whole season," Haywood said.  "We put on this absolute display of elite ball movement but we're so inconsistent with it. That comes back to discipline and leadership.  There's only so many things that you can do from the sideline and we didn't have enough players willing to keep each other accountable."
With the season now over and Haywood set to embark on a new journey, he said his final job as coach of the Thunder would be to complete the end of season review with the players.  "To be fair to everyone, I'll do the right thing with our exit discussions and I'll give some honest feedback, and I'm sure I'll get some too," he said.  "It is never personal - anything that I talk to the guy about it is not about them as a person or their character, it's about their execution and behaviour.  There are guys that need to improve and change some areas of their game. As young men and players, it is whether they want to take on that advice."