GRAND finalist Warrnambool Seahawks are confident their depth will cover forward Curtis Ryan when they face the tallest side in the Big V division one competition on the big stage.
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US college commitments will force the home-grown talent to miss the Seahawks’ best-of-three championship tilt against Casey Cavaliers.
Ryan was influential in their six-point preliminary final win over Melton Thoroughbreds on Saturday, reeling in nine rebounds from 35 minutes’ court time, before flying to America for his second year at the University of Alaska Anchorage.
He played 12 games, half with a hand injury, in 2017, averaging nine points and nine boards.
Warrnambool coach Matt Alexander said the 204-centimetre Ryan would be a loss but emphasised the Seahawks had their own strengths the Cavaliers would have to limit.
“We have the most elite guards in the competition, so they’ll have to defend us as well,” he said.
Alexander said the Seahawks believed their bench, including little-used Portland-based teenager Brock Carter, could come on and have an impact against the Cavaliers.
“We might trial a few things – go big, go small – to try and find out what’s the best combo,” he said.
“We played against them away and were down 18 points and played the bench for the majority of the second half and only lost by two points.”
Alexander drove to Melbourne to watch and scout the Cavaliers’ upset preliminary final win over top-placed Blackburn Vikings on Sunday.
Blackburn suffered one defeat in the regular season – to Warrnambool in round one.
Warrnambool recorded a two-point loss to Casey in the home and away season before grinding out a nine-point qualifying final triumph at the Arc.
The two sides, which finished the regular season second and third respectively, will meet in the best-of-three grand final series across the next fortnight.
Casey will play host on Sunday afternoon before Warrnambool will put its unblemished home-court record to the test in game two and, if needed, game three the following weekend.
Alexander is happy for the series’ opener to be played on a Sunday afternoon rather than the usual Saturday night time slot.
Warrnambool is chasing is first Big V men’s title in 18 years and last made a grand final series in 2011 with a roster which featured current-day players Nathan Sobey, Tim Gainey and Dion Smith.