WARRNAMBOOL Seahawks star Xavier Johnson-Blount says the adversity his team has overcome this season will hold it in good stead as it starts to prime for finals.
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With just six rounds remaining in the regular season, the Seahawks are in third spot on Terrill conference ladder despite having had their fair share of injury concerns to experienced players.
Johnson-Blount nearly found himself added to the list after landing awkward while attempting a rebound and sustaining an injury to his right ankle and foot. But the American import says after rigorously going through physiotherapy and rehab this week, he should be right to take the court at Geelong Arena on Sunday.
“I’ll just probably do some more rehab today and tomorrow,” he told The Standard on Friday.
The Seahawks will be battling to stay in the top three, with the fourth-placed Supercats behind the Seahawks on percentage alone.
But Johnson-Blount backed in the Seahawks to rise to the occasion, particularly with captain Alex Gynes playing his second game back from a back injury.
“It helps so much (having Gynes back),” he said. “It’s like having another playing coach on the court. He helps the team out a lot, in so many ways. Trust me, I have a smile on my face every time I see him walk in the gym.”
Johnson-Blount lauded the efforts of the young Seahawks team, but noted Gynes’ return eased the pressure on a lot of players, himself included.
“They’ve done an amazing job up to this point,” he said. “I like playing with the young guys. They listen so well, they want to get better, they compete really well.
“Adding some more knowledge and some more wisdom to the court (with Gynes’ return) will help them.”
The Seahawks are striving to replicate their feats from 2016 as they strive to defend their Big V division one men’s championship.
Johnson-Blount said the team was timing its run well in the lead-up to finals.
“I think we’re in a great position, to be honest,” he said.
“We’ve met a lot of adversity early in the season, which is good. Even though we were 5-0 in the beginning, there were a lot of games we were losing we had to fight back in.
“We faced a lot of problems, we’ve overcome that adversity.
“I’m confident in us. I have high expectations for us.”