Mermaids' victory a lacklustre effort: Win fails to impress coach

THE Mermaids' offence took a nosedive in Saturday night's hard-fought Big V victory against Blackburn at the Arc, with the coach labelling it a sub-standard performance. The Mermaids sent the Blackburn Vikings home with a 51-44 loss, but there was little to celebrate after the round-nine win. The Mermaids took only 27 per cent of field goals in the match, a statistic that coach Lee Primmer felt should be up around 35 to 40 per cent. "That's our worst offence for the year," he said. "We didn't have much authority and we were very lethargic. It was not a very impressive game."While the team's offence was down, a strong defensive effort by Natalie Saunders in the second half saw Viking Kendall Raby, who scored 15 points in the first half, contained to taking just three more for the rest of the game. "Nat Saunders' defence went a long way to us winning the game - we followed her in the second half," Primmer said. The Mermaids achieved their defensive aim of keeping the Vikings under 50 points. Primmer cited some mental errors in Warrnambool's preparation for the tough match. He said a lacklustre pre-match training failed to put the team in the right mindset. "A coach can only do so much," Primmer said. "It was a bit of a slog and I don't know why. Maybe because we haven't had a stadium available to train in," he said.The Mermaids face a long stretch before their next meeting, with a bye this round ahead of the long weekend. The team will miss its regular Tuesday training session in its last training break for the season. While Primmer was disappointed by the effort against Blackburn, he was not too concerned about his top side. "We'll have to tinker but I'm not hitting any panic buttons," he said.