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Geraldton Buccaneers show they can do it tough against the Mandurah Magic

Lachlan AllenGeraldton Guardian
The Buccs' Malik Meunier dunks it.
Camera IconThe Buccs' Malik Meunier dunks it. Credit: Barry Mitchell/Snapaction/RegionalHUB

Geraldton Buccaneers coach Dayle Joseph has praised his side’s depth following their 111-85 win over the Mandurah Magic in the NBL1 West last weekend.

The undermanned Buccs had to do without captain Mat Wundenberg, import Cameron Coleman as well as Liam Hunt for the round seven clash.

While many sides would struggle with three key players out, it was business as usual for the Buccs as Mathiang Muo stepped up scoring 35 points while Ryan Blanchett added 26.

Joseph said it was one of Blanchett’s best performances for the Buccs since joining from Kalamunda.

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“Ryan’s been matching up against Matt and Liam regularly at training, and having to get physical and get knocked around a little bit, which is not really his game style,” he said.

“I think we saw the fruits of Ryan going through that process in the training sessions that he was able to produce the goods for us, too.”

The Buccs fielded a youthful bench with 16-year-old Robert Griechen and 17-year-old Tomas Dobson both making contributions.

Joseph said this depth was a result of their hard work at training.

“The depth is something that’s growing a little bit more, guys are taking advantage of opportunities, and producing,” he said.

“I think that’s coming from our training, we compete really hard against each other at training.

“One of the things I like to say is, we have to be better every week and you’ve got to walk away from every training session knowing that you’ve got a little bit better than you were the day before.”

The Buccs will now face the Eastern Suns — who currently sit second bottom on the ladder — in round eight at Activewest Stadium on Saturday night.

The Buccs are set to be boosted by the return of their star trio, however, Joseph said they won’t be taking the Suns lightly.

“One of those things, you don’t want to underestimate a team at the bottom at this time of the season,” he said.

“So it’d be easy to sort of take our foot off the pedal a little bit, but we will be focusing on them.

“Their season hasn’t gone to plan and there’s nothing like a road trip to Geraldton to get their team together and go home with a win, that’s what they’ll be planning on.”

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