Grand Final pressure all on Ipswich?

The Gold Coast Rollers may have finished the NBL1 North season on top of the ladder, but star player Todd Blanchfield believes all the pressure is on the Ipswich Force as the pair prepare to meet in this season’s Grand Final Series tonight,

After winning last season’s title the Rollers strolled through the 2023 regular season in style. They finished the season with just two losses in 19 games – two games clear of the second-placed Logan Thunder, and four games clear of this weekend’s rivals.

They were forced to fight through Kouat Noi and USC Rip City in the Quarter Final – a task they successfully completed in a nail-biter thanks to Jason Cadee’s electric double-double – before strolling past the South West Metro Pirates in the Semi-Final.

The Force, on the other hand, defeated the Cairns Marlins by seven points in their Quarter Final, before edging past Logan to set up this weekend’s titan best-of-three series.

Ipswich came back from a 13-point quarter-time deficit against the Thunder to earn its place in the title decider, and Blanchfield says the win has proven what the Force’s greatest strength is.

“I think, by far, Ipswich have on paper the most talented team. Credit to them for putting a group together like that. They’ve done really well all year even if they’ve dropped some games they probably would have liked to come away with through the season,” Blanchfield told NBL Media.

“I feel like against Logan that was the difference in the end, they just had guys who were able to take tough shots down the stretch and put them ahead, and in the end, they were able to take the game despite a sloppy start.

“I think individual scout and the ability to defend them as a team and as a cohesive unit is probably going to be the key this weekend."

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That individual talent Blanchfield alludes to is spearheaded by Olympic bronze medal winner Nathan Sobey, two-time NBL champion Jaylin Galloway, Adelaide 36er Kyrin Galloway, and South Sudanese international representative Deng Deng.

The Rollers are no slouches themselves though. Blanchfield’s addition to the side mid-season has added an extra shooting torch that has consistently caught fire all season, while Cadee backed up last season’s Grand Final MVP win with a regular season MVP crown this year. Gold Coast also boasts the likes of NBL23 development player Cameron Thew and scoring machine Preston Le Gassick.

It’s the presence of those talented names, Blanchfield says, that is putting added pressure on the Force ahead of the Grand Final.

“We had training on Tuesday night, and it was a really good session, there was no ‘we’ve got a Grand Final this weekend and the pressure is on us'." 

"Gold Coast won it last year, so the target’s been on the back all year,” he said.

"Every time you win a championship and come into a new season that’s going to be the level and you’re going to get everyone’s best shot.

“On top of that it is nice to finish on top and get home-court advantage, that’s nice, but at the same time you read things and hear people talk and I feel like, if anything, the pressure is not really on us. Everyone’s expecting Ipswich is going to win this one 2-0. They think the talent’s going to be too much, the majority of stuff I’ve read, that’s what it says.

"For me, I feel like the pressure is on them still."

The Rollers are currently unbeaten since Round 3, with their last defeat coming at the hands of Logan back in mid-April – before Blanchfield joined the team. Their only other loss for the season came against this weekend’s opponent just one week prior, where Ipswich’s star quartet combined for 91 of the Force’s 108 points.

Blanchfield may have only joined the side mid-season following the departure of Tanner Krebs, but he says he was in constant discussions with head coach Anthony Petrie about the potential of suiting up for the Rollers this season.

“I was talking to ‘Peach’ (Petrie) pretty much from the start of the season,” he said.

“It made the transition a little bit easier in the way I was talking with Peach, it wasn’t something that happened within a week. There were discussions over a probably six-to-eight-week period.

"Coming into the group at the Rollers team, I understand exactly what Jason says when he loves coming back here and playing in the off-season for Gold Coast. The group is so much fun to be around.“

I came in a little late and everyone welcomed me with open arms, and that made it easy to come in.“

Realistically I hadn’t properly played a game of basketball before I came here in a few months. For them to welcome me in making that transition a lot easier. As the weeks go on you gain guys’ trust and they started to trust in me to help win some games this year.”

Watch the NBL1 North Grand Final Series starting tonight, from 7:30pm AEST Live & Free via Kayo Freebies.