WILLIAMSTOWN Wolves player-coach Dean Marnell was blunt in his assessment of the team’s performance on return to the Baseball Victoria summer league division 2 diamond in the new year.
“Pretty shabby,” he said.
The Wolves were embarrassed on their home deck, 12-2, by the ever-improving Fitzroy Lions at Greenwich Reserve on Sunday. They were out-hustled by a hungrier opponent.
Their hits were scattered against Lions starting pitcher Adam Rowe and their own pitchers gave up a load of runs.
It amounted to a disappointing start to 2013 for the Wolves.
“Our body language was disappointing,” Marnell said.
“We need to fire up. We’re really lacking that enthusiasm at the moment.
“We need to have steam coming out of our nostrils next time we take to the field.”
The Wolves are on a two-game losing streak.
It’s a slump for a team that had won 10 of its previous 12 games.
Marnell is not shocked by the dip in form, nor surprised at the timing of the losses around the festive season.
“It’s not the end of the world,” he said.
“I played in a game last year for Essendon where we got smashed 10-0 in the game after Christmas. We then went on to win the premiership.”
Marnell says the league is far too tight to sustain superiority. He points to the Lions as an example — one of the leading lights who started the summer on a bewildering five-game losing streak. They have been one of the hottest teams since.
“It’s pretty hard to be up for 22 games and finals,” Marnell said. “We’re going through what Fitzroy did in the first five games.”
The Wolves hit the road for what promises to be a tough encounter with St Kilda on Saturday.
Newport Rams, who had their game postponed at the weekend, play their first game of the new year against Chelsea at KC White Reserve on Sunday.
