ALEXANDRIA (FIBA Oceania Championship for Women/FIBA World Championship for Women) - Brendan Joyce has been in charge of the Australian women for a couple of months now, time enough to get the message across to all national team hopefuls of what mindset he wants the Opals to have whenever they go into battle.
Joyce is now getting down to the nitty gritty of the team's preparations for next month's FIBA Oceania Championship for Women against the New Zealand Tall Ferns.
The winner of the series will clinch a spot in the FIBA World Championship for Women in Turkey, and Australia will start as heavy favorites against the Kiwis.
Joyce isn't taking anything for granted ahead of games with the Tall Ferns, though, and that is something he'll be letting the players in the 16-strong squad know as they gather for the five-day camp in Dandenong and Ballarat.
"Put simply, we're getting down to business now," Joyce said.
"Our first two camps this year were about establishing cohesion and a style of play across a large pool of athletes, as well as entrenching those core values of what it means to be a Jayco Australian Opal.
"Those camps opened up the opportunities for a broader number of players to take part in the Opals training environment, and that has in turn created a real depth of players from which to select our final FIBA Qualifier squad.
"I'm confident that ahead of the FIBA Qualifier we'll be able to put together an exciting complement of elite international experience, rising stars starting to hit their strides and emerging talent to watch."
There is some star power in the Australia squad.
Lauren Jackson and Belinda Snell, who were leading players in the gold-medal winning 2006 FIBA World Championship for Women side and more recently won bronze at the London Olympics, are both in the preliminary group.
Australia squad for FIBA Oceania Championship for Women: Natalie Burton, Renae Camino, Cayla Francis, Laura Hodges, Natalie Hurst, Lauren Jackson, Alice Kunek, Tessa Lavey, Amy Lewis, Tess Madgen, Jennifer Screen, Belinda Snell, Marianna Tolo, Kristen Veal, Kelly Wilson and Hanna Zavecz.
