Sam Bird says Severn Stars need to 'grow up' in Vitality Netball Superleague
"We've talked about taking responsibility and putting the things we're working on in training into this level of competition. We did that last week but we haven't done that this week"
Tuesday 5 March 2019 17:45, UK
Sam Bird says her Severn Stars players need to "grow up" and produce better performances in the Vitality Netball Superleague.
Coming into the game against Saracens Mavericks full of confidence after an impressive away win against Strathclyde Sirens, Stars were left frustrated as they struggled to convert in front of goal and were unable to overcome the title contenders, going down 64-46 on Monday night in front of the Sky Sports cameras.
Stars' head coach Bird said: "It was very frustrating tonight. This team needs to sort of grow up. We've talked about taking responsibility and putting the things we're working on in training into this level of competition. We did that last week, but we haven't done that this week.
I'm looking forward to Wasps because we match up quite nicely to them as a team.
"At some point, we have to stop that from happening and we have to be able to produce better performances week in, week out.
"Even though we drew the last quarter, I felt that we should have won it and then we missed an opportunity at the end. It's just about being more ruthless and recognising when we're on a roll, recognising when we're playing well in those phases of the game, and extending those as much as we can."
Stars face league leaders Wasps Netball away at the Ricoh Arena on Sunday, with centre-pass at 4pm, and Bird is hoping to give their Midlands rivals a game.
She added: "I'm looking forward to Wasps because we match up quite nicely to them as a team."
Watch more Vitality Netball Superleague action when London Pulse host Team Bath on Monday, live on Sky Sports Action and Sky Sports Mix from 7.15pm. Also, Sky Sports will be showing every game of the 2019 Vitality Netball World Cup in July.
