How Townsville plans to bounce back against Geelong

After branding their own performance as “dreadful”, Townsville Fire don’t have to wait long to fire back at Geelong Venom with a blockbuster rematch locked in for Friday night. 

In the 88-71 upset, Geelong were near flawless, playing their most complete game of the season. The Venom shot an impressive 46 percent from the field, had four players reach double-double figures and delivered the ultimate late punch late as Jaz Shelley launched a jaw-dropping half-court bomb that silenced the Fire faithful. 

Closing Round 12 in Townsville, Round 13 will open with the reverse fixture at the Venom host Townsville. Same teams. Same match up. Very different stakes. 

In their previous 15 outings, on average Townsville allowed opposing teams 70.9 points per game. In the first half alone, they surrendered 56 points and Head Coach Shannon Seebohm did not mince his words post-game. 

“We didn’t play any defence in the first half… We had schemes we wanted to execute against [Mackenzie] Holmes (who had 30 points), and we didn’t execute those very well,” he said post-game. 

Seebohm explained Townsville’s offence never found its usual rhythm, stalling early in possessions rather than flowing freely - a usual hallmark of the Fire at their best.

After being widely regarded as the team to beat for most of 2025, adversity has arrived for Townsville at a crucial time. The season-ending knee injury to Lauren Cox and Courtney Woods’ recent return from a hamstring issue have tested the Fire’s depth and continuity.

Three of Townsville’s four losses this season have now come since December 14, including this stumble against Geelong. And with the pain of last season’s Grand Final defeat still lingering, the urgency couldn’t be clearer.

American star Lucy Olsen is under no illusion of what tonight’s game represents.

“It’s nice that we play them again in a quick turnaround, a little bit of a revenge game. We all want to play right now,” Olsen said.

Seebohm echoed the sentiment, calling the rematch a defining moment for his team. 

“We need to play much better if we have any chance of beating them on Friday. It’s definitely [a test of adversity], it will be good to see what response we have,” he said.

“The first half was dreadful, putting it nicely. But I think we did a better job in the second half defensively. But still not where we want to be offensively.”

Can Townsville steady the ship on Friday night? Tune in live from 5:30pm AEDT live on ESPN2. 

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