Victoria heads into 2013 after surprising some teams in 2012. They looked to have the bronze medal all wrapped up last year until a late surge from the Wheelkings meant Victoria had to settle for fourth. They’d be disappointed with the way their 2012 finished, despite a good season and will look to build in 2013.

 

There must be something in the water in Victoria because they continue to produce quality low pointers year after year, Dylan Alcott and Jannik Blair quickly come to mind. Although they will head into this season without Alcott; they’ve got another talented young prospect in Marcus Chiavelli. Built perfectly for wheelchair basketball, Chiavelli will see more minutes this year due to Alcott’s absence and will only benefit from spending more time on court with Rollers’ star Jannik Blair.

 

Victoria is rock solid in the low point department but, like Adelaide, may run into problems with some of the bigger, taller teams. Daniel Del Toso has been Victoria’s main avenue to goal in recent years and I don’t see that changing in 2013. He is a big tall 3.5 and will get plenty of opportunity inside the keyway to score points with quality lows creating the space for him, but for Victoria to win games he will need help and Michael D’Amelio will be the man to do it.

 

Look for D’Amelio to play big minutes this year and make significant contributions on the score board. He pushes his chair extremely well and will hurt teams with his range. I am predicting a career best year in the NWBL for D’Amelio.

 

Victoria is probably just one dominant high pointer away from being a real championship contender, but never the less will find themselves in the hunt for a play-off spot come seasons end. Only time will tell if they can improve on last year’s fourth place finish but there’s no reason why they won’t be able to finish season 2013 with a medal around their necks.

 

2013 Team Victoria:

 

Paul Laidlaw (4.5)
Ben Hodgens (4.0)
Daniel Del Toso (3.5)
David King (3.5)
Leanne Del Toso (3.5)
Josh Allison (1.0)
James Leonard (3.0)
Campbell Message (2.5)
Michael D’Amelio (2.0)
Marcus Chiavelli (1.0)
Jannik Blair (1.0)
Andrew Flavell (1.0)

Head Coach: Andrew Flavell
Assistant Coach/Manager: Brett Paxton

 

Written by Joel Mackenzie