Canberra Capitals coach Carrie Graf said she would step aside if she didn't feel she was the right person to end the club's biggest losing streak in 20 years.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Graf's position and the playing squad are set to come under scrutiny as the Capitals launch a wide-ranging review into their operations on and off the court with the team anchored to the bottom of the WNBL ladder.
The seven-time championship-winning coach is in the final year of her contract and admits her future is unclear beyond the end of the 2015-16 campaign.
But the former Australian Opals mentor insists she still has the fire to turn the Capitals around and desperately wants to end the team's nine-match losing streak.
Former Capitals general manager Lachlan Searle will take charge of the review, enlisting the help of Cricket Australia performance boss Pat Howard and inviting Graf and her players to have significant input to the process.
"Coaching is a contract job, I'm contracted until the end of the season. I'm sure part of the review will be the coaching staff and the playing group ... that's what reviews are all about," Graf said.
"We'll see what happens after that. What I can do now is work hard with the under-manned and under-sized playing group to get some wins."
Asked if she was confident she would be a part of the Capitals next year, Graf said: "I've been a part of this program for a long, long time. I've also been in jobs where you're not the person to move it forward.
"If that comes out of the review well that comes out. But for me, right now it's the task at hand. We want the program positioned to move forward and build a new dynasty. I think I can have great input to the review.
"If I am [the person to take it forward] then I'll give it everything I've got. That's what I've got to do right now."
The Capitals play the Melbourne Boomers at Tuggeranong on Saturday night and are trying to avoid matching the longest losing streak in the club's proud history.
They have been hit by injuries, retirements and player unavailability this season, contributing to an alarming slide down the ladder.
Graf said she wouldn't abandon the team in the middle of the season and Capitals management said it would not make changes to the program until the end of the campaign.
Star forward Abby Bishop said the review was not a distraction and the players needed to turn things around on the court.
Bishop welcomed the review and hoped the players would be given a chance to voice their concerns.
Senior players met with University of Canberra union boss Joe Roff last month.
"We are heading downhill a little bit and that's why it's been put in place and we want to get back to where we were - the Capitals were the greatest team in the WNBL on and off the court," Bishop said.
"I think the players should have a say and I'm sure we will. We're the ones on the court, we don't know about stuff behind the scenes. But we need a say because we care about this program. The club is trying to get on top of this."
The Capitals haven't lost 10 games in a row since the 1996-97 season, but the team showed signs of improvement against Townsville last weekend.
Graf says now is the right time for the review and "desperately needed by the club". It is hoped four-time Olympian Lauren Jackson will be fit to play after the Christmas break.
"[The poor start to the season] hasn't been through lack of effort. If I thought the answer was to put in one of our assistant coaches or go find someone, I'd recommend that," Graf said.
"When there's a coaching change it gets an immediate one or two wins. But I don't think I'm the only issue here, it's a group effort to turn it around. How can we battle through this to get a couple of Ws.
"I'm a competitor just like the players are. I still think I've got something to give coaching this program."
