The Canberra Capitals will travel more than 10,000 kilometres in eight days and their captain says it has been horrible so far, with three legs of the journey still to come.
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It has been flight after flight for the squad, as they stare down their second away game in five days against fourth-placed Adelaide Lightning, after returning only days ago to Canberra from Perth.
Captain Kelsey Griffin did not beat around the bush when discussing the toll it had had on her team.
"It's been pretty horrible if I'm being honest," she said.
"We didn't get to bed till 3am Canberra time when we flew into Perth and had the quick turnaround, and we got home late Sunday night, had Monday/Tuesday and left really early [Wednesday] morning. So it definitely hasn't been easy.
"As a league players have been asked to do more this season than ever before and our welfare probably hasn't been at the forefront. But it speaks to, I suppose the want of players in this league to play, compete, show up, and to keep pushing things forward, and so I'm so impressed by my group."
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One silver lining for the side will be the return of two key players. Capitals' stalwarts Alex Bunton and Kelly Wilson will be back on court, after missing the Capitals' 96-80 win over Perth Lynx on Saturday due to WA border requirements for children.
The Lightning and Capitals have taken one game each this season, however, the South Australian side is coming off three losses.
Coach Paul Goriss said the Perth win was not a one off and he believed his side could go all the way this season.
"While it might have been surprising to many people about our result in Perth, maybe the last couple of results where we got hammered by Perth weren't a true reflection of where this team has come and how much they've grown," he said.
"I don't think anybody kind of predicted us, way back at the start of the season, of even making the top four. So I know that Kelsey has been a direct leader in that but I think we've also got some great other leaders in Kelly Wilson, Britt Smart, Britt Sykes has been phenomenal and I think that that leadership group and that experience has really been able to hold the playing group together."
The side's travel journey does not end when they get off the plane from Adelaide. They will have less than 48 hours to make their way back to the capital and down to Melbourne Sports Centre for their final regular season game against second-placed Melbourne Boomers on Saturday.
Isobel Cootes
Sports reporter at The Canberra Times. A Novocastrian with a passion for football (or soccer as they call it in the capital) via The Examiner and The Port Lincoln Times.
Sports reporter at The Canberra Times. A Novocastrian with a passion for football (or soccer as they call it in the capital) via The Examiner and The Port Lincoln Times.
