Toowoomba Mountaineers women’s coach Matt Cox confident ahead of crucial final round of season

The Toowoomba Mountaineers women’s side has the chance to write a new chapter in its history this weekend as it chases a second successive QSL finals berth. See what the chance to make finals means to coach Matt Cox.

Toowoomba Mountaineers coach Matt Cox. Picture: Kevin Farmer

After going a decade in the wilderness without making a playoffs series, the Toowoomba Mountaineers women’s side is within touching distance of a second finals berth in as many years.

Mountaineers coach Matt Cox has been at the helm since 2021 and has helped steer the women’s side into a contending team in recent years.

After a stunning ascent, Cox was proud of the way his side has risen its potential in the last two years.

“I am definitely proud of the group,” he said.

“We have put together a really talented team this year and it is a great mix of those that have served the club for a long time and have a lot of experience in playing at this level and we are grateful to have those kinds of players back.

“But then we are also seeing the emergence of the next generation of players as well, so I think it is a really exciting time.

“I have believed in this women’s team right from day dot and even when I took over them three or four years ago, I definitely thought we had the talent here to be a finals team, it was just about building our habits to be better.

“I think the group has done a fantastic job in being able to uphold those values and I am really proud of them.”

However, there is no room for complacency as the Mountaineers face two tough clashes in a home double-header for the final round of the season.

With just one win needed to ensure a playoffs spot, Cox has full faith in his side to get the job done this weekend.

Hannah Lennan for the Toowoomba Mountaineers. Picture: Kevin Farmer

“(I’m) really excited for the opportunity,” he said.

“(The) season’s still alive and we’re heading into two home games to finish off the season where we’ve got some really good crowds and really good support this season so it’s definitely really exciting.

“We had that really good patch through the middle of the season where we were getting different people playing well in different games and we’d made defence a real focus for us and we were able to showcase the effort on the defensive end really, really well.”

However, while the prospect of claiming just one win from their final two games may seem simple, it is set to be anything but easy.

The Mountaineers take on a determined Southern Districts Spartans side on Saturday night - who are still in with a slim shot of making finals, before taking on the undefeated Brisbane Capitals on Sunday.

“It’s not going to be easy, Spartans have everything on the line for them where they need two wins this weekend to be able to sneak into any kind of hope of a finals berth and we just need one win to get over the line,” Cox said.

“Unfortunately we have left it a little bit late in our season but we definitely have a lot of confidence and optimism in our group.

“We feel we deserve to be there at the pointy end of the season and we’ve shown that at our best, we can definitely be a finals team that can win this comp.

“We’ve got to show that this weekend and we are ready and hungry for it ... we know the scout, we know what we need to do against those guys and we are prepared to execute it.”

Cox said that even if they end up requiring a win against the Capitals to seal a finals berth, he has full faith his side can cause a late-season boilover.

Mia Stower in action for the Toowoomba Mountaineers. Picture: Kevin Farmer

“We’ve seen it before, just because a team goes undefeated throughout a season, doesn’t necessarily mean that they are any better than any other team or they can’t be beaten on their night,” he said.

“I think we showed that against Brisbane last time, we just had an awful third quarter and that was through an error in some of our adjustments and we didn’t have Mia (Stower).

“So just because Brisbane are undefeated, doesn’t mean that they scare us by any means but we definitely don’t want to be leaving it up to the last game of the season to be deciding our fate.

“We want to go out with full confidence and give it our best shot on Saturday night to wrap it up because we don’t want to give Spartans any hope of being in the playoffs either.”

The Mountaineers women’s clash with the Spartans will tip-off at Clive Berghofer Arena at 5pm on Saturday, before taking on the Capitals at the same venue at 10am on Sunday.