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It has been a good year for Tom Maher.
In his first season at the helm of Bulleen's WNBL side, his charges are heading into the penultimate round of the regular season as the team to beat.
The Boomers have only dropped one game so far this season, leaving them with an unassailable lead on top of the ladder and a guaranteed home final.
Bulleen's last two opponents will be the Dandenong Rangers and the Canberra Capitals. While the Rangers may be out of the finals race, the Capitals are on fire.
The squad is in third place on the ladder and is in the midst of an eight-match winning streak.
Maher says while Canberra will be a huge task in round 18, they can not afford to lose focus against Dandenong.
"There has been a lot of talk about Canberra next week," he said.
"It is going to be a big game in a big arena with a good crowd but we are making sure we give Dandenong their due."
While some teams find it hard to deal with the favouritism tag, Bulleen has barely missed a beat over the past 16 weeks.
Bulleen's success has ultimately been a product of hard work, decisions made before the season even began have certainly played a part.
As well as the addition of a well-renowned coach, the squad also picked up a number of new faces including Opal Liz Cambage and Jenna O'Hea.
Maher says somehow they managed to get the balance perfectly right.
"We got really lucky this season," he said.
"We have players like Jenna and Liz, who is a real emerging superstar, but then we also took in people like Rachel Jarry and Hannah Zavecz. They were both unknowns and they have been absolutely sensational.
"It really wasn't good management, it was a fluke."
Jokes aside, the season has been carefully planned by Maher and his world class team which includes assistant coaches Gary Fox and Michele Timms.
Maher says the importance of a top-of-the-table finish and home final has been a constant feature in team discussions.
"It was something we spoke about every week and was a real goal," he said.
"Every week we spoke about the points difference with other teams, where Sydney or Canberra was, and addressed it in that way throughout the season.
While the list of season positives far outweigh the negatives, Maher says there is always room for improvement.
"We showed against Bendigo we can defend," he said.
"We are not habitual defenders but if we focus really hard on our defence we will be a real force."
Bulleen will take on the Dandenong Rangers at Dandenong Basketball Stadium on Saturday February 6. The match will be televised live and exclusively on ABC1 and ABC HD Channel 20 from 1:00pm (AEDT).
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AEDT = Australian Eastern Daylight Savings Time which is 11 hours ahead of UTC (Greenwich Mean Time)
