Thunder's Trent Copeland credits a change in mindset and the captaincy of David Warner as the difference this BBL season
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A winning attitude and David Warner's leadership have been behind Sydney Thunder's resurgence this season, believes the club's general manager Trent Copeland.
The Thunder had enjoyed a strong run in making the finals four seasons in a row until KFC BBL|13, where they not only missed finals but dropped to last in the standings with just one win in a disappointing campaign.
Copeland joined the club during the off season and immediately set himself the task of understanding where things had gone wrong.
"When I came into the four walls and started immersing myself, listening, asking questions, there was an undertone of the Sixers on the east side winning titles and us as a competitive community club," Copeland told The Surge.
"What I set out to achieve is that on our best day, no one can beat us.
"I want to set up the Thunder so that our upside is as good as anyone and on our best day we can win the tournament. We have an ambition that we are here to win, we are here to compete, and we don't let go of a contest until it is done."
That change in mindset has the Thunder guaranteed of a return to finals action this season following their win over Perth Scorchers last Monday.
Copeland said Warner taking over the captaincy and being available for the full tournament has had a huge impact on the Thunder's success this season, with the veteran opener currently leading the tournament run scoring.
Most Runs
BBL|14 BKT Golden Bat
| Player | Total |
|---|---|
1
David Warner
D Warner
|
328 |
|
2
Cooper Connolly
C Connolly
|
312 |
|
3
Mitchell Owen
M Owen
|
270 |
|
4
Marcus Stoinis
M Stoinis
|
264 |
|
5
Alex Ross
A Ross
|
250 |
|
6
Max Bryant
M Bryant
|
247 |
|
7
Ben Duckett
B Duckett
|
243 |
|
8
Matthew Renshaw
M Renshaw
|
240 |
"This is the first time we've had a full tournament in the BBL with David Warner ... how many runs would he score was my first priority," Copeland said.
"Outside of that, the competitiveness via his captaincy and leaning into players like Tanveer Sangha and Hugh Weibgen, taking him under his wing and teaching him what batting is all about, that's the real gold that I see."
Warner has one last hurdle this season and that is to take back bragging rights in the Sydney Smash where he will come up against his former Australian teammate Steve Smith who has been in scintillating form in his two BBL|14 matches.
A win for the Thunder would also mean locking in a top two spot and a double chance where they take on Hobart Hurricanes in the Qualifier.
KFC BBL|14 standings
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
HUR
|
9 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.135 | 0 | 15 |
|
2
SIX
|
9 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0.156 | 0 | 13 |
|
3
THU
|
9 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0.34 | 0 | 11 |
|
4
STA
|
9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -0.073 | 0 | 8 |
|
5
HEA
|
9 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 1 | -0.794 | 0 | 7 |
|
6
STR
|
9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.067 | 0 | 6 |
|
7
SCO
|
9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.057 | 0 | 6 |
|
8
REN
|
9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.033 | 0 | 6 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points