'It's unprecedented': How Paul Goriss' Canberra Capitals will survive the WNBL schedule

"Wall art," the Canberra Capitals coach calls the whiteboard wallpaper he can rip down and stick on the wall again when the team moves to Cairns next week.

This is how Goriss will stay on top of the action as the Capitals look to overcome an unprecedented schedule in search of a third consecutive championship.

Canberra will play 14 regular season games in one month before the finals tip off on December 16, with all eight WNBL teams playing a condensed season in a north Queensland hub with matches in Mackay, Cairns and Townsville.

It starts with a game against Adelaide in Mackay on Wednesday. Goriss will get three days to review and plan for Sunday's clash with Townsville before chaos ensues with games on Monday and Wednesday. That's the season in a nutshell.

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So how does Goriss balance everything? The little coffee machine stashed in his suitcase certainly helps, but perhaps more important will be the concept of mindfulness.

A concept which can be developed through meditation, it is the psychological process of bringing one's attention to experiences occurring in the present moment.

It is the key pillar in Goriss' coaching mindset, and it may unlock Canberra's potential as they chase WNBL history.

"I've literally not stopped," Goriss said of his first few days in the hub.

"I need to get into a routine of doing [mindfulness training] because it's going to be super important to relax a little. Otherwise it all consumes you and you've got to take time out.

"It's not a normal season where you'd have a week to prepare, a week to review your game and prepare for the opposition. It's literally one after the other with a day off, so it's unprecedented, what we're about to do.

"I can live off a couple of hours' sleep, but I don't want to get to the end and be that tired where I can't concentrate and can't give the best version of myself.

"I'm being really aware of trying to get enough sleep and being fresh and really on task. You don't want to go into a game as a coach being tired and lethargic, you want to be sharp.

"It's going to be super important to self-check throughout all this."

Not since Adelaide in 1996 has a WNBL franchise won three consecutive championships. Seven teams have won back-to-back titles since but six have fallen short of a third. Goriss' group could break that drought but they have an enormous mountain to scale.

"It's going to be easy to bitch and complain when something might not be right on or off the court, but negativity will just drag you down," Goriss said.

"We've had four people at practice at times throughout pre-season, but it's not an excuse. We're dealt that card, that's what it is. We move on and keep getting better, the girls have really embraced that.

"We haven't made excuses when Tolo was out at the start in that first year we won, Lei [Mitchell] was out. Last year we had injuries galore.

"We move on and get on with our business. There's no room for excuses, no room for feeling sorry for ourselves. We'll play as hard as we can."

CANBERRA CAPITALS 2020 FIXTURE

All times in AEDT.

Round one: Wednesday, November 11 - Adelaide Lightning v Canberra Capitals at Mackay Stadium, 6pm.

Round one: Sunday, November 15 - Canberra Capitals v Townsville Fire at Mackay Stadium, 8pm.

Round two: Monday, November 16 - Canberra Capitals v Bendigo Spirit at Mackay Stadium, 6pm.

Round two: Wednesday, November 18 - Melbourne Boomers v Canberra Capitals at Mackay Stadium, 6pm.

Round two: Saturday, November 21 - Sydney Flames v Canberra Capitals at Cairns Pop-Up Arena, 9.30pm

Round three: Monday, November 23 - Southside Flyers v Canberra Capitals at Cairns Pop-Up Arena, 6pm.

Round three: Wednesday, November 25 - Canberra Capitals v Sydney Flames at Cairns Pop-Up Arena, 6pm.

Round three: Thursday, November 26 - Canberra Capitals v Perth Lynx at Cairns Pop-Up Arena, 7pm.

Round three: Saturday, November 28 - Bendigo Spirit v Canberra Capitals at Townsville Stadium, 7.30pm.

Round four: Tuesday, December 1 - Canberra Capitals v Melbourne Boomers at Townsville Stadium, 5pm.

Round four: Friday, December 4 - Canberra Capitals v Adelaide Lightning at Townsville Stadium, 6pm.

Round four: Sunday, December 6 - Townsville Fire v Canberra Capitals at Townsville Stadium, 6pm.

Round five: Thursday, December 10 - Perth Lynx v Canberra Capitals at Townsville Stadium, 7pm.

Round five: Saturday, December 12 - Canberra Capitals v Southside Flyers at Townsville, 5pm.