WNBL cuts Canberra Capitals season by three games

Until now the WNBL had been postponing games with the view to rescheduling them at a later date, but announced they will change that policy for the rest of the campaign on Tuesday.

They've also reduced the 2021-22 season from 21 games to 18 for each team and will use winning percentage to determine ladder position rather than wins.

The Capitals have had three WNBL games postponed so far, although they'll hopefully make one of those up in round 11 when they face the Southside Flyers at the National Convention Centre on February 17.

They were originally set to meet on January 21 in Ballarat, but the game was postponed within hours of tip off.

It means the Capitals will face the Flyers back-to-back with the pair set to meet at the convention centre on Friday as well.

The WNBL will release the rest of the fixture in two-round blocks and have brought the finals forward to March 19.

Capitals forward Mikaela Ruef starred in their win over Adelaide on Sunday - their third victory in a row.

She said the Capitals players had been doing everything they could in their own self-enforced bubble to avoid contracting COVID-19 - not just to prevent games being cancelled, but also to protect their teammates' young families.

Capitals players Kelly Wilson and Alex Bunton both have children who are too young to be vaccinated, as does assistant coach Carly Wilson.

Ruef said players at other clubs were in a similar position.

"We're doing everything we can to avoid getting infected with COVID," she said.

"Whether that's not going out to eat in restaurants or putting ourselves in positions to get it, because it's not only us players that are at risk of contracting it.

"We have mothers on our team with unvaccinated children so it's very dangerous for them to come home with COVID.

"We're doing as much as we can to not get it and the league's doing as much as they can to not spread it amongst teams either."

Capitals coach Paul Goriss was full of praise for the sacrifices his players were making and the protocols put in place by their club doctor.

He also said their WNBL rivals were starting to sit up and take notice of the competition powerhouse following their 13-point win over the Lightning on the weekend - their third on the bounce.

"There's always been the belief in this group that we can be a championship contender and the way we've played over the last two games especially ... we might have a little more respect and in other people's eyes we might be a genuine title contender," Goriss said.

"We know within ourselves we're up there with the best teams in the league."

The Capitals are wary of the reigning champion Flyers, despite having only won three games this season.

He pointed to the raft of international talent in the Southside line-up.

"When you look at their talent, they have Opals galore on their group - Rocci, Jenna O'Hea, Kristy Wallace, Abby Bishop's playing really well, they bring Rachel Jarry, a former Opal, off the bench," he said.

"They've got depth, they've got good size, they've got experience, they've got speed. They've had some really tough close losses ... they're a dangerous team."

WNBL ROUND 10

Saturday: Canberra Capitals v Southside Flyers at the National Convention Centre, 7.30pm.