Having officially unveiled their 2018/19 premiership banner, the Pirates fell agonisingly short against the side they defeated in the grand final last year, losing to Mildura by five points on Saturday night.
A dominant 23-point game from Riley Clarke as well as strong support from Matt Kellett would not be enough to get the side over the line.
The result would only be worse the following day.
The Pirates suffered a 24-point loss at the hands of the Bendigo Braves, with five opposition players getting into double digits on the score sheet.
Pirates coach Leo Tenace said it was a disappointing weekend.
“It was definitely rough,” he said.
“The loss against Mildura was a tough one to take because we weren't able to finish well. Overall our game wasn't bad, we played well on the defensive end on both days but we simply weren't able to make our shots.
“On Saturday night we made five baskets from three while Mildura made 10. We missed a lot of our shots from the stripe as well. It's a case of getting these things right will give us a far better outcome.”
While the loss on Sunday was far heavier, Tenace said there were clear positives from the game.
“Keeping a side like Bendigo to around the 70 point mark is something I'm really happy with,” he said.
“They're a good side, they will be hard to beat, so being able to keep their score low shows we have a lot of positives on the defensive end. For us, 50 is too low. It's all a case of improving our finishing, of being able to spread their defense a bit more and get into better positions for shots.
“We've got a few weeks before our next game, we will do a lot of work on cleaning up our shooting and look for improvement when we return.”
Across the same two days, the Lady Pirates slumped to a 0-3 record after a 32-point loss on Saturday night to Maryborough and a 42-point loss on Sunday to Bendigo.
Zara Pearson put up 20 points across the weekend, while 10 from Remy Day on Saturday night and 16 from Georgie Eishold on Sunday were notable scoring performances.
Coach Lisa Baker said that while the results were far from ideal, there was a lot to be taken out of the game.
“We definitely have a long way to go,” she said.
“But it's the reality of a new team. We have a lot of girls who have never played together, it takes time for them to mesh and get used to being teammates. It's going to happen, we are hoping to see them continue to progress in coming weeks.”
Bakers held high praise for a number of her players across the weekend's games.
“Remy Day was amazing on Saturday night,” she said.
“She did everything we needed from her, she shot well and performed all across the court.
“We got really strong performances out of Zara and Georgie as well, and a few other players showed some really good signs. As that starts to come together, we should see a lot of improvement.”
Unlike the men's side, the Lady Pirates won't have long to wait, as they take on Swan Hill on Friday night.
“There are a lot of families making the trip as part of the tournament that weekend, we should have some really good support which will hopefully be huge for the team.”
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