
“Last year was just amazing”
August 25, 2017
Not a lot of people thought that Rhein-Neckar Lรถwen would be able to defend their 2016 league title, but the team from Mannheim did so in impressive fashion. But after losing a key players like Uwe Gensheimer (2016), and Kim Ekdahl du Rietz (2017) future success may be more difficult to achieve. I talked to right-wing Patrick Groetzki about the challenges ahead.
Looking back at last year, how do you rate this very successful season?
PG: It already feels so long ago, but it was just amazing. ย Of course you always start with some expectations, but it was outstanding to repeat the success of the year before. ย Many people didn’t believe we could do it again – it ย may have helped us a little bit in the end.
So, you were not convinced either?
PG: Sure, we were. We wanted to defend the title and focused on it. ย I think it all worked out to our advantage.
There were some question marks prior to last season, as Uwe Gensheimer had left the club. ย Andy Schmid and you had to carry more of a load than before and I think you made a step forward – do you agree?
PG: I agree with you for the most part. ย We probably played better handball in the year before. ย Right before Christmas we had some sub par performances, but we still succeeded in these matches. ย We weren’t satisfied, but following the World championship in January we were able to find the old rhythm. ย I think, when talking about “carrying the load”, we have to mention Alexander Petterson, who is now 37 years old. ย And obviously Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson – he had an amazing shooting percentage. ย What he did in his first year back with the team was phenomenal.ย We also benefited from a great goalkeeping tandem, a fantastic atmosphere within the team and the fact that our back-court players were already playing together for five years. ย All of it was a big plus for us.
Still, Kim Ekdahl du Rietz called your team a bunch of losers after you were eliminated from the Champions League. ย Did this statement make any sense?
PG: I don’t think he really meant it like it came across. ย He probably was very frustrated and he may have referred to the (German Cup ed.) FINAL 4, in Hamburg. ย But I guess he changed his mind after all.
You got some new players, it will be quite a challenge to repeat the success in 2018?
PG: Yes, it will be. We hope that Mads Mensah will take a step forward – additional time on the court should make him feel more comfortable. ย Our game will change a little bit because Momir Rnic is more of a shooter – he has an incredible hard shot, as he already showed during pre-season. ย He can be a real weapon for us, but we have to use him properly. ย But I wouldn’t call it too much of a change when we have to integrate only one new player in the starting line-up. Maybe other teams talk about it all the time but we don’t. ย It will be a challenge to replace Kim, but we have some interesting new additions, Jerry Tollbring, for example. ย I can’t even remember him missing a shot during pre-season. ย He will be a great player helping us going forward.
After winning the league title twice has the focus changed a bit more towards the Champions League?
PG: No, not really. ย But after being eliminated in the round of Last-16 three years in a row it would be nice to make it to the quarterfinal or even the FINAL4. ย After all the matches in the group stage, and putting in a lot of energy, it’s a shame to lose the games that really matter. ย We want to go further this year.
Do you think that’s possible while trying to win the German championship again?
PG: I think so. ย Last year we did a great job of resting some players in the Champions League. ย Our starters had more energy in the Bundesliga, because they didn’t play twice a week. ย It’s not only good for your body, but for your mind as well. ย In January, I really felt the difference, because by that time you usually have played around 40 games. But this time it were “only” 32 matches or so. ย You do feel the difference. ย So, I believe it’s possible to win the league title and go far in the Champions League. ย The new rule, allowing 16 players on the roster, will also help us resting more players in games that we are winning by a high margin.