Amida chaos
The amount of obstacles we’ve had to overcome is something you’d expect in five seasons, not one.’ DILLON BOUCHER
the Webster assault charges that still haven’t been heard in court, and which cast a major midseason pall over the club.
‘‘Every time he’d walk in my office and close the door I knew there was bad news coming,’’ said Boucher of the increasingly frequent visits from Henare. ‘‘We just processed everything, looked at it holistically and made decisions on what was going to be best for the team.
‘‘The week of our last game he came in, closed the door and said GETTY IMAGES ‘have you heard about Mika?’ and my heart just sunk. Our playoff life was on the line and that’s never a good first line. Then you find out Mika was in hospital. But he wasn’t freaked out. There was a calmness we had in all our meetings. Every moment was about what we needed to do to put this team in the best place to succeed.’’
The dynamic between Boucher and Henare is intriguing.
Both are club greats (with their retired numbers hanging in the rafters) now entrusted with shaping the future of the organisation. Both are capable, passionate and dedicated men. Both, says Boucher, put their friendship on hold to get through what they’ve had to.
‘‘We went to the NBL awards dinner in Melbourne and roomed together for the first time since we were players. We sat back and reflected on the season and talked again as friends, and we were just really proud of each other and what we’ve done. How every time something got thrown at us, we didn’t freak out, we just dealt with it.’’
Boucher doesn’t do regrets. But if had one big lesson for the year, it came early on when he was so engrossed in the on-court team, he forgot about the group he leads in the front office.
‘‘They needed a leader too and I got a wakeup call with some feedback from the group. I realised I needed to ensure I’m putting my team in the best position to succeed as well.’’
The work never stops. He has seven pieces in place for next year already, including outstanding young prospects Finn Delany and Shea Ili, and three imports, Rob Loe and Jordan Ngatai off contract.
Reviews are being done. One will involve Webster. Boucher is adamant the club has been ‘‘straight up’’ about the player’s injuries and that they weren’t a smokescreen for his off-court issues.
He can’t say whether the player will return to take up a mutual option year on his contract, but indicates a decision is imminent. ‘‘He’s a fantastic player, and from what I understand now his body is good.
‘‘When everything is taken into account, we will do what’s best for the team and Corey is going do what’s best for himself.’’
Just one more big decision for the GM. Close that office door.