Tuatara’s fate in hands of ABL and its clubs

There’s a price the Tuatara will have to pay for skipping this season. Question is how high will that price be? David Long reports.

THE Auckland Tuatarawill have to convince the Australian Baseball League and the other clubs that they deserve to stay in the league next season.

The good news is that there’s a desire from them to have a professional baseball team in Auckland, but the bad news is that the Tuatara might have to change their ways.

The Tuatara board confirmed last week that theywouldn’t take part in the upcoming season, because of the costs involved in spending the entire campaign in Australia.

The ABL responded with a scathing attack on the club, accusing it of mismanagement, saying it had broken its licensing agreement and giving 28 days to show why it should remain in theABL.

Stuff spoke to Adam Dobb, chief executive and owner of the Sydney Blue Sox, Adelaide Giants general manager Nathan Davison and ABL CEO Cam Vale to gauge feelings towards the Tuatara.

While there was some sympathy from the clubs, there’s also frustration for the team pulling out on the week the draw for the seasonwas supposed to be announced.

‘‘I agree with the reasonswhy Auckland havewithdrawn,’’ Dobb said. ‘‘I guess the issue for the majority of people who’ve been involvedwith this process is that numerous deadlines were offered and at no stage was withdrawing an option.

‘‘In one hand I appreciate the effort to wait to the 11th hour, but obviously, it’s turned out as ugly as it has, because they have waited so long and it’s disrupted the league.

‘‘Covid was always going to be an issue, travelling to Australia was always going to be probable. These risks identified by the Tuatara have been known for a long time.

‘‘But is New Zealand valuable for baseball in Australia? Yes it is.

‘‘Will we see Auckland back in the ABL, I hope so.’’

Because the Tuatara pulled out, it caused the collapse of the ABL’s International conference, so Brisbane and Adelaide have had to be merged into the Australian conferencewith four other teams, causing further disruption to the league.

‘‘I can’t recall a time in any sport where pulling out close to the season has made it easier,’’ Davison said. ‘‘It’s certainly made it a difficult task and it would have been a difficult decision [by the Tuatara], but it has made it more difficult for everyone.

‘‘The benefits of having New Zealand in far outweigh having them out, so the motivation was there to have them in the competition.

‘‘They’ve made fantastic strides within the country, with their facility and their broadcasting deal.

‘‘For everything that goes alongwith being in the ABL, the boxeswere being ticked, so let’s hope it’s just on pause.’’

The Tuatara board consulted its lawyers on Friday to get advice on the ABL saying it had breached its licence.

Over this 28-day period the Tuatara will need to demonstrate they are prepared to toe the line and while there are obvious frustrations over pulling out at short notice, it

Last season’s MVP Jared Walker, top, was hoping to come back for a second season with the Tuatara. Left: Fans flocked to see the Tuatara play last season and CEO Regan Wood, below, will need to convince the ABL and its clubs that they should be back next season.

appears there are other issues the ABL want resolved.

‘‘There are some aspects that are confidential, but at the end of that process we want to see the decision they’ve made fully explained,’’ Vale said.

‘‘Wewant to see some confidential business matters addressed and we clearly need to see a plan and direction for the future that would have the unanimous support of Baseball Australia and the other ABL teams to continue.

‘‘So the ball is in the court of the board and the management.

‘‘This is a family dispute, they can be emotional, they can be challenging, but there’s a way forward and it’s certainly now with Auckland Tuatara’s board and management to address what needs to be addressed and we can move forward from there.’’

Whether the ABL will be looking for changes to the Tuatara board or ownership structure is unknown, but it’s likely something will have to happen.

Everyone involved in baseball inAustraliawas impressed by what the Tuatara did last season, growing their crowds from a couple of hundred to 4200, reaching the semifinals and getting media interest that other clubs can only dream of.

There doesn’t appear to be a desire for there not to be a professional baseball team in Auckland, but there could be feeling that there should be consequences for the Tuatara’s action.

‘‘Year one for them was definitely going to be difficult, they were new,’’ Dobb said.

‘‘They had issues with their ground [McLeod Park], but the effort that was put in by their staff in year onewas admirable and they saw fruits of their labour in year twowith more hard work.

‘‘They fielded a better team, were more successful on and off the field, the stadium was beautiful, the fans embraced them and it’s a shame they’re not in it this year.

‘‘But we all had deadlines we had to commit to and meet and unfortunately ‘‘Aucklandmissed theirs by a number of days and I’m not sure what the consequences aremoving forward, but I would love to see Auckland Tuatara stay in the league again next year. With what ownership model that is, I’m not sure.’’

The benefits of having New Zealand in far outweigh having them out.’ ADELAIDE GIANTS GENERAL MANAGER NATHAN DAVISON