Henare breaks his silence
Tall Blacks coach Paul Henare has broken his silence on his shock departure from the Breakers.
Henare is now totally focusing on the Tall Blacks role after his surprise decision not to extend his involvement with the Breakers when talks between he and the club’s new owners broke down at the end of the 2017-18 season.
Henare has previously refused to speak on the reasons behind his departure, but broke that silence in an interview on Trackside radio on Thursday morning.
Though Henare notably declined to lay blame at anyone’s feet, he made it clear that the new US-based ownership of the club were taking the organisation in a direction he could not get behind.
Already over this off-season Tall Blacks big men Mika Vukona and Rob Loe have been jettisoned, and the under-contract Alex Pledger is set to join them after being requested to speak to other clubs.
Under Henare the club had become fully Kiwi outside its import positions; but next season it is set to have more non-New Zealand players on the roster than those from these shores.
‘‘Through discussions, going through a process of where the club was going, I just decided it wasn’t for me,’’ Henare told Trackside radio.
Asked if the direction the new owners were intent on taking the club didn’t sit well with him, Henare’s reply was telling.
‘‘Since they’ve come in they’ve made a few changes as well in the playing roster. They’ve got their ideas and direction about which way they want to do, as they have that right to do.
‘‘It’s all good. I’m happy with where I’m at and everything that’s going on, so all the best to them.’’
Henare said it had been a tough decision initially to sever ties with a club he has had such a long association with, but he has cherished the time to spend with his family and concentrate on his Tall Blacks role.
His initial instinct had been to look to dive straight back into the Australian NBL, but he has decided to focus on his work with the Tall Blacks which includes two Fiba World Cup qualifying games at the end of June and further windows in September, November and next February.
‘‘I thought that was best for me, for the Tall Blacks and probably for any club team I ended up at as I’d be doing a disservice going into a new role, then buggering off three times at important stages of the season.’’
Asked if the new Breakers owners had had a problem with Tall Blacks commitments, he indicated that may have been the case.
‘‘In initial talks they said they liked the synergy ... but towards the end of conversations I got the feeling ... I don’t know whether they put more thought into the schedule, [but] I think they realised it was a busy international schedule coming up.’’
● Henare conceded he still didn’t know whether Kiwi NBA star Steven Adams would make himself available for the upcoming Fiba window that includes a game in his home town of Rotorua (February 28 v Hong Kong) and also at Spark Arena against China on July 1.
‘‘I’ve reached out to touch base, but I want to let the guy breathe a little bit, and enjoy a bit of down time,’’ he said.
But Henare admitted this short, off-season window ticked all the boxes for Adams in terms of making his Tall Blacks debut. Whangarei hosts the second round of the NZ Rally Championship this weekend with threetime winner Hayden Paddon the hot favourite.
While many drivers would be happy about just winning, Paddon is always seeking perfection. It is just two weeks since he won all 17 Special Stages of the Rally Otago and in two weeks’ time he will be back in his WRC car at Rally Portugal.
The rally also doubles as the opening round of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship which is celebrating its 30th season. Past Kiwi winners include Rod Millen
(1989 – Mazda 323 4WD), and the late Possum Bourne (1993, 1994,
2000 – Subaru). While the entry level for the past few seasons has been reduced, in the mid-nineties, this Championship was considered second only to the WRC.
This season the Kiwi pairing of Michael Young and Malcolm Read has a great chance of taking the overall title driving a Lexus
2.0 litre turbo powered Toyota Yaris 4wd. The event starts on Friday night with two Super Stages. On Saturday teams cover
150km broken into eight stages. Sunday concludes with a further eight stages and 124km. Kiwis overseas
Nick Cassidy is in the second round of the Super GT Series in Japan with Cassidy and co-driver Ryo Hirakawa the defending champions. Finishing third in the opening round was a great start and Cassidy is confident of carrying the momentum into the race, the Fuji GT 500km.
The opening round of the FIA 2018-19 FIA World Endurance Championship season starts with the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium on Sunday. Kiwi Porsche driver Earl Bamber is absent, competing in the US.
Benjamin Carrell is the online editor of nzmotorracing.co.nz