Breakers’ return put on hold
The Breakers are looking at a mid to late-May New Zealand homecoming in the Australian National Basketball League, which has evidently not gone down too well with several players in the Kiwi squad.
The NBL is set to make an announcement on the next raft of games for the Covid-affected 2021 season today, and Stuff understands it will include New Zealand home games for the Breakers, but not until the back part of May.
There had been considerable anticipation and no little excitement among the Breakers when the trans-Tasman travel bubble was announced last week to get under way from April 19. It removed the requirement for managed isolation between the two countries, and opened up the prospect of the Breakers, Warriors and Phoenix all playing home games in their Australian leagues.
‘‘The prospect of jumping back across the ditch and seeing family and fiends for us is an extremely exciting thought,’’ said senior player and captain Tom Abercrombie when the travel bubble was announced.
The roving Kiwi outfit has been in Australia since December and has thus far played all its NBL games on the road. It has effectively been a team with no home over that time, moving from base to base throughout a season that has also seen it have to deal with injuries and defections.
The Breakers have lost six of their last seven games to plummet to a 5-13 record, which places them ahead of just the 5-17 Cairns Taipans in the nine-team league.
‘‘It hasn’t been easy with injuries, with moving around hotel to hotel. I’m thrilled for the guys,’’ said owner and CEO Matt Walsh when the green light was given for unrestricted trans-Tasman travel. ‘‘I can’t imagine what it’s going to feel like for them to hug their families, and their kids.’’
Stuff understands the NBL’s announcement will confirm Breakers home games at either Spark Arena or their alternate Auckland venue on the North Shore, but not until late May.
At present the league has unveiled its schedule only as far as round 15 which takes it through until Monday, April 26 when the Breakers host the Adelaide 36ers in a ‘home’ game to be played in Launceston, Tasmania.
The league has scheduled the Kiwi club to play four of its next five games at ‘home’ in Tasmania, including last night’s match against the Perth Wildcats. Then the Brisbane Bullets will visit on Friday, they head to the Perth Wildcats on Sunday, and then return to Launceston for games against Cairns (April 23) and Adelaide (April 26).
It is also understood news of the New Zealand return not being until mid to late-May has not gone down well with senior Breakers players or club officials.
The players feel the league should have done more to get them home earlier after being away from family and friends for five months already. Abercrombie, for one, hasn’t seen his wife and three children since they abandoned their plan to be based with the team in Melbourne and returned to New Zealand in late-January.
Senior player Rob Loe, whose wife Kelly had their first baby in December, has recently rejoined the team after returning home in mid-February for ‘‘personal reasons’’.
Breakers staffers had also hoped for an earlier return for true home games and are understood to be miffed the league has left it as late as they have. Walsh was not available for comment until the NBL released its next schedule.