Breakers owner

Absentee New Zealand Breakers owner Matt Walsh has confirmed the high-flying Kiwi Australian NBL club is not up for sale, and that he hopes to return soon to take a more hands-on role over the business end of the season.

Walsh’s Breakers have made a rip-roaring start to the 2022-23 season, overcoming a series of gruelling travel and schedule challenges to win eight of their first 11 games and emerge hot on the heels of defending champions the Sydney Kings (8-2) at the pointy end of the standings.

But it has been notable that majority owner Walsh, who heads a US-based consortium that bought the club from the Blackwells in 2018, has been absent through this campaign, remaining stateside for his club’s first normal home-based season since 2019-20.

Walsh, in a zoom call with New Zealand media yesterday, rejected rumours that he has put the club up for sale, and that he would not be returning to the country.

‘‘Absolutely not,’’ Walsh told Stuff when asked if the club was on the market. ‘‘We’re committed. I don’t know how our ownership group could show further commit