The Townsville Crocodiles might have missed the NBL playoffs for the 2014-15 season and had to compete with the least money and resources in the league, but the group assembled by coach Shawn Dennis is capable of replicating the success of the Cairns Taipans.
With a team consisting of the NBL’s Most Valuable Player Brian Conklin, the Most Improved Player Todd Blanchfield and an exciting group of young players including Mitch Norton, Mirko Djeric and Clint Steindl, the Crocs have the core there to do something similar to what the Taipans have.
The Crocs and Taipans might be fierce North Queensland NBL rivals on the basketball court, but the Snakes have now provided the blueprint for the Crocodiles if they firstly want to survive off the court, and then flourish on it.
Only four years after almost going under, the Cairns community has rallied behind its team to ensure it is financially stable. Coach Aaron Fearne has rebuilt a team that played in the 2011 grand final to now be there again in 2014 after a historic campaign.
Cairns will play New Zealand with home-court advantage in the best of three NBL grand final series starting Friday night, but what the Taipans have done is shown that it is possible for a side to still survive and flourish without the money and resources of other clubs.
Of the four teams that missed the playoffs this season, the Crocs were by far the most impressive with Melbourne United imploding despite a terrific ensemble of talent. The Sydney Kings were unable to remain competitive through injuries and the Wollongong Hawks were unable to find ways to win and now have subsequently been placed into voluntary administration.
Things aren’t looking great for the Crocodiles off the court, with the club moving from the Townsville Entertainment Centre this season to the much-smaller RSL Stadium. They have struggled to attract crowds of 2000 people, and at times only just over 1000.
The financial position of the club remains in jeopardy but provided that is sorted and they find a way to remain afloat including a likely return to their spiritual home of The Swamp next season, the pieces are there in the team that could really go places.
Cairns kept the majority of its squad together over the past three years and added imports Scottie Wilbekin and Torrey Craig. The result was the minor premiership and now a grand final.
With Conklin and Blanchfield, they are two players should be a team that the Crocs bank their on-court future around.
Then with young point guards Norton and Djeric, improving shooting guard Steindl and the athletically gifted Leon Henry, then that is a core group that would only need some handy additions to be a real contender in the 2015-16 season.
It would be nice to keep veterans Steve Markovic, Jacob Holmes and Greg Vanderjagt around to lead the young players and then that would leave an import centre, similar to Mickell Gladness from this year, and Townsville will have a strong unit.
Coach Dennis has the background and experience to pull the team together as well having been a former long-term player in the league, head coach with the Newcastle Falcons, a successful stint in New Zealand and assistant coach roles in the NBL at Wollongong and Perth.
He has had two years at the Crocs and despite the financial instability, has established a core group that could deliver next season if allowed to.
“Hopefully we will soon get the OK that we will continue on as a club and there is a few decisions that need to be made by different groups. Then it’s a matter of just going through our review process and making sure we look at where we need to get better,” Dennis said.
“It’s no secret that we want to keep the core of this group together and I don’t think it needs that many changes at all. We played the first half of the season really with one and-a-half point guards because Stevie was going through his situation.
“The guys like playing with each other and they’ve all expressed that they want to stay together so we’ve just got to try and make it happen if we can.”
Dennis knows that there will be plenty of competition to keep Conklin and Blanchfield, but is confident the pull of staying with the Crocs to see what they have built through will keep them together.
Blanchfield has emerged as one of the most exciting local players in the NBL and somebody who without question can seriously contend for spots in Boomers squads going forward.
He would like to stay with Townsville and reward them for the loyalty they have shown him.
“Townsville’s been good to me. I’ve been here since I was 17 years old so staying longer and building something is something I want to do,” Blanchfield said.
“The big thing is going to be trying to keep this team together and carrying on our momentum. We obviously played our best basketball late this season and everyone is sort of getting to know each other that little bit better, and we were all out there just playing and not thinking.
“Our best basketball showed that we were able to rack up three wins in-a-row and then go into Perth full of confidence for our last game, but not quite get the win.”
Dennis has taken note of what Cairns has been able to achieve without the resources of Perth, New Zealand and Melbourne, and is happy to now use that as the blueprint in Townsville.
“Cairns have proven that by keeping that core together for the last few years and then brought in the right pieces this year and we want to do the same sort of thing,” Dennis said.
“The thing I love about it is that they have built that team just like we have to now. We both have less money than some of the other teams in this competition so we have to build it, and provide an environment that guys want to play in.
“I’m sure it’s no secret that plenty of teams are going to chase Conklin and Blanchfield, so we have to make it an environment they want to stay in and be part of.”
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