B L A H to the NBL!

Would have really liked to see Erik have a run

Agreed. Would have been good to see him get a run...Damn NBL.

Considering he has been training all year and on the bench giving support

Rules are rules. Maybe your " favourite " coach should have given him a run before now. I don't want your team beating us on Wed night but good luck against the Hawks.

Lol G to say "rules are rules" is a bit ignorant, hes a rookie player that sits on the bench every game and supports the team from the bench.
Yeh its essentually Ninnis's fault but the NBL could have a bit more forsight for situations like this regarding rookie players.

I'm as big a fan of Burdon's as anyone, but this is the club's fault for not having him on the roster in the same way as Garlepp is. What would Burdon have cost dollar wise and towards the points cap, stuff all I would think?

Plus the guy isn't a rookie. He's played NBL games across three previous seasons already.

And to correct the initial post we will be tackling Townsville with eight players not nine, as there is really no reason to think that Ninnis will play Molitor.

Nor should Ninnis play Molitor.

WOW if they have changed the rules to read that way that is seriously stupid.

The rule used to read something along the lines of a player must play a minimum of 8 games to be eligible for finals, but there didn't used to be anything about not being able to play a guy for a few games fully knowing he would be ineligible for finals, what about guys who have rode the pine all season or do the count for sitting on the end of a bench if they havn't logged minutes are they then allowed to play in the last 7 games?

I suppose it's there so a team just outside the 4 can't sign a gun who's in between jobs just for a few weeks to get them in the playoffs. A little bit of common sense needs to be used here though.

The NBL is an interesting position here. True top level national leagues don't normally have eligibility rules like this. Eg: the AFL has no such rule.

However, for the NBL two things can skew finals runs and finals - late recruitment of a superstar import (easily managed) and the possibility of a stud Aussie being brought back to play for the team.

The latter should be managed with points cap, or better still, perhaps the NBL should force each club to nominate four fringe players (aussie only and less than 50 games played) who can fill in late in the season but sit outside cap and outside $.

AFL is only played in one country so it's unlikely they will pick up a player from America or Europe late in the year!
It's common sense. What if your team was on the brink of finals and Cairns brought in Nathan Jawai to play one game because he was home for a week? You lose and don't make finals? What if Eric does play and actually catch fire (we have all seen it locally) and hits a gmae winner, knocking Wollongong out of the playoffs...I don't think they would be happy.
The rules are there and need to be followed.

Player 23. I agree.

Agree with the above points BUT we are talking about a guy who has been in the squad this season, surely the rule should make allowances for training players etc.

What happens if 3 or 4 players get injured for one of the top four sides, they cant bring in their 11th, 12th guys to make up numbers?

eric burdon to mount gambier pioneers??