Moses gets the big stories a week after moving!!!! Well done big fella, have they given you a call yet :)

Northerner, my first month at work includes radio and press interviews, and three trips back to Adelaide (including one court case from back in 1998). I doubt I'd have time and I also doubt they'd appreciate my veteran abilities! ;)

Jason Williams signed with the Pioneers over a week ago now. He spent the weekend in town and will be returning for Millicent's ABA challenge this weekend..... He will be permanently relocating down here for the season for the start of the SEABL season - 4th March! Lets hope he recovers well from his injuries and posts some nice number s for the Pioneers.

The local newspapers article can be seen at the Pioneers website www.bounce.to/pioneers

Pioneers have also added Dallas Jeffree from the Perth Wildcats, Chris Mason from Eastern and Derrick McDonald - son of Darryl McDonald who has been playing VBL for Bulleen!

they have plenty of local dough at the mount - does SEABL have the same cap as central ?

why don't they try a season in central for a change ?

because they would murder everyone!

No disrespect for the central conference but it is regularly proven by SEABL champs finishing higher than central equivalents at the national's!

SEABL seems to provide higher quality games due to its influx of nbl players and is well known for breeding many of the nation's top ballers.

I guess they wouldnt want to play central cause they won SEABL and national titles in 03' and have been extremerly competitve for many years.

As far as the SEABL's cap i am not sure..... Is there one?

No salary cap that I know of.
And yes the SEABL is in a league of it's own, the Central conference wouldn't be able to compete with them.

The best central teams would be able to compete with the SEABLE teams. Woodville, for example would have made the finals in SEABLE last year. Another example is if Forestville didn't lose Mottram and Farnam to injury in 2003, they would have been just as good if not better than Mount Gambier at the nationals that year. As it was they only lost by 12 or so to runner up team ballerat. Also in 2002 nationals, Sturt was leading eventual champion Hobart in the semis by 12 with only 3 or 4 minutes to play but choked. There are just 3 examples where our best have matched it with their best.

The difference in the 2 leagues is the depth. Last place team in the Seable would probably make Centrals finals...but that comes down to numbers and money. Bringing in this stupid salary cap in the central league hasn't done the leauge any favours, its just bringing the good teams down to the bad teams level!

Don't forget that those 2002 nationals were the sturty6ers! It all comes down to time/place/experience etc

Surely it is understood that on their day the best team in any comp could beat another...everyone has a bad day, everyone is on fire occaisionally.

Timberwolf,

Forestville would not even go close to Mt Gambier back then even with those to 2 players. The Mt Gambier team that won the Nationals few years ago would of beaten alot of NBL Teams back then. Central conference keep trying one day you might get there NOT!

frank, surely you cant be serious that mt gambier would have beaten A LOT of nbl teams....maybe they might have snuck home against new zealand, or the old titans...but they would not get close to anyone in the current top 8.....get serious...who were their guards??...bit slow for nbl level!!...their big men no match for any of the serious nbl big men...

Madam,

You are right they probably would only beat the bottom 4 Teams in the NBL.

Panther,

How do you think South is going to go this season? Where do you think you are going to finish? I think South will finish in the top 4 if they play as a team. Go South!

You idiot!

I am still at a loss as to why people "in the know" seem to Think The Pioneers have heaps of dough to splash around. They Don't. The have a small group of volunteers that have to fight and scrape to get the team on the court each week. SEABL's stupid travel plans and payment system have only hurt the club financially even more due to geographic location etc.

Due to location also it is harder to pick up NBL players, at the end of their season - ala Vic metro teams. The Club does a great job with limited resources and limited suitable employment opportunities for players outside basketball, and contrary to some beliefs you can't just live on a Pioneer's wage.

It is has been a huge coup getting Williams and Jefferee for this year.

As SEABL is regarded as the next best comp down from NBL SA should be getting behind their second best basketball team - The Pioneers.

Look forward to seeing Mozes at the games!

Road Warrior, nice to hear from ya dude. Have arrived in town for good now. Saw the lads on Saturday night against Forestville at Millicent. Dix looks to have put a few pounds on and is a little proppy on the knee, but can still play. Matt Sutton has improved out of sight and is a starter now for sure. For the Pioneers, D-Mac is his dad thru and thru (same moves, same body, same style) and will be very entertaining, Mase battled hard, but overall they looked like a team that had only trained twice up to then.

I would say that they probably haven't been on the court that much. Generally they spend the first few weeks of presason off the court, so they still may have been out of sink.

or should I say sync...

Panther, you drew a mention amongst the crowd. I threw your name around (hopefully not in vain) and they were keen to respond in saying, "Gee, it was never dull when xxxx xxxx - name removed to protect anonymity! - was on the court."

I guess that's a compliment!

[But seriously, they want you back!]

Moses, thanks for that mate. I definately enjoyed me time down in the Mount and would highly recommend it down there for anyone who has an interest in going down there to play.
Does anyone know if J Will has started training for the Pioneers yet or is his injury still effecting him?
Heard the boys were pretty light on over the weekend in Bendigo!!!
For anyone that's interested, the Pioneers are having there singlet presentation night this Friday at the Hotel International, a very good night for all, so make sure you get a ticket and head down!
I'll see you all there!!!