I reiterate this is alleged and i understand due process must be afforded/innocent until proven guilty.

the nz herald lists the alleged players ages..not hard to work out who was involved.

Sounds really serious!

they appear in court in new plymouth on wednesday. if you read the eye witness reports (only their side of the story reported) the attacks were pretty vicious. if true will have wider impact than just on the southland sharks.

Benny A doesnt play for Southland. Wasnt involved.

Although only three players have been charged, O'Leary alleged ''virtually the whole team'' got involved.

Southland Sharka FB page has removed the ability for users to write posts and comment on their page.

The other issue is the Breakers player - boy that will affect him. And by how the Breakers treated Anthony, they don't take wrongdoing lightly.

Club had a right not to let them in - so already things dont look good

Not flash at all, and will have very serious consequences for at least one player, who threw the first punch.

Here's some more info on the events and some comments from the NBL board chairman:

http://nzhoops.co.nz/sharks-trio-arrested-new-plymouth/

http://nzhoops.co.nz/nbl-chairman-sharks/

Yeah, could well be extremely damaging to a professional player, depending on the severity of any penalty..

Previously at the Breakers, Anthony had been suspended following a DUI and later being hungover at training. Webster was cut (later signed back) and banned for a year after drug testing positive twice.

Where do you rank the alleged behaviour alongside those past acts?

It depends on how it plays out in the courts I think, but the Breaker in question didn't throw the first punch - the guy who did is in serious trouble.

Having said that, it still may be common assault he is charged with, and it'll surely rule him out of contention for the Tall Blacks at the World Cup - I think his clean history may mean he's not definitely cut by the Breakers but it'll be a close-come thing I reckon.

The charge is punishable by a prison term not exceeding 3 years.

You can bet your bottom dollar there will be no prison terms (NZ judiciary takes a very weak approach) - unless there are more severe charges i.e. GBH.

But it is a very serious offence nonetheless. The charge is considerably more severe than a common assault charge (which is in line with the kicking of patrons heads).

IMO, were talking about conduct that goes above and beyond 'turning up hungover to practice' or eve a DUI.

Thoughts?

Agree, it is a terrible look and an awful offence. The question is the role each player played in the attack, so the punishments may be a sliding scale. Until the courts or police reveal that, we don't know whether the Breaker in question was kicking people's heads in, or merely in amongst the rest.

Either way, it's not good, but if it's on the lower scale he may be able to keep his contract, rather than be kicked out all together/receive a tough sentence.

NB: provocation is not a defense in NZ.

Even if the Breakers player didn't throw the first punch, he can still be convicted of the charge of assault with intent to injure (which is what ALL 3 were charged with).

Id imagine the three of them did some serious things to be the guys singled out from a whole team.

They didnt get let in, the bouncer would have been in his right to use reasonable force to remove them. They have no grounds - will be tough to convice the court that some 6"7 dudes were acting in SD (in any case the force used by thr bouncers and the club managers was necessary and reasonable and they had grounds to do so).

But I will let the judicial process play out as I am cautious about pre determined thinking

A Corey Webster'esque ban for a year would be a good signal to all that te Breakers are serious about maintaining high public standards (which they have done so consistently to date).

Yeah the excuse from the players is that the bouncers goaded them into fighting, and then they whined to the police after they lost the fight.

Obviously that'll never fly. To clarify the first punch thing - one Sharks player started it, and then everyone came in from everywhere. Clearly the Police believe that the Breaker involved deserved to be arrested due to his role in the fight, and more arrests may be coming.

That's the closest we'll get to their take on this because the Sharks aren't making any comment, making it very tough for the media to put aside both views of the story

The facts don't look like great reading for the organisation:

- Team gets come from behind win on buzzer beater - leads to the celebatory nature straight away

- Kicked out of other clubs in the area (the pub received word not to allow then in due to intoxication)

- One didn't have ID.

- Players were trying to flee when the Police got them (would they need to run if they were innocent?)

- No word from Southland yet

Very bad look for the Southland Sharks & the Breakers if one of their contracted players is involved.

IMO, were talking about conduct that goes above and beyond 'turning up hungover to practice' or eve a DUI.

Yep, and I'd imagine he wouldn't be too impressed. I see him as a no-tolerance type of coach.

Wow, that is terrible news, seriously bad look for the Southland outfit.

[current Breaker] will prob get diversion, fine & community work & no conviction recorded. If he already has used his diversion he can apply for a section 19 discharge without conviction.
If he's used both of those he will be convicted of assault, fined and sentenced to community service.

Mystro,

Diversion cannot be used for a charge/conviction of assault with intent to injure. The offending is simply too serious.

Same thing applies to the rules of discharge without conviction - you have to show the offence isn't that serious. Not undermining the seriousness of DUI, but athletes use a DWC for DUI. Assault with intent to injure is in a different ball-park. Courts are guided by societal reaction - given how much NZ Media and fans (and Aussie media/fans) are sick of alcohol-fuelled offending i.e. Packer , I can't imagine a DWC for the player named above would go down well.

You're talking about some serious stuff.

I know we don't rely on Australian precedent obviously - but Packer got a 2 year sentence.

Take into account NZ's weaker sentencing, but jail time is a possibility for "Player X" (The ex-Breaker)judging on what the many witnesses are saying.

There is sober witnesses coming out and saying he was basically stomping on the guys face multiple times. The charge could be upgraded to Grievous Bodily Harm on Wednesday.

He'll have a good lawyer who will bargain the charge down with the police prosecuter.
It is common to charge someone initially with a serious charge and later downgrade it if they plead guilty. His otherwise clean record, community service and the fact he is a young role model will all come into account.
The courts won't throw him under a bus or make an example of him due to his age and record. If he was someone with a history of violence then yes I would be worried if I was him.

The current Breaker (who I have already named and who's name is all over social media in regards to this incident) will have to hope like hell that it can't be proven that he was stomping or kicking heads otherwise he will have shit show of getting the charges downgraded to common assault to which he could receive diversion or a DWC for. Otherwisw like MACDUB said, he'll face the far more serious charge of assault with intent to injure which may carry jail time (more likely to be P.D).

The ex-Breaker will be lucky gaining re-entry to the US ever again (he was there during the off-season trialling for a D-League team)

Regarding the punishment for any conviction (if that is the case), I wouldn't say the punishment itself is the most worrying thing. Instead, its the effect that the conviction could have on:

-his current Breakers contract
-his ability to travel overseas to play
-whether and what sanctions he faces from BBNZ/the ANBL (bet these will be light if convicted)
-and the shame factor

In any event, if the Judiciary wanted to show some balls and demonstrate that they are over the whole "sportsman + alcohol-fuelled violence behaviour" (like the NSW court did in the Packer case), this would be a perfect example.

Why? Because your talking about professional sportsman who are well enough known but who don't have the same status/aren't held in the same regard as other offending sportsman i.e. All Black Julian Savea.

A strict sentence against members of a semi-pro basketball team (involving professional basketball players) is going to go down better with the public than a strict sentence against an All Black. I know its a sad state of affairs.

There are aggravating factors that go against these guys:

-They were heavily intoxicated (vs. Sober bouncers/witnesses)
-They are 6"7ish - claims of Self Defence go out the window
-They were refused entry - hence they didn't have a valid reason to be in there in the first place
-They ran away down the street and hide from cops

Mystro/Macdub - legal eagles, or just gotten into your fair share of trouble yourselves? ;)

This is captivating stuff Wookiee!

It will be interesting stuff to see what the security footage shows as depending on where it was, I'm assuming that the area would have been well covered and provide proper angles just for cases where this might happen...

I wonder if it will be released to the public like a lot of the times when NRL players over here get in trouble... No doubt BBZL/Sharks will be requesting it to be able to make their own conclusions if the official punishments are light on, as surely you wouldn't have to be criminally convicted to receive a harsh punishment from the team/league...

Well, NZ Hoops mentions a 19 year old player, and there's only one player I saw on that Sharks roster who fits that age unless I missed one. If he gets done for this, that could be a big blow for the Breakers.

Why wont anyone say who is accused?

I"ll wait to Wednesday.

There is always the possibility that I could be wrong naming the guys - I highly doubt it in this case - but I am not opening myself up to any defamatory proceedings.

The pub is smack bang in the middle of the CBD (and many people walk past it/congregate outside). There is CCTV footage available.

"Mystro/Macdub - legal eagles, or just gotten into your fair share of trouble yourselves? ;)"

got in my share of trouble as a youngster unfortunately.

The former Breakers player that is suggested to be involved, I have played against socially and is a pretty decent guy and not in character from what I have seen of his behaviour.

They appear in court in New Plymouth on Wednesday.

how to ruin your basketball career
nzbl style !

at least they weren't taking any performance enhancing drugs

Player 3

Also an extremely bright talent who would have been in consideration for the Breakers DP.