Yep. Hope the Chargers are cashed up.

Yet they won't take Mt Gambier? Why?

I thought there was a requirement that to be in this league you must have proven to be able to field a competitive men's and women’s team.

Not sure there have ever been any southern huskies teams to prove this.

Surely must be concerns about ability to have two men’s teams at a very high standard playing out of Hobart at the same time.

Yet again another changing of the rules or"exemptions” for this competition for certain teams. Must be some furious Victorian clubs who met the criteria and were refused entry. How is this BV putting their members first.

Let alone Mount gambier who I’m guessing given the silence and the fact draft Adelaide draw is out and they are not in it means that great club are now dead. What an absolute disgrace to the sport. Wouldn’t be allowed to happen in any other sport.

Whole thing just gets weirder and sadder.

Crazy outcome for Tassie. Can't see how this will possibly work. Got to be plenty of genuine basketball people feeling bemused and ignored.

BV (and BA?), continuing to display a complete lack of empathy for its members.

Been involved with the sport in Aust. for over three decades, can't remember behaviour like this.

Leadership at its worst - bullying, selfish, visionless.

Huskies took on the Chargers and did what the chargers refused to do. Negotiate.

It doesn't provide a pathway from vic league to nznbl they are playing at the same time. It could well be argued that Seabl was the same level as nznbl.

Yep its easy for vic to have them in so let’s jnot worry about our own rules we created and to exclude teams but let’s make sure the rules are still there so we can use them to justify refusing entry of other applicants.

Don’t think huskies have negotiated as opposed to chargers refusing too huskies just have a wealthy group who are obviously prepared to lose money hand over fist. They don’t need btas to help fund it.

Are fans and sponsors going put hand in pocket for both competitions?

How much money do the Southern/Hobart Huskies have? How are they going to put two competitive teams on court at the same time?

And what if they eventually get the call up to the Aussie nbl? Do they just go ahead and dump one of the existing teams? Or find the money to run three teams?

Yes, I've got no idea.

Can someone please explain how this holds together? (And why BA and BV haven't been struck down by a higher power for their horrific behaviour?)

Nzbl is a shorter season and players there get a shed load more money and it's a stronger competition.

I would imagine that the sponsors would get 3 teams now for what was the price of 2. Pretty simple.

fair bit of this "funny behind the scenes business" been going on in basketball circles hasn't there BA and BV?

Not sure all of the other teams would have been happy paying for a road trip to Tassie to play just the one game so at least this solves that problem. Pretty expensive exercise to fly two teams down there for one game.

It's all alleged. merely rumours. prove me wrong with the current rumour mill.

I am not sure Mt Gambier are gone.

So the Huskies will pay some pretty big bucks to put a strong team on the court in NZ..

while at the same time paying some still fairly big bucks to put a team on the court in the VSEL.

THATS - 2 playing lists with imports and some better Aussie players,

2 sets of coaches and support staff,

2 sets of training and playing venue costs,

2 lots of travel costs,

What have I missed?

Sorry, 3 lots of everything if you factor in a women's team!

While at the same time still harbouring the ambition of breaking into the Aussie nbl as soon as Larry will let them?

Then what? Just dump the Hobart squad?

Please, someone who actually knows what they are up to, please explain to me what is their plan and how they are going to pay for it all?

(They do understand that Tassie is just a fairly small - but very pretty - island, with a population of around half a million?)

from Huskies facebook




Southern Huskies Basketball
In response to the events of the last week we have compiled a list of questions we have been asked and our responses:

1. What the heck is going on down there?

Due to an ongoing dispute with Basketball Tasmania the Hobart Chargers withdrew their application to play in the Victorian-managed Senior Elite league and suspended operations. The withdrawal would have meant that second-tier elite basketball would have been missing for the 2019 season for both Men and Women and most likely never have returned. We were approached by Basketball Tasmania and asked if we would consider applying for the position in the league for both men and women's teams and allowing the continuing development of basketball in Tasmania. After much deliberation we decided that we would be able to fulfill the obligations and sustainably run an elite level team setup and the Hobart Huskies were decided upon as the team name. Basketball Victoria announced our membership of the Victorian-managed Senior Elite League on December 16th.

2. Did the Southern Huskies have any involvement in the decision to put Charger’s operations into voluntary recession?

As David Bartlett said many times in his interviews and press conferences, the decision to suspend the Chargers had nothing to do with the Southern Huskies. The issues between the Chargers and Basketball Tasmania were exactly that. We had no influence or input into the decision making process of the Hobart Chargers or Basketball Tasmania on this issue. We were very happy to run alongside the Chargers.

3. Why did David Bartlett choose not be part of the Huskies?

As David said in his interview he couldn’t wear two hats and devote enough time to each team. We are extremely grateful for his input and wish him all the best in the future. He was offered a role with our organisation and he has made it clear that he doesn’t want to be a part of the long term future of the Huskies but the door is always open for him.

4. Why are you allowed to run an academy but the Chargers weren’t?

The Southern Huskies are not interested in controlling the academy. We will facilitate it, we will support it and it will carry our name as a co-branded academy. We do not know what the issues for the Chargers were, that is a question for them to answer.

5. Why not reach an agreement with the Chargers to absorb the club?

We were very excited at the opportunity to work closely with Chargers and build on their experiences in training, culture and high performance etc. Due to the events of Friday 7th December the opportunity ceased to exist. We will be providing our own opportunity for all the players to continue on their sporting journey with us as they align with our basketball program headed by Anthony Stewart. There is and will be the opportunity for coaching staff, game day volunteers and anyone else who wants to to talk to us about getting involved.

6. Why won’t the Chargers work with Basketball Tasmania but the Southern Huskies will?

The dispute between Basketball Tasmania and the Hobart Chargers is exactly that, a dispute between them. It has never had anything to do with the Southern Huskies. We are willing to work with all Basketball associations to ensure the future of basketball in Tasmania.

7. What are you doing for Women’s basketball?

The Hobart Huskies will have a women’s team in the Victorian-managed Senior Elite League. Having worked through all these issues over the past week, we are very excited about the prospect of the women’s program and their competitiveness in the new league. This will now form a key part of our development pathway and the academy which will be open to all. To be perfectly clear, if the Southern Huskies had not got involved to keep Hobart in this league, there would have been no women’s program. It would have ended with the Chargers.

8. Are you receiving financial assistance from Basketball Tasmania?

No. None at all. Financial assistance was never ever, and still hasn’t been, offered, requested or discussed.

9. When did discussions on the application to the Victorian-managed Senior Elite League begin?

Discussions began late in the afternoon of Friday the 7th December. Several hours after the Chargers publicly withdrew from the new league and after the initial approach from Basketball Tasmania that afternoon. Prior to this we had no reason to or intent on entering a team into the league. We had only spoken on the phone, for the very first time, with Basketball Tasmania the week before as protocol dictated that we needed their endorsement for the Southern Huskies to join the Sal’s NBL in New Zealand.

10. Are the Huskies under the control of Basketball Tasmania?

As a business and not an associated club under a constitution, the Southern Huskies are not under the control of Basketball Tasmania and don’t form part of that constitution. We share our Coach Anthony Stewart with Basketball Tasmania as he performs the role of General Manager - Southern Region and heads up the BTAS Huskies Academy.

11. How do the Southern Huskies meet the criteria of the new league when the Chargers felt that they could not?

It was made crystal clear to us from the first conversation that there are number issues we will need to address to comply. At the same time, we were advised that there is a twelve month grace period to work through all these things in order to best integrate into the model of the the new league. Given the time constraints, and the fact that Basketball Victoria were going to release their fixture list in December, we made a commitment to work through, in partnership with with both Victoria and Tasmania, any areas that need to be resolved.
All the clubs in the new league were given this twelve month period. This was not granted to the Southern Huskies as special treatment.

12. What does Anthony Stewart’s appointment as General Manager - Southern Region mean for the Southern Huskies?

Anthony will be heading up the BTAS Huskies Academy as part of our development pathway as well as his role as Coach of the Southern Huskies.
It will be highly beneficial for basketball in the South of the State. Anthony is an dedicated fan, ex-player and title-winning coach and his desire for the basketball to succeed in Tasmania cannot be questioned. His plans for the development of players at all ages and levels and his own desire to coach at an elite level will help to ensure the Southern Huskies and Basketball Tasmania are on the pathway to success.

13. Are you still aiming for the Australian NBL?

Yes absolutely, our main target is to get the Southern Huskies to the Australian NBL. This is a large project and one that we are constantly moving towards in a sustainable timeline for all parties.

^^ What is the long term (next 4 years) future for this team and the NZ NBL team assuming the Huskies get in to the NBL in the next 2 years? Running 4 teams (add the women's team) is a big ask.

Thanks for the info.

Can only wish them good luck. Hope the $$ don't run out.

Ahhh Reality the Huskies negative Nancy.
They have answered all the questions here and more in fact yet you go on with all the speculation that cant really be answered here.
Let's hope the Huskies are taking notes and bv ensuring no one from the Chargers management is allowed anywhere the Huskies.
The Nbl is a 2020 thing and all the Huskies need to keep on doing is winning like they are doing right now.

Why are you blokes having a pissing contest on a public forum about what I would suggest generally in the business world is sensitive information. Maybe grow up.

I bet they wish they hadn't committed to the NZ NBL now.

"I bet they wish they hadn't committed to the NZ NBL now."

I think they'd love it, if you look at basketball in this part of the world there's NBL as tier 1, NZNBL as tier 2 and the Vic league will be the next tier down, they've got great stepping stones in place now.

All this accounts to parents will be charged more for programs that Btas run.
Stewart was employed by Btas just after they tried the cash grab off T.I.S.
He left after 2 months.
Now back and don't be surprised Radford not assistant coach.

Anon 074 has it spot on.

If any parent speaks up your child is out.

Many good business and community people have tried to get on Tas board, but only puppets employed.

#246 #248 who's kids missed out on State Teams, and instead of realising the lack of ability, blame the system.

I’m sure the board is full of responsible and intelligent people, because if you get the wrong type of people you end up where the Chargers are now, extinct!

Would the Chargers now try to regroup and go into Big V?

Stewart left btas after "2 months" because he wasn't allowed to coach and work for btas. yet another Ill informed comment based on no facts at all. Like most of the comments here.

#246 Radford as assistant? You intimate that Stewart is a better coach. He left after 2 months because his previous employer made him an offer he couldn't refuse.

Unbelievable, unnecessary, unfair, utterly stupid.

Just some of the words to describe the actions and their outcomes arising from the trio of trechary (BA, BV and some seabl backstabbing clubs).

And this doesn't even cover what's gone on down in staid old Tassie.

Would love to hear from someone with a comprehensive knowledge of the motivations and plotting underlying this debacle.

BA - what the hell are you doing? Where is your leadership, your integrity and your voice?

Long gone why do you think there is no seabl.

Because the Victorian clubs didn't like the way ba were running it and Seabl clubs asked for league to be returned to clubs to run as had been done for 30 plus years. But ba said no, we won’t run it and neither will you we are shutting it down.

yes. why wont someone ask Bartlett why he refused to negotiate with McCoy.
someone should also ask for a copy of the balance sheet at it is now.
Why was the no bad debts column not on the books presented at the AGM.
So many questions.

There are plenty of people here with real knowledge of the situation. Most others either are guessing or gave an agenda.

#390 Correct, and that knowledge just shows what a fantastic job the Chargers did of masking all the real reasons they are not moving forward. It's very hard to hide the truth in a small city like Hobart. It's quite easy to fool the fan base, but you cant fool those inside the Basketball community.

Here's a timeline:

- The Huskies and BTAS reached agreement on junior devt and talent pathways in the south
- Chargers received an MoU for entry into the Vic league that would preclude them from involvement in the talent pathway, making it very difficult for them to be feasible
- The Chargers learned about the Huskies and BTAS discussions
- Seeing the writing on the wall, the Chargers walked rather than die a slow death
- The Huskies/BTAS deal is announced and the Huskies are immediately admitted to the Vic league

Great story. Absolutely no truth in it. Go write a fantasy book. you will make Miloions from all the gullible conspiracy theorists in here.
Cant wait to see all the Huskies detractors at Huskies games.Hypocrites one and all.

Who's detracting from the Huskies?

Summed up very well 454.

Huskies will still be supported bu
T will be interesting how it all pans out.

454 has his hand on it.
If what's he sees as the truth why doesn't he mention that the Chargers didnt tell th ed ir members at the regent AGM this fanciful stuff?
Oh that's right its bullshit.