Mitch Creek and Simon Mitchell will both return to the South East Melbourne Phoenix next season.

Creek has re-signed for three years while Mitchell has signed on for one.

After making the finals in year two, the Phoenix endured a disappointing season in NBL22, but Creek and Mitchell are more motivated than ever to return to the top four.

"There were a lot of rumours going that I was signing at other clubs, but I came out and shut that down and said if I was going to be in the NBL, I was going to be at the Phoenix," Creek said.

"You always want to look at where you come from and where you are as a player; I didn't want to be one of those guys who bounced around from club to club. I want to show loyalty where it's shown to me. Tommy and the club have been amazing, so more than happy to stay here and see what we can do."

After a disappointing year, Mitchell was keen to come back and make amends.

"It's always about the grand picture of this franchise moving forward," Mitchell said.

"We had a great start to the season, but it didn’t end the way we would have liked.

“We’ve got to this point, we’ve done a review of the season now, where it worked, where it didn’t and where we need to make improvements."

Phoenix CEO Tommy Greer said he believed Mitchell was the right man to lead the Phoenix back to the finals.

"Simon is one of the hardest working coaches in the NBL, his peers respect him, and the players love playing for him," Greer said.

"As a club, we believe continuity is important, and Simon is the right man to lead the team into NBL23."

Phoenix star Ryan Broekhoff and captain Kyle Adnam supported Mitchell's re-signing.

"It's great news to hear coach Mitchell has re-signed. Having continuity will help us improve and build upon the last few seasons," Broekhoff said.

"It's fantastic to have Simon back leading the charge again. Continuing to build on the last few seasons is important and a big piece of achieving our goals as a group," Adnam said.

Earlier this month, Creek told the Herald Sun: "We communicate openly, discuss ourselves, our families, teammates, staff, we're very honest with each other. I like what he's doing. He's not perfect, but no coach is. I have full belief that he can do what's necessary for us to be successful."

He added to that support by expressing his desire to win an NBL championship with Mitchell at the helm.

"I'm excited to get back to work with Simon as head coach. When we both came to the club, we said we wanted to win a championship together, which hasn't changed," Creek said.

Good signings. Hopefully Creek has left some money to be able to bring in some other quality players and don't have to rely on Terangi and Leafa as starters.

Re-signing Simon Mitchell is a bad decision, even they know that hence the very unusual situation of a coach re-signing to just a one year deal big vote of confidence that lol

On Creek where else could he go he's a PR nightmare plus needs to get paid although I'm sure he's taken a big pay cut to get this new deal.

Where else could Creek go? lol. Are you serious? If he hadn't made his intentions known early about Phoenix there would be 9 other teams on the horn to his agent.

Which other club could Creek go to, lmao, he had a choice of all of them.

Why do you clowns think he kept saying he had a million teams to choose from? Because he didn't that's why. He was just trying to squeeze more money out of the only team he could.

And ME I know you get a chubby anytime Creek gets mentioned but you know damn well a Perth Wildcats for instance would have zero interest in a player like Creek. I doubt Adelaide would either but I'm equally sure he would have no interest in playing for GK again either.

Yeah we can all live in our own version of reality, Zodiac, coloured by our personal leanings and moral code, but any thought that Creek could only be signed by SEM is utter delusion. Need I remind you that his intention was to be a one-club player when with Adelaide and if not for Grant Kelly trying to get in the way of his NBA shot he would still be with the 36ers. That flies in the face of lack of choice being the only reason he re-signed with Phoenix. Creek didn't even bother to test free agency. He said during the season he was going back to South-East Melbourne. After an uneventful season in terms of any blow ups, and legal proceedings that led nowhere, you'd have to be out of your mind to think other teams wouldn't have been on the phone. He is clearly one of the top two Australians in the NBL. His various failings in his personal life have not made SEM any less a family friendly product. He is not known to be a locker room problem and if he has any sense he's likely 'kept his nose clean' since the controversies. Footy players are out there acting like boofheads on the regular and that has never stopped them from being appreciated for their sporting prowess and I think the situation with Creek would no different. There weren't cries of shock horror and "wont somebody PLEASE think about the children?" when his dunk made waves across the entire sporting world and became the most viewed highlight the league had ever seen. Regardless, yes, Adelaide was off the table - more his choice than anyone elses - and who knows where Perth would stand. But do you really think other teams wouldn't pony up the cash? The general public and most basketball fans have forgotten whatever accusations were made against him. There were a few boos for a few weeks and now everyone has moved on with their lives.

Mitchell is re-signed for ONLY a year a few days after we hear that Goorjian has committed elsewhere.

I wonder ....

ME,

I'm willing to bet Creek's future NBL teams interest was a lot to closer to zero than your insane all the other 9 teams stuff. Perth wouldn't touch him even on min wage you know that.

Yes, his intention was to be a one club player with the Sixers until GK did the dirty on him and put paid to all that. What that's got to with anything I have no idea? Since coming back from the US and signing that hue initial 3 year deal with SEM we all know what's happened with Creek since.

That flies in the face of lack of choice being the only reason he re-signed with Phoenix.

Hey? So because the Sixers were interested him in pre-DV allegations it means they still would be now? I highly doubt it. What if the girl decides to legally go on with it again? What if he allegedly does it again to another woman? Either of those two things happen and he becomes unemployable.

SEM have been through the PR ringer with him and survived those choppy waters and no doubt have gotten him back on a big discount too, they're taking the gamble because if they didn't they would likely be screwed.

Creek didn't even bother to test free agency.

What by waiting until after the season to re-sign when he could've done so at any point during the season? Great logic that. He waited until now because he would've been testing the FA waters behind the scene and no doubt in my mind he likely found a limited market for his services.

Footy players are out there acting like boofheads on the regular and that has never stopped them from being appreciated for their sporting prowess and I think the situation with Creek would no different.

The difference being footy stars are virtually worshipped in society they're the modern day equivalent of gladiators, Creek's a virtual no body in the grand scheme of things. He could tag along with some footy stars and I bet the girls would be asking what AFL team he plays for.

"What that's got to with anything I have no idea?"

Means when he commits to a club that's generally where he wants to stay so the Phoenix thing was likely in the same vein. I think he wants to be something of a club hero, retired jersey, and the rest of it. That's how he sees himself.


"What by waiting until after the season to re-sign when he could've done so at any point during the season? Great logic that."

He signed like, what, a day into free agency? After weeks ago stating there was no other team he wanted to play for. lol. C'mon man.

"SEM have been through the PR ringer with him and survived those choppy waters and no doubt have gotten him back on a big discount too, they're taking the gamble because if they didn't they would likely be screwed."

Have they? Other than your opinion have you any evidence they've been put through the PR ringer? I have actually never heard the argument from any media or official source that they shouldn't have retained Creek, and certainly nothing in the past year at least to that suggestion. I feel like you're superimposing your personal view on the whole league and saying that's how people are thinking.

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I am going to follow this up by saying I don't have any special affinity for Mitch Creek as a player or person. Clearly he's carried on like a gallah in his personal life, taken some drugs, and very likely hit a woman. None of those things do I celebrate or condone. However, I am a believer of the sanctity of the law as it applies to 'innocent until proven guilty', and I also understand we do not know the specifics of the situation. With the Johnny Depp/Amber Heard fiasco playing out in front of us all, it provides an excellent case study on what domestic violence can look like, and that it isn't always as simple as man bad, woman good, or "believe all women". Jumping to assume someone's guilt or innocence based on their gender alone is the meaning of sexism and only now is the light being shone on the other side of the story. What Creek did or didn't specifically do we actually do not know and it is beyond even speculating now. The world has continued to turn a year or more removed from whatever transpired. Certainly if another case were to pop up we'd all have every right to believe whatever we want about him, and you'd expect the law to come down much harder. But as it stands now, we don't know the specifics, we never will, so wishing on his downfall makes little sense to me.

We are not the legal system. The Phoenix are not the legal system. The NBL is not the legal system.

"Innocent until proven guilty" is irrelevant. The PR spin machine condemning Amber Heard is irrelevant.

But yes, it hasn't been a PR issue for the Phoenix in the slightest. There's little sign from anyone that anything ever happened. It's absolute bullshit.

Have they? Other than your opinion have you any evidence they've been put through the PR ringer?

What kind of silly shit are you saying man? Are you trying to deny there was a big media storm when Creek was first charged? Remember SEM were holding him out of games? It was rumoured that his lawyers put the hard word on the NBL to re-instate him until proven guilty so SEM started playing him again but just bringing him off the bench.

That was the PR storm. SEM have weathered that and come out the other side now, very few teams would be interested in potentially going through what SEM had to go through.

For the record I'm not 'wishing on Creek's downfall' whatsoever I don't want to see someone completely destroyed even if I think he's as guilty as sin. I'm putting all that aside and IMO trying to judge the lay of the land objectively.

You've rushed to Creek's defence from Day 1 the story first broke for whatever reason and continue to do so that's your choice but I think you're over-egging it with this 'the other 9 teams would've been banging his door down' stuff because you're fan of him and don't like the fact he innocent or not will always be tarnished with this and viewed as a potential PR nightmare in future.

As you're well aware there is a concerted effort in Aus society right now to stamp out domestic violence against women. In the 80's giving the wife a backhander if she got too mouthy was common place and viewed as a private matter between them. It happened to my mum when I was a kid and I'm sure millions of others too. Society now says that's no longer acceptable and needs to be brought to light and the perpetrator dealt with by the law.

NBL teams know all that and if something ever came up again with him it could have the potential to destroy their club. That's a huge gamble to take.

It's difficult to imagine how much worse the facts could be, and yet it blew over in two weeks.

"On Creek where else could he go he's a PR nightmare"

He's one of the most marketable players in the comp. He is recognised by Melbourne media, which probably only Chris Goulding can match as an NBL player.

These comments are very interesting hahahha