I haven't seen anything official but the signs point to yes.

Could it be that Paul Smith has finally shown his women's team some respect?

If true...
Gorman might have cemented the hc role after tuesdays game.
Smith Never should have given hibbert the flick and replaced her with a mate.

Wednesday'

Katrina Hibbert from all accounts was treated very poorly by that organization. A big call for the king of jobs for the boys to fire one of his boys! Shane bullying his players has been whispered about before so maybe there is truth to that. I'm sure we will find out.

Shyla not playing is interesting though and may put her in a position where her contract is at risk or her standing in her team takes a hit. If your team mates don’t respect you, it makes turning up to work hard.

Sydney need to say something more direct. Tell us how it is! Or maybe Shane will on his show?

Sort of explanation here in terribly written article https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/basketball/womens-basketball/wnbl-news-shane-heal-and-shyla-heal-late-omissions-from-sydney-flames-clash-with-southside-flyers/news-story/d2c68d9b3fdefb2f2c9b594187fa432d. Sounds like investigation into issues between at least coach and players. Hearing Shyla has been granted leave.... Lots to be played out yet. Flames did look to be better and happier under Shelley Gorman though.

The Flames refused to comment on the nature of the probe involving the Australian basketball legend, but News Corp understands lawyers are involved and an independent firm has been engaged to conduct the investigation.

On Wednesday, the club issued a pair of tweets revealing Shane Heal and daughter Shyla Heal, the Flames' starting point guard, were late scratchings from the clash with Southside Flyers. The Flames also stated Opals great Shelley Gorman would take the reins as interim coach.

Shane didn't (allegedly) bet on his own team again did he.

Heal keeping the legal industry afloat again???

The lack of professionalism around the Flames' head coaching hire has led to this mess. Hope it's a lesson to Hoops Capital to treat the Flames seriously.

Also, the Flames lose a high profile player because she happens to be related to the head coach under investigation and she can't play for some reason? If nothing else, it reinforces that head coaches should not be coaching close relatives.

Hearing won't play, rather than can’t play....

Somewhere Karen Dalton is laughing, smiling & feeling vindicated.

Wonder if Gorman gets the gig from here?

Sydney Flames coach Shane Heal to miss Perth Lynx game during investigation as mystery surrounds Shyla Heal

Craig O'Donoghue
The West Australian
Fri, 20 January 2023 5:12PM

Sydney Flames coach, and Australian basketball icon, Shane Heal will miss Saturday's clash against Perth Lynx as his club continues the investigation which forced to him sit out Wednesday’s loss to Southside Flyers.

And Heal’s daughter Shyla is also no certainty for play for the Flames after she withdrew from Wednesday night’s match citing personal reasons.

The Flames and Heal are remaining silent over the internal drama which has led to Shelley Gorman stepping up as interim coach.

But two Tweets shortly after Sydney lost to Townsville on Sunday may have given an insight into Heal’s mindset.

One of his posts included a video of former Australian cricket coach Justin Langer providing his team with strong feedback. The other quoted dual NBL Coach of the Year and ex-Australian Opals coach Brendan Joyce declaring "winning teams accept accountability for their actions. Players that are unselfish competitors want honesty and direction."

Heal is in his second season as Flames coach. They won the wooden spoon last season with and currently have a 4-10 record.

Perth are on a roll after winning their last four games. They beat the Flames by 11 points just two weeks ago and star Lynx centre Lauren Scherf has dominated both wins over Sydney this season.

Scherf has averaged 23 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and one block against the Flames. Her effort included 22 points in the second quarter against Sydney in the most recent clash.

“It’s not surprise what she’s done this season and after that 22 points in a quarter, I’m just in awe of that girl sometimes,” teammate Amy Atwell said.

“We’re not underestimating Sydney. Sydney is a great team but it would be great to take it one more and go five in a row and keep this momentum rolling.”

The clash is the first of three away games for Perth across just nine days.

Very interesting read, thanks for sharing PW

But two Tweets shortly after Sydney lost to Townsville on Sunday may have given an insight into Heal's mindset.

The other quoted dual NBL Coach of the Year and ex-Australian Opals coach Brendan Joyce declaring "winning teams accept accountability for their actions. Players that are unselfish competitors want honesty and direction."

Take ya pick, lots of rumours why he wasn't coaching

-Poor record
-Player unrest
-Betting scandal
-Hissy fit
-Family issue
-Assault charge
-Lost phone charger
-Bleach out of stock
Etc

I'll take all of the above.

No professional team in today's world should have a father of a player as coach.

The Belgium national team has (or had, not sure if he's still the coach) a father/daughter combo; it’s obviously a risky proposition. This latest fiasco with Heal surely makes Shyla unpalatable for any team in the WNBL?

Shayla had very good season in Townsville, where her main job was to shoot, it's been all downhill from there.

Regardless of her dickhead father, she comes across as quite unpalatable anyway.

She did, that feels like a long time ago now

The investigation will uncover that he is verbally abusive, has extremely poor relationships with his players & won't Coach the Flames for the rest of the WNBL Season. Shyla’s position is untenable as well as she has turned against her teammates in support of her Dad, it’s been an absolute dogs breakfast since he was appointed as Coach & Smith has finally woke up from his slumber to address this train wreck.

The trainwreck that he (Paul Smith aka Heal fanboy) created. You would've thought the way SEQ ended would’ve been enough to keep him out of coaching ever again, please let this be the end

A brisbane wnbl team would be good next season, could see Mangakahia, Goodchild. Woods, Purcell, Ruef, Bishop moving there. Pick up some other good qld locals. Notoa and Manumaleuga are nice young local guards. Pick up a couple of imports and maybe 1 of those europe based Aussies. Also quite a few nz n.t players live in Brisbane or have family there.


Keep heal in Sydney with Froling, Clarke, Rowe + imports and local nsw talent. A Nicholson for eg. Mcspadden another from nsw, add overseas based, a smith, garrick or Kunek. college returnees like bloom or Jefferson or moore. Nsw have alot of good 2004 born players too but unfortunately are all going to ncaa.
Henderson, Foy, Crawshaw.
Juffermans 05, Shiels 06 and Donnelly 05 would make good DPs


I don't see heal fitting anywhere else atm.

Smith, yes made a mistake, he's found an out now, probably with out costing him any money.

Australian basketball has an extensive history of coaches coaching their close relatives at the highest levels of the game - remember Ray Tomlinson and his daughters and Tom and Robyn Maher. But I don't think this is acceptable nowadays.

Shane using Justin Langer and Brendan Joyce as examples of presumably good coaching is hilarious because both of them have been subject to considerable scrutiny for questionable coaching practices.

Shyla stepping away from the team is odd and reinforces the idea that the Flames have a nepotistic regime under Shane Heal.

Don't forget the most famous Father/son era. Lindsey and Andrew Gaze. When Andrew was picked for the boomers to go to the Olympics I thought nepotism, but by the time they had played their second game I was a fan.

Don't forget the most famous Father/son era. Lindsey and Andrew Gaze. When Andrew was picked for the boomers to go to the Olympics I thought nepotism, but by the time they had played their second game I was a fan.

The investigation will uncover that he is verbally abusive, has extremely poor relationships with his players & won't Coach the Flames for the rest of the WNBL Season. Shyla's position is untenable as well as she has turned against her teammates in support of her Dad

The trainwreck that he (Paul Smith aka Heal fanboy) created. You would've thought the way SEQ ended would’ve been enough to keep him out of coaching ever again, please let this be the end

Surely Heal never ever gets another gig at any club anywhere around the globe.

Many of us thought the same thing after his South Dragons stint and that was way back in 2008.

Surely someone in this saga has photos of a prominent person in a compromising position...this would explain a lot

Not sure about past line ups, but I know in the current line up not everyone hates him or thinks he is abusive, so it's interesting to hear that on here.
It's funny how times have changed though, people are far less tolerant of angry coaches nowadays. No idea how Peter Buckle, the biggest psycho of a coach has managed to get away without the same scrutiny - but 10+ years ago that wasn't frowned upon in the same way as it is now.

I'm not excusing bad behaviour, but I think perhaps some of these coaches like Heal maybe haven't kept up with the times and what players will tolerate now.

It reeks of amatuer - i'm not getting my own way so will drag my daughter out with me. Harsh on Shyla & Dad shouldn't be putting this pressure on her. Not sure where this goes but if i'm Hammer i'm leaving this as less toxic as possible for my family.

Maybe stick to commentating & your show with Jo Healy for now...

History suggests that Hammer will always put himself first; it's a shame to see a father putting his kids career in jeopardy like this.

I was a big fan of Heal as a player even though he was never on my team. One of those "love to hate" guys that you just loved when they put on the green and gold. Since then though I've lost all respect for him and he's become one of those guys that when he turns up on broadcasts its an instant turn off (unfortunately there's a bunch of them around at the moment).

Please not commentary.

NBL commentary will probably be the only basketball related thing he can do after this...

Still no official word from the Sydney organisation??

He's been sacked from NBL commentary. Said some things on Twitter and on his show about the commentary and the NBL told him his services were no longer required.

Neither he, nor Shyla, will be involved with the Flames ever again. And hopefully he'll never coach in the WNBL ever again. Paul Smith's jobs for the boys backfired, because hiring Heal (and paying his daughter ridiculous money) was an enormous mistake that has bitten the so-called 'Hoops Capital' squarely on the ass.

The only reason Heal hasn't been sacked by Smith yet is because Shane went to his default "legal action/I'll sue' position, so Smith and TSE are being very careful to run through a process that will probably take weeks. Expect silence from TSE the rest of the season on the issue, other than tweets that will say both father and daughter won't be available to coach/play (insert game).

Someone on Facebook said shyla was getting $$$ amount and the post was deleted.

Smith v Heal, now I'm buying popcorn for this. I think I’ll back the little bloke from the housing commission housing from the gong.

Someone on Facebook said shyla was getting $$$ amount and the post was deleted.

He's been sacked from NBL commentary. Said some things on Twitter and on his show about the commentary and the NBL told him his services were no longer required.

But, but, but, he stood up to Charles Barkley 100 years ago! Doesn't he get a free pass because of that forever?!

Amazing how some coaches just get recycled despite it being obvious from their previous jobs they're not up to it. Happens in lots of sports.

Heal's no coach he's always just been a parasite who leveraged his friendships and connections until they couldn't put up with him any longer. Paul Smith was just the latest rube to fall for it.

I'm surprised he's actually still mates with Joyce given he's burnt virtually every other bridge in the basketball world and their disastrous time together at the Blaze.

Yes, her salary. If true it was quite a bit more than what an import would get.

How much?

Wasn't on the basketball show. Something is going on?

Really wish people were hounding newscorp for more answers here. Pitchforks and torches required i reckon...

Yeah, pity the first journo that would normally know & publish something about this type of situation is Matt Logue, who works for News Corp.
Usually some controversy is the only time they will take a basketball story mainstream, but now that it involves one of their own it seems to be the cone of silence. And no other outlet saying a word either that I can see.
Weak.

The lack of reporting or simple acknowledgement of this story has been mind blowing...

Yes. A good test for Matt Logue this one. You'd think he knows exactly what's going on. Who is calling his shots?

Not really, if you know anything about Heal over the last 20 years or so whenever he gets in serious trouble he lawyers up immediately and threatens to sue anyone and everyone. That's likely why News Corp are treading lightly. Easier to pretend the story doesn't exist than risk reporting one tiny thing incorrectly, getting sued and having to settle for a big sum of money, which may even end in the journo getting fired.

Not really. If journalism worked like that there would be a lot less stories written. Media companies tread this line daily.

News Corp are involved with the NBL to report on sugar coated stories for puff pieces, it is a marketing agreement which has nothing to do with real journalism.

Hopefully their competitor in Sydney, The Daily Telegraph, publish something about this.

News Corp own the Daily Telegraph , perhaps you mean the SMH .

PS Head of Sport at News Corp == > Daily Telegraph = Tim Morrissey

Yes, I meant to write The Sydney Morning Herald.

Logue is a regular on Heal's crappy show too, so there's that to consider. I'd say Logue is in a very uncomfortable position in reporting this - plus as has been mentioned the lawyers are involved now as well.

Gorman now being referred to as 'coach' - https://twitter.com/TheSydneyFlames/status/1618764608663339010

Gave nothing away

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCoPYzOAkGs

Lawyers at ten paces. Popcorn.

https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/crime/fathers-bullying-claims-left-shyla-heal-traumatised-c-11187873

You can be traumatised if somebody bullies you. You don't get traumatised because *somebody else* is accused of bullying. Shyla Heal can feel whatever she wants obviously, but I have less respect for her for pursuing that line of thinking.

Mangakahia's allegations sound credible and unsurprising given Heal's past patterns of behaviour.