WNBL making Waves but no splash for Crocs
TweetWEST Coast Waves have made a huge splash at the WNBL's Spring Shield, winning the preseason tournament and giving the club its first piece of silverware since claiming the 1992 championship!
Yes, it's been a long time between drinks and while precious little can be read into preseason tournaments in the longer term, knocking off three of last season's Final Four - Dandenong, Melbourne and Bendigo - still is a feather in the otherwise featherfree cap of the Waves organisation.
Also making waves was Docky, Deanna Smith, taking MVP honors.
Just like Townsville in its NBL success winning the Loggins-Bruton Cup, the unfashionable Waves have given themselves a major confidence boost ahead of the regular season next weekend.
That can only be a good thing for a league which, like its men's counterpart, looks extremely even this season.
THE only real concern for NBL watchers after the first round was the paltry crowd of 1436 for the Crocodiles first home match against Adelaide 36ers.
Having moved to the Townsville RSL Stadium with its 2000-capacity after living its previous 20-odd years at Townsville Entertainment Centre, to not even fill the venue should have alarm bells ringing and red flags waving.
It's hard to put a smiley face on that figure.
The Crocs have retooled in the off-season, won the club's first trophy at the Blitz and actively have been courting the community and the corporates in North Queensland.
If they couldn't get to three-quarters capacity for their opening match, and, sadly for the program, dropped that game anyway, I cannot help fearing for the club's long-term sustainability.
Before all the talk turns to teams from Brisbane and Tasmania and Melbourne and New Zealand and, and, and ... it strikes me as way more important to get to the heart of what's happened to Townsville's once so-loyal fanbase.
The club certainly has assembled an exciting team and fans need to embrace it sooner than later. Lamenting the club's demise some time down the track will be cold comfort when the city had a team well worth their passionate patronage.