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WAYBACK Wednesday was a weekly feature I wrote last season for Adelaide 36ers website, which now you can revisit, see for the first time or completely ignore!

ADELAIDE 36ERS V NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS

NORTH SHORE EVENTS CENTRE, AUCKLAND, OCTOBER 1, 2003

THE night started with dancing. And songs. And traditional Maori welcomes.

It was as memorable a night as any in NBL history as New Zealand’s Breakers became the first foreign club admitted to the league.

We even had the haka as the large crowd - but not yet a full house – enthused about the future of their new club and their historic first opponent, the NBL’s success story, the Adelaide 36ers.

Though these were not great times for the Sixers.

Their inspirational captain Brett Maher had uprooted his family to Sydney during the pre-season so baby son Hudson could undergo a bone marrow transplant.

Monitoring his son's daily progress understandably had been Maher's primary focus, the triple-Olympian training alone but further hampered by a virus and calf injury double.

He met the team in Sydney, joining Charles Thomas, Mark Nash, Martin Cattalini, Darren Ng, Jacob Holmes, Oscar Forman, Jason Williams and Nathan Hawkes for the flight across the Tasman.

Long-time South Aussie coach and AIS mentor Frank Arsego was the first familiar face in the stadium during shootaround, “Frankie” at the time acting as assistant-coach with the breakthrough Breakers.

The club’s internationally acclaimed star Pero Cameron was next to engage the 36ers’ coaches.

New Zealand’s team on this very special night did not include the injured Cameron, but there were a few notable names.

Mika Vukona, Dillon Boucher, Paul Henare, Ben Melmeth, Casey Frank, Aaron Olson, Paora Winitana, Phill Jones, Brad Williams, David Hopoi and Mike Homik would be the first Breakers team to grace the NBL hardwood, creating the foundation for what eventually would become a triple-championship legacy.

On this night, the desperate Breakers would start their life with a thrilling match that would go to the wire before they prevailed 111-110, albeit “wind”-assisted.

Riding an emotional wave, the Breakers turned it into a first quarter tsunami, drowning the unprepared 36ers 44-25.

On fire from the perimeter (NZ was 6-of-9 from 3-point land and 59 per cent from the floor) and dominating the boards at both ends, the Breakers built a lead it took Adelaide 47:31 to catch before Melmeth converted a free throw with 14.5 seconds left to preserve the victory.

The free throws had come on a phantom Mark Nash foul but no-one could have expected anything different on this night.

The Sixers still had enough time to fashion an upset but Charles Thomas - whose ice-water-vein free throws had tied it with just over 28 seconds left - was unable to get the ball to Martin Cattalini after Darren Ng had almost freed himself from NZ's holding, scragging defence.

Cattalini finished with 30 points, 12 in a gripping final period in which Maher also showed his pure class.

Down in conditioning and lacking match practice, his infallible instincts and big-game persona took over when the 36ers' season-opening game was on the line.

Struggling to find his rhythm and touch - he was 0-of-7 from the floor going into the gripping contest's final six minutes - the switch flicked in his brain and he almost carried Adelaide across the line.

Adelaide had trailed by as many as 21 points, was down 63-83 with 2:22 left in the third period and 77-90 with 8:14 to go before Thomas' triple started an 11-2 run.

With 5:19 to play, Maher muscled his way into the keyway for a trademark jumpshot and his first basket.

He stole the ball on NZ's next attack.

The skipper then swished two free throws and stuck a 3-pointer off a Darren Ng pass.

A half-minute later he fed Nash for a three and 30 seconds after that, he was back at the stripe.

His assist to Cattalini - who was an offensive juggernaut all night and also had a match-high nine rebounds - led to a three-point play.

Inside the final minute, Cattalini worked his heart out to keep the ball alive off the offensive boards as Maher, recognising what would occur, backed to the corner awaiting the pass.

His 3-pointer drained the bottom of the net for 108-110, Thomas then tying the game up with free throws.

“At some stage, you just run out of superlatives for Mahersy,” Sixers coach Phil Smyth said.

“In a tight situation, he never ceases to amaze you, especially when you consider what he's going through.”

Maher had nine points and dished three of his five assists in the last six minutes as Adelaide remarkably closed from 77-90 down.

If the start had not been quite so overwhelming, the result may well have been different.

In the opening term, while Adelaide struggled for a solitary offensive rebound, NZ grabbed 11 defensive boards and broke forward from each at a cracking pace.

The overall 17-6 boards disparity was substantial, Jacob Holmes having a forgettable first period and only Cattalini carrying the offence.

The Cat muscled inside or finessed from the perimeter and NZ never found an effective counter, even Cattalini's fifth foul with six minutes to play failing to quieten his effort and energy level.

Adelaide overcame Phill Jones' early sharp-shooting, Melmeth's reliability and Dillon Boucher's eight steals and physical hustle to draw to 49-55 in the second period, Ng, Thomas, Forman and Holmes all raising their play.

By half-time though, it had blown back out to 69-55 on a Casey Frank dunk and with 2:46 left in the third, the Sixers were well off the pace, down 63-83.

But over that next stretch, Jason Williams ignited a 14-2 run which included consecutive Thomas triples, the Breakers showing signs of cracking.

NZ steadied and built its lead back to 13 as Adelaide went almost four minutes with poor shot selection against a feisty and inspired defence, allowed to play to the letter of the rules.

And just a tad beyond.

Thomas finally opened the scoring with a three, 8:14 left, and when Cattalini followed with a triple, the 36ers were showing terrific heart against the odds.

Forman and Mark Nash also made big plays before fouling out as Maher went above and beyond the call of duty.

“We're disappointed but proud of the way the guys fought back from what we knew would be an emotional opening,” Smyth said.

It was a quiet flight home, except for the stop-over in Sydney.

At the airport, Maher was greeted by his family while the 36ers continued on to Adelaide, a difficult and tragic season underway.