NZ Breakers were due to board a plane for Australia on Tuesday, but the Auckland-based basketball club has changed plans at the last minute.
The Breakers will delay their departure for the Australian NBL season by nearly two weeks to coincide with the release of their American imports from COVID-19 quarantine across the Tasman.
Players and most of the club's performance staff will now head across on December 13 and will be based in Melbourne for up to six months.
Imports Colton Iverson and Lamar Patterson leave quarantine on the day their teammates arrive and a shortened full-squad pre-season will begin the next day.
Club owner Matt Walsh says the change was unexpected with changed flights only booked on Friday.
"There's no value in having our guys over there an extra two weeks, if they're only going to be training with each other," Walsh says.
The team learnt their playing schedule for January through March on Monday and Walsh says other Australian cities were considered as a base, but they settled on the Victorian city that is already home to South East Melbourne Phoenix and Melbourne United, as well as the NBL head office.
The official draw for all nine teams is expected to be released on December 3, with the season to tip off on January 15.
"Obviously we're going to be the one club that is going to be displaced, so all the teams offered their support," says Walsh. "But for us, with the two clubs in Melbourne, the great facilities, it being a sports town, it just made the most sense."
The Breakers will be based in Melbourne at least until March 1, but Walsh hopes they will return to Spark Arena, should they make the playoffs, if quarantine in New Zealand was not required.
The NBL will have a full 28-game season and Walsh says that might even extend to 36 games.
"For the majority of the season, it's going to be home and away," he says. "There is a scenario where we go into a hub for a short time, just to create some excitement, but I think we are going to be looking at playing a whole bunch of road games over there and figuring out if we can't come back here, what our home games look like.
"There are different scenarios where we possibly will play some home games in away arenas against that team and we'll basically work out a financial arrangement with that team to be able to generate some revenue for us.
"If not, we will look at Melbourne United and South East Melbourne's gyms to play some home games in. The good thing is I think there are around 115,000 Kiwis that live in Melbourne, so we're certainly going to rely on them for support."
The delay in departure has not dampened the club's desire to make their players comfortable during the long stint away from home.
"We're giving our guys the option of having some family go and travel with them. We're making sure the accommodation we get is friendly and we're doing everything we can to make this as good a situation as we can for our players who have families.
"We understand this is going to be very tough, not only from a logistics and physical standpoint, but mentally.
"It's not easy to be away from your family for a long time. Our guys get it, they're committed and engaged, but we're certainly working with every player individually to make sure that their situation is as balanced as possible."
Walsh says this Melbourne road trip would be unlike a normal in-season away trip for the club and the players would have their freedom away from the club environment.
"I think they're going to live a normal life over there," he says. "This isn't going to be something where, every day, they have to have team meals together.
"They're largely going to be on their own, they're just going to be in a city that's not theirs."
Walsh will not join the team in Australia straight away and will instead drive revenue for the club from Auckland, but he trusts the staff who would travel to get the team settled and ready for what could end up being a disrupted season.
"I think we've thought through as much as we can," he says. "I'm sure there are going to be some moments where it's 'oh my god, how did we forget that?'
"I think that's just natural, because in a lot of ways, we are picking up our organisation and we are moving it for a six-month possible span.
"We've got a really good staff upstairs, who I think has thought through everything, especially our performance staff - Dan and Mody, our coaches. I doubt there'll be anything left unturned with those guys, but we'll get through it.
"Everyone understands this isn't a normal year and it's not going to be perfect, but we're going to do our best to give our players their best chance to perform on the court."
RNZ
