By Trevor Jackson
THE NBL1 South conference has taken another hit, with games again changed amid the current Victorian COVID-19 outbreak.
The Mount Gambier Pioneers men and women were set to host a double-header this weekend, with games on Friday and Saturday night against Victorian sides.
They have now been scrapped, with talk of a game against NW Tasmania on Saturday night.
Pioneers’ men’s coach Richard Hill said he hoped a game could go ahead, but available flights to and from Mount Gambier have since put paid to that scenario, with the Pioneers to sit on the sidelines for another week.
More importantly, the whole conference has taken a big hit, with Victoria’s restrictions affecting all sides in the competition at some stage, including this weekend.
Interstate teams such as those in Tasmania or or our own Pioneers have found it hard to complete their scheduled games, which have been changed or postponed on a regular basis, while many of the teams in the South conference are based in the Melbourne region and have not been able to compete amid the Victorian COVID-19 outbreaks.
The NBL1 had not released a statement regarding Round 17 games at the time of going to print, but had scrapped all weekend games except for Bendigo v Albury Wodonga.
With Melbourne thrust into another week of lockdown, it is unclear what the next move will be.
