There was no action on the court with the Rangers’ away game against Sydney called off.By Paul Pickering
DANDENONG Rangers administration is this week standing toe-to-toe with the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) over the rescheduling of their abandoned fixture at Sydney University on Friday night.
The pivotal match was abandoned minutes before tip-off after humid conditions caused condensation to form on the court surface, marking the first time in the league’s 27-year history that a game has been cancelled because of court conditions.
The historical significance of the ruling, though, came as no comfort for the Rangers and their 60-strong legion of travelling supporters.
Having flown to the Harbour City in pursuit of a season-defining victory over the Flames, the Rangers returned to Stud Road empty-handed and unsatisfied with the WNBL’s proposed solution.
It seems when the league presumptuously rescheduled the match for this Monday, it was unprepared for the storm heading its way.
Last Monday, Dandenong Basketball Association (DBA) general manager Peter Roach informed the WNBL that the proposed rescheduling was unacceptable to the Rangers, primarily because it meant the team would play three games in three different states within six days.
In a letter to the WNBL on behalf of the DBA board, Roach questioned whether Friday’s incident could have been prevented, noting that similar problems with the court surface had been encountered during the Flames’ match against the Australian Institute of Sport on 5 January.
“From our point of view, it’s not good enough to have our side and all our supporters up there and then say: ‘Oh God, it’s happened again’,” Mr Roach told Star.
“There doesn’t seem to have been any contingency plan put in place in terms of a back-up venue, so we believe that if there was prior knowledge of the situation then the points (for a win) should be awarded to us.
“Dandenong is the innocent party in all of this.”
But Roach’s bid to secure the points was swiftly dismissed by Basketball Australia’s National Teams and Competitions general manager Lorraine Langdon.
“Our competition is based on wins and losses, so the game will need to be played,” Langdon said.
As the Star went to print yesterday (Wednesday), the WNBL board was still considering it’s next move.
Meanwhile, Roach said the club would seek financial compensation for its expenses should the league deem that the game must be played in Sydney.
He was also hopeful that the abandoned game would not unsettle the team.
“It’s disappointing because we were pretty confident going into the game, playing some good basketball and looking to challenge them on their own court,” he said.
“So let’s hope it doesn’t halt our momentum.”
The Rangers have, however, ascended into the top four despite the controversial non-result.
The shift came at the expense of the Bendigo Spirit, which lost both games in its weekend road-trip to slip back to fifth.
Dandenong will be looking to consolidate its position in the finals bracket when it travels to Townsville on Saturday night, with a win likely to lock the seventh-placed Fire out of the finals.
