Breakers' Long Wait Finally Over

The number ‘489’ has been bandied around in NBL circles this week, with the New Zealand Breakers set to play their first home game in 489 days on Friday night. 

With the match fixtured against the JackJumpers for 5:30pm AEDT, skipper Tom Abercrombie can't wait to see basketball back in New Zealand.

He won't be playing due to an eye injury, but says it's a huge moment for the Breakers and their loyal fans. 

“It’s been a long time since they’ve been able to see us and connect with us as a team,” Abercrombie told RNZ. “We’ve got to build that relationship back up with [the fans] and show that real Kiwi toughness they can relate to.

“Hopefully they like what they see and they come out and support us. We’re excited to play in front of them.”

Abercrombie suppoerts from the bench in during New Zealand's last home game - June 5, 2021

Being on the road represented immense challenges for the Breakers, both as an organisation and for the individual players.

Just three players remain on the roster since the last COVID uninterrupted season – 2019/20 – Abercrombie, Robe Loe and Tom Vodanovich, however Vodanovich spent last season with the Sydney Kings.

Both Abercrombie and Loe are keen to leave the stresses of the COVID bubble behind them and get back to normality.

“My wife and son came over last season, obviously not the first season. It doesn’t change the fact you’re not at home, you’re not in your own bed and not playing in front of your own fans,” Loe said.

“Honestly, it’s a long time ago and it was a sh*tty, sh*tty period of my life and I don’t really like re-visiting it too much,” Abercrombie added.

“We’ve moved on and this year is this year. We’ve got over that COVID patch and we’re looking forward to much happier days ahead."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Today&#39;s the day Breaker Nation - we&#39;re back at Spark Arena tonight after almost 500 days.<br><br>You can still get your hands on tickets, so we hope to catch you at the game!<br><br>? Friday 7 Oct<br>? 7:30pm<br>? Spark Arena or live on Sky Sport 4<br>? <a href="https://t.co/BZhd4bNnr4">https://t.co/BZhd4bNnr4</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UNBREAKABLE?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UNBREAKABLE</a> <a href="https://t.co/5GDGFVpfxT">pic.twitter.com/5GDGFVpfxT</a></p>&mdash; Sky Sport New Zealand Breakers (@NZBreakers) <a href="https://twitter.com/NZBreakers/status/1578135510631043075?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 6, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Exciting guard Will McDowell-White is in a slightly different position to the rest of the Breakers side, having left his home country of Australia to link up with the Breakers in 2021.

That being said, he obviously experienced his own stresses in the bubble.

McDowell-White says he can sense a different energy around the team this season.

“Last year we knew we were going to be away the whole time and that brought things down a little bit,” he said.

“[There’s] just different energy and the guys who were here last year. Just being home adds a little bit more to that.”

Tune into the Breakers’ first home game in 489 days at 5:30pm AEDT on Friday, live on ESPN via Kayo Sports and Foxtel and on SkySport in New Zealand.