Why Tassie title is so special for Steindl

Clint Steindl is one of the most decorated championship winners currently plying his trade in the NBL, but he says the NBL24 title with the JackJumpers will hold a special place in his memory when he decides to call time on his career.

The Tasmania captain won back-to-back titles with the Perth Wildcats In 2019 and 2020, and was a member of the inaugural JackJumpers roster in NBL22.

Aside from picking up his third title in NBL24, he also took to the NBL floor for the 300^th time this past season, but he says being part of a club’s first title adds an extra element to the achievement.

“It's certainly unique,” Steindl told SEN. “Each of the three I’ve been fortunate to pick up, they all have their highs and lows respectively, but being able to win the first one for a club and be a part of that has been absolutely incredible.

“It’s certainly one I’ll talk about and I’ll remember for as long as I’m here, and the stories I’ll get to share with my kids when they grow up and grandkids, and it’s definitely special.

“Probably one of the highlights of my career was getting to MyState Bank Arena and seeing all the fans packed in there with the boys up on the stage and everyone’s just celebrating the accomplishment of a championship.

“But also celebrating the fact they’ve embraced us, we’ve embraced them and we’ve gone on this ride together and it’s been a heck of an experience.”

Steindl’s assertion that Tasmania’s post-title celebrations were around more than just bringing home the championship trophy are well-founded. 

The JackJumpers have sold out every game they have ever played at their home stadium of MyState Bank Arena since their first way back in NBL22, and they’ve become pillars of the community all across the island state.   

Steindl says while the club has now set an extraordinarily high bar for success on the court, it’s equally as important to maintain that community presence off it.

“You play professional sport and whether it’s individual or a team sport the ultimate goal is to be the last person or the last team standing, and when you start a new club which we found out, sometimes what we see is not going to be the case,” Steindl said.

“For us to be able to have had the success we’ve had along with embracing the community, you just don’t see that in the early stages of a club and what we have we definitely can’t take for granted, because we’ve set a very high bar for ourselves.

“At this stage it’s what we expect, but the thing that needs to remain the same is embracing the community, playing in a manner which they’re going to be proud of, and we’ll take the results along the way.”