Townsville Crocodiles

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Townsville Crocodiles

Established	1993
Team Colours	Royal Blue, White, Green and Yellow
Home Venue	Townsville Entertainment Centre, Townsville
Major Sponsor	McDonald's
Championships	None
Team History	Townsville Suns (1993-1998) Townsville Crocodiles (1998/99-Present)
Chief Executive	Ian Smythe
Coach	Trevor Gleeson
Captain	John Rillie
Website	www.crocodiles.com.au

The Townsville Crocodiles are a basketball team competing in the Australian National Basketball League. Since being established for the 1993 NBL season, the Crocodiles have enjoyed financial stability and sustained community support, but on-court success has eluded them.

1 History
2 Name change
3 Honour Roll
4 Kevin Sugars Medal (Club MVP)
5 Current roster
6 External links

[edit] History

Former Brisbane Bullets guard Mark Bragg, a Townsville resident, began campaigning to bring an NBL franchise to Townsville in the late 1980s. The franchise adopted the name of Townsville's State League team, becoming the Townsville Suns. The NBL was ready to admit the Suns, along with fellow Queenslanders the Gold Coast Cougars, in 1990, but financial backing for the Suns' venue fell through.

Local government then got behind Bragg's bid, and the Townsville Entertainment and Convention Centre was completed in time for the Suns' debut in February of 1993.

With Bragg at the helm as head coach, the Suns struggled during their debut season, but it only took five games before they recorded their first-ever NBL win, a victory over the Newcastle Falcons. Townsville broke the mould in 1993, becoming the first Australian team to hire an 'import' player from a country other than the United States of America; Lithuanian player Rimas Kurtinaitis was a crucial part of the team during their debut season. The Suns finished 4-22 and took the wooden spoon.

Townsville would not reach the playoffs in its first six seasons, although they came perilously close in the 1997 season; needing only one win from their final six games to ensure a historic playoff appearance, the Suns went 0-6 after centre Clarence Tyson suffered a season-ending knee injury in Canberra. After a disappointing 1998 campaign, Mark Bragg quit as head coach.

Throughout, Townsville fans stuck by the team, ensuring the club set an Australian record for attendances; the Suns sold out their first 69 games at the "Furnace" (capacity 4141), a streak that was only broken after the venue was expanded for the 1998 season (new capacity of 5257).

[edit] Name change

It was a very different team that took the court in the 1998/99 season. The team had been involved in a dispute with the NBA's Phoenix Suns, who held the "Suns" trademark in Australia. Faced with the prospect of paying Phoenix royalties on merchandise sales, the team changed its name to the Townsville Crocodiles. New head coach Ian Stacker took the reins, and immediately attracted top-name talent like Australian Olympic player Sam Mackinnon, but it would take one more season before Townsville's long-suffering fans saw playoff basketball.

The Crocodiles finished second in the NBL in 1999/2000 with a 22-6 record, meaning they got a first-round bye in the NBL playoffs. But they faced a battle-hardened Perth Wildcats team in the semi-finals, and were swept 2-0 in front of their disappointed home fans. Perth would go on to win the championship.

The Crocs again went 22-6 the following year and, under the league's new playoff system, eliminated both the Sydney Kings and the Victoria Titans. It came down to the grand final series, where the team lost 2 games to 1- 95-92 in the final game- after a thrilling fourth-quarter comeback by the Wollongong Hawks.

Townsville missed the playoffs in 2002 and the 2003 season looked no better, but the Crocodiles strung together a 16-game winning streak to again finish second on the NBL ladder. (The streak equalled an NBL record.) Townsville lost the opening-round series 2-1 to Wollongong, but by virtue of NBL rules, got a second chance to advance; they were then finally eliminated by the eventual champion Sydney Kings.

After another disappointing season in 2005-06, Townsville head coach Ian Stacker's contract was not renewed. The Crocodiles again failed to make the playoffs.

[edit] Honour Roll

NBL Championships:	0
NBL Finals Appearances:	2000-01, 2003, 2005
NBL Grand Final appearances:	1 (2001)
NBL Most Valuable Players:	Robert Rose (2001)
All-NBL First Team:	Clarence Tyson (1997), Ray Owes (1998), Sam Mackinnon (2000), Robert Rose (2001), Larry Abney (2006)
NBL Coach of the Year:	Ian Stacker (2000, 2003)
NBL Rookie of the Year:	Brad Newley (2005)
NBL Most Improved Player:	Andrew Goodwin (2000)
NBL Best Sixth Man:	Ben Knight (2000), Brad Newley (2005)

Source: www.nbl.com.au

[edit] Kevin Sugars Medal (Club MVP)

1993 Ricky Jones
1994 Darryl Johnson
1995 Derek Rucker
1996 Clarence Tyson
1997 Derek Rucker
1998 Derek Rucker
1999 Robert Rose
2000 Robert Rose & Sam Mackinnon
2001 Robert Rose
2002 Robert Rose
2003 Pat Reidy & Wayne Turner
2004 Pat Reidy
2005 John Rillie
2006 Larry Abney

Source: www.crocodiles.com.au

[edit] Current roster

Townsville Crocodiles Current Roster
Head Coach: Trevor Gleeson			Edit
F/C	33	Larry Abney *	(New York;Fresno State University)
G	24	Michael Cedar	(QLD)
F	7	Daniel Egan	(VIC)
G	20	Brad Newley	(SA)
F/C	9	Andrew Rice	(England;Australian Institute of Sport)
G	31	John Rillie - Captain	(QLD;Gonzaga University)
G	4	Kelvin Robertson	(QLD)
C	13	Greg Vanderjagt	(NSW;Australian Institute of Sport)
G	6	Drew Williamson	(NSW;Metropolitan State College)
G	22	EJ Rowland *	(USA;St.Mary's College)
* = Import, # = Development Player			Townsville Crocodiles