The Wollongong Roller Hawks head into the final round the NWBL regular season knowing not to take the Sydney Metro Blues lightly when the teams meet over three games this weekend.

 

 

The Metro Blues are yet to win a game this season but recent matches have shown the Blues can still play a tough brand of basketball that can push more fancied sides.

 

 

Meanwhile the Roller Hawks see their match up as a chance to fine tune what they’ve been working on in training before the finals start on the 22nd of June.

 

“Training has been intense,” says Roller Hawks big man Michael Auprince. “We have been pushing ourselves to get our systems of offence and defence as finely tuned as possible.”

 

“This weekend will be a great test to see if we can run our plays to perfection.”

 

Auprince played for the Metro Blues in his first year of wheelchair basketball before transferring to Wollongong in 2014.

 

“They are a good team coached by one of the all time great players. They have players that can heat up very, very quickly. I’ve seen CJ Grogan drop 40 like it was nothing.”

 

“They cannot be overlooked.”

 

Auprince returns to squad along with teammates Brett Stibners, Luke Pople, Sam White and Tim Markcrow, fresh off a three day camp in Canberra with the Australian Rollers.

 

“Canberra was amazing. Playing with the best team in the world is always going to be hard though.”

 

“It’s put ‘Stick’ (Brett Stibners), Sammy (White) and myself in a good position for Paralympic selection.”

 

“We will need to be in form for when we tour Great Britain after the finals to make the top 12.”

Friday June 10: SYDNEY METRO BLUES vs ROLLER HAWKS - 5pm @ Menai Indoor Sports Centre

Saturday June 11: SYDNEY METRO BLUES vs ROLLER HAWKS - 12:30pm @ Minto Indoor Sports Centre

Sunday June 12: SYDNEY METRO BLUES vs ROLLER HAWKS - 11:00am @ Minto Indoor Sports Centre