After finishing Round 1 with an unblemished record, the Wollongong Roller Hawks will play their first hom egames of the season this weekend when they host the third placed Sydney Metro Blue Hornets.

 

Guard Luke Pople was one of the Roller Hawks’ stars in opening game against Perth, scoring 22 points and 8 assists in a win that would set up the rest of their weekend.

 

“It’s always good to get a couple of buckets here and there but for me it’s about keeping the consistency up.”

 

Sydney Metro has linked up with Hills District Basketball this season in a move that has seen the club adopt the association's name. The Blue Hornets won three of their four games in Round 1 but will face their sternest test so far when they meet the defending champions at Shellharbour City Stadium on Friday night before the sides play again at the Snakepit, Beaton Park on Saturday morning. The two sides will square off again on Sunday when they travel to the Hills Basketball Stadium in Sydney in what is a home game for the Blue Hornets.

 

“They had a three win, one loss weekend so that was really good for them. They had an American import and they’ve got some good solid players that will do their job and so we can’t take this weekend easily.” says Pople.

 

After meeting in the 2017 decider, the Roller Hawks were far too strong in the teams’ three meetings last year, but Sydney were missing CJ McCarthy-Grogan who has returned to the side this season and took Player of the Week honours in Round 1, averaging 28.3 points, 12.3 rebounds and 7.3 assists over four games.

 

“He’s a really dynamic player, really deceptive. He’s got really long arms, a good push and he can get his shot away really quickly.” says Pople.  

 

While McCarthy-Grogan took Player of the Week honours, the Roller Hawks were not short of star performances with captain Brett Stibners averaging 33.3 points, 10.7 rebounds across the first three games before taking a back seat in the final game to let the Roller Hawks bench players take the spotlight.

 

“One through five, anyone can put up some decent numbers. You look at other teams and they have maybe one or two guys as their go tos and they’re looking to score 40 plus points a game.” says Pople.

 

“The good thing for us is we look at our stat sheet and we see everybody hitting double figures and getting the assists, getting the rebounds and there doesn’t have to be a superstar but when there needs to be, someone will step up and it’s not the same person every weekend.”

 

Tickets to Friday and Saturday's games are just $5 for adults and kids get in for free.

 

ROLLER HAWKS ROUND 2 FIXTURES

Friday May 31: ROLLER HAWKS vs SYDNEY - 6pm @ Shellharbour City Stadium

Saturday June 1: ROLLER HAWKS vs SYDNEY - 10am @ Snakepit, Beaton Park

Sunday June 2: SYDNEY vs ROLLER HAWKS - 9:30am @ Hills Basketball Stadium, Castle Hill