NBL: Australian champions arrive to join Hawke’s Bay Hawks

The cavalry has arrived for the Big Barrel Hawke’s Bay Hawks, with some of the biggest artillery in the game in New Zealand.

The cavalry comes in the form of head coach Sam Gruggen and players Daniel Grida, Wani Swaka Lo Buluk and the 2.08m Luca Yates, one of the tallest in the Sal’s NBL in 2025.

The coach and players flew into Napier about 8pm on Tuesday, having been parts of the Illawarra Hawks’ Australian NBL triumph 10 days ago, when the league’s only original franchise won the title for just the second time, with a 3-2 win in the five-match finals series against Melbourne United.

All four were wasting no time getting back into it, taking the court at Rodney Green Arenas in Taradale barely 12 hours later to meet their new teammates as the Hawke’s Bay Hawks prepare for game six in the New Zealand National Basketball League against the Tauranga Whai on Saturday in Tauranga.

Hawke’s Bay Hawks general manager Jarrod Kenny had hoped they would arrive in time for last Saturday’s match against Taranaki Airs in New Plymouth, but appreciates it was a bit much to expect the quartet so early, for a game just six days after the end of a 29-match season in Australia, in which Gruggen was an assistant coach.

Getting straight down to business, Gruggen was quick to praise the work done by Kaine Hokianga in standing in as Hawks head coach, assisted by Aidan Daly, and possibly the New Zealand Sal’s NBL youngest team, who head for game six this week in Tauranga with a record of three wins and two losses.

Quickly on the ball: the Hawke's Bay Hawks' latest arrivals from Australian champions the Illawarra Hawks (from left): Wani Swaka Lo Buluk, the 2.08m Luca Yates and Daniel Grida. Photo / Doug Laing

The second loss came when beaten 114-88 by the Taranaki Airs, down 54-31 at halftime, claiming the third quarter (33-31) but seeing the deficit springboard to 26 points when the hooter sounded for the last time.

Transtasman Hawks joining their Hawke's Bay camp today (from left): Daniel Grida, 2.08m Luca Yates and Wani Swaka Lo Buluk. Photo / Doug Laing

Jackson Ball, continuing to handle a monumental workload with 37m 46s on court, had the game-high tally of 23 points but, as the increasing margin called for greater adventure, managed just two from 10 in his quest for three-pointers.

With 40 points in the opening game and having been the first in the league to reach 100 points this season, Ball is second on the league’s rankings for average score per game.

On Saturday night they play the Whai, who have had four wins in five games.

The Hawks will have had a month of away games by the time they return to the Rodney Green Arenas in Taradale for the next home match, against the Bulls, on Anzac Day.

Doug Laing is a senior reporter based in Napier with Hawke’s Bay Today and has 52 years of journalism experience, 42 of them in Hawke’s Bay, in news gathering, including breaking news, sports, local events, issues, and personalities.