New arrival stars for the Hawke’s Bay Hawks

Dan Grida in his Bay Hawks debut last week in Tauranga, when he scored 30 points in a win over Whai. Photo / BBallfilmsnz

The Big Barrel Hawks’ second echelon has shown its immediate worth in Sal’s NBL basketball with former Nelson Giant Dan Grida scoring 63 points in just two matches since he, two Illawarra Hawks teammates, and coach Sam Gruggen arrived from Australia two weeks ago.

Dan Grida in his Bay Hawks debut last week in Tauranga, when he scored 30 points in a win over Whai.

With an Australian NBL title in the bag with Illawarra, Grida opened a bid to make it a transtasman double with 30 points as the Bay Hawks beat Whai 86-74 in Tauranga on April 6, and on Sunday shot 33 as the Hawks were beaten 106-97 by Auckland Tuatara in Auckland.

The end of the weekend saw the Hawks nursing a record of four wins and three losses and just inside the top six in the 12-team league heading for a Tuesday-night match in South Auckland against Indian Panthers, whom the Hawks beat by 34 points in the opening match of the season in Taradale on March 12.

The Panthers are yet to win a game in their first season.

It’s a busy week for the Hawks, with two wins from four games in a six-match away run, which will be completed in Palmerston North on Good Friday against Manawatu Jets, whom the Hawks beat 103-100 in Taradale in the Hawks’ second match of the season.

While the arrival of Grida, Luca Yates and Wani Swaka Lo Buluk from the Australian NBL champion side has taken some weight off the shoulders of the young Hawks who carried the side to a 3-2 record before their arrival, teenager Jackson Ball, who scored 76 in the opening two games, scored 18 against Whai and 16 against the Tuatara, for 171 of the Hawks’ 904pts in 2025.

In the Rapid League curtain-raiser on Sunday the Hawks beat the Tuatara 36-36 to also be in sixth place with four wins and three losses.

The Hawks’ next home game is on Anzac Day against Franklin Bulls, whom the Hawks beat 87-85 in Pukekohe on March 23.

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.