Rogers says there wasn't any one area that caused their 2017 bid to fall over but the initial feedback spoke about taking a wider look at basketball in the region.
"They want us to expand our geographic reach and talk with Waikato and Rotorua about potential involvement," Rogers explains.
"An NBL board member is going to be appointed to be our liaison to go through any detailed stuff that they think needs a bit more background information I suppose.
"There wasn't a lot of detail in the email around this wasn't up to standard or that wasn't up to standard.
"If there was something I am sure they will let us know."
Four other regions had shown interest in applying for inclusion - Otago, North Harbour, Manawatu and Porirua - though all barring Tauranga City opted to delay their applications until at least 2018. The NBL has made it clear they won't expand too quickly meaning only one or two teams will get an opportunity if they meet the criteria.
Rogers believes his bid will have an advantage given how close they got with this process.
"That was part of the reason for our push to make sure we got a bid in for 2017 to make sure we put our foot forward and showed we were keen. We have now got some feedback on that bid which I think gives us an advantage over other potential franchises.
"We submitted a document which we had positive feedback on albeit de didn't get it across the line."
Rogers says the knock back hasn't dented their eagerness to get a team in the future.
"No definitely not. Part of our long term vision for our region is having a pathway for our players and that is a logical step - having an NBL franchise.
"One of the things we have to look at is to see how wide an approach we can take within our region whether that is involvement from Rotorua and Waikato. That is a discussion we will have. We have had some fairly informal ones already but that is something we will work on now."
