Basketball: Corey Webster's Breakers days could be numbered

Corey Webster arrives at North Shore District Court. Photo / Greg Bowker

Corey Webster could have played his last game for the Breakers.

Coach Paul Henare was non-committal today when quizzed on the shooting guard's future, having revealed Webster failed to inform the club of the additional charges he received stemming from an incident last month at a Takapuna bar.

Webster on Tuesday appeared in North Shore District Court where he had a further two assault charges added to the one he already faced, remanded on bail to reappear tomorrow.

The Breakers initially pledged their full support to Webster, with Henare indicating the player intended to "vigorously" defend the first charge. Webster was, though, suspended for one game in part due to poor communication, and that same issue appears to have recurred.

"It was a surprise that more charges have been laid, from what Corey's told us," Henare said. "But we can only go by what we've been told. And that's why we're waiting to let it play out in the courts and make decisions from there."

Webster was last weekend sidelined indefinitely after the Breakers said injuries had struck down last season's leading scorer. And while Henare insisted Webster's absence from the court was exclusively a result of his health, the coach was unable to confirm whether the 28-year-old would again be seen in a Breakers singlet.

"I don't know. I can't say," Henare said. "One thing we said right from the start is that we need to let this thing play out. Things may change in terms of how that court case plays out for him. But until then we're still in a bit of limbo."

Following the current campaign Webster has one year remaining on the three-year deal he signed in 2015, though this season his starting spot was usurped by the returning Kirk Penney.

"Right from the start we made a decision to let [the court process] play out however it plays out, and once it's all finished then the club will make some decisions on that," Henare said. "And from a club point of view, I don't think anything's changed there."

Henare's headaches hardly stop at Webster. The coach had intended for Tom Abercrombie to account for some of his injured teammate's minutes, but the swingman yesterday broke his hand at practice and will miss up to six weeks.

"It's a big blow," Henare said. "He's one of our leaders off the floor and, on the court, one of our most consistent guys and one of our better players at either end of the court."

And having closed in on an import to replace Webster, the deal fell through at the last minute and left the club heading into a problematic Christmas period still in recruitment mode.

"That was a bit of a setback but we'll get back to the drawing board," Henare said. "I'll spend more time in front of the computer and on the phone and just keep looking."