Sharks vs Huskies - Saturday June 15 @ 7pm
Broadcast: live on SKY (pop-up), stuff.co.nz, TribeSports App, pickandroll.com.au
Arguably the most important game of the regular season, everything is on the line for both the Sharks and the Huskies. Saturday night sees the fourth and fifth-placed teams, who’re only separated by one win, play for the final playoff spot at the business end of the season. It’s been an up and down season for the Sharks, who’ve only recently turned their form around. It’s obvious that they need Jarred Weeks and Todd Blanchfield in a groove to have any chance this weekend, but they’ll also need fellow import Roberto Nelson to put together a decent performance not only this week but also going forward. As for the Huskies, last week they were sitting pretty on the same amount of wins as their Southland foes but with a game in hand and two home fixtures. Fast forward seven days and they’re now two points behind the Sharks and are in desperate need of a win. They need at least one win from their two games in R10 (Rams on Friday), otherwise, they can all but kiss goodbye flights to Christchurch in July.
SHARKS
Starting 5
35. Alex Pledger (centre)
97. Jarrad Weeks (guard)
22. Hyrum Harris (guard/forward)
24 . Todd Blanchfield (guard)
15. Tom Vodanovich (forward)
Bench
4. Roberto Nelson (guard)
11. Dom Kelman-Poto (forward)
14. Tai Wynyard (centre)
25. Andrew Wheeler (guard)
Coach: Judd Flavell
Assistant: Leyton Haddleton
Manager: Troy Paulin
From The Coach - Judd Flavell This game v Huskies looms as a crunch game for us in our playoff hopes. We have had a great week training wise, working on all areas but it was pleasing to see the improvement in our defence in our last game. We want to build on this this week but we know that the Huskies will be a strong challenge on our home court. There will be some great individual and entertaining match ups.
HUSKIES
Starting 5 3. Tre Nichols (guard) 6. Mason Bragg (guard) 23. Lochlan Cummings (guard) 22. Jalen Billups (forward) 62. Marcel Jones (forward)
Bench 14. Jordan Vandenburg (centre) 8. Bryan Michaels (guard) 12. Tiri Masunda (guard)
Coach: Anthony Stewart Assistant: Corey Davie Assistant: Dwain Davie Manager: Andrew Downie Physio: Revive Health