Save Our South Dragons

The Save Our Dragons group seeks to follow the lead of Wollongong and Cairns by reinstating the South Dragons to the National Basketball League under a community ownership model.

While we respect the decision made by Mark Cowan and Raphael Geminder in the off-season, we would be derelict as passionate Dragons supporters not to explore every opportunity to keep the fire burning and continue their legacy. The club was making significant inroads in reconnecting with the community through its “Back to the Burbs” initiative and regular player clinics, with Dragons merchandise continuing to be worn in local stadiums despite the club's non-existence.

Basketball's profile in Melbourne was boosted by the Dragons' presence, with the club doing an admirable job of defying the league's poor perception and attracting media coverage under communications manager Ed Wyatt. This resulted in a 21 per cent increase in home attendances during 2008/09 compared to the previous season's average, and, after defeating the Melbourne Tigers to achieve championship glory, there's every reason to believe that the momentum would have continued.

We believe that the combination of this legacy and the excitement that would be created by the club's return would make for a strong supporter base and the perfect way to reenergise the Victorian basketball scene, which is at its nadir under a Tigers' monopoly.

The alternative is to start again with a completely new brand, alienating those who have been burnt too many times in the past and would not trust yet another departure from something they have already invested in both financially and emotionally.

In the interests of basketball, therefore, we seek to save the South Dragons by garnering community and corporate support and forming an ownership model in which:

• We envisage a club that is run for the members, by the members. Club members are the lifeblood of sport and must be recognised as such. Our club would come under the direction an elected board which subsequently acts in the interests of the members, who will obtain voting rights as an acknowledgement of their commitment.
• We envisage stability. The second license in Melbourne has been marred by teams merging and collapsing. Supporters of previous identities such as the Giants, Magic, Titans and Dragons have suffered enough pain, and yet another new brand would be the straw that breaks the camel's back. Sport in this country is generational – many of us adopt the same football team as our parents, with families of up to three generations coming together on weekends to sit in the outer. This has not been possible in the NBL, which is why our board will be adhere to strict business practices to ensure we will be Dragons for life.
• We envisage grassroots attachment. Suburban basketball courts are bursting at the seams with people wanting to play the game, yet NBL clubs continue to struggle putting bums on seats. We want to parlay the grassroots interest into a vibrant professional scene by making the Dragons a prominent part of the community, supporting those that support them.
• We envisage an open, media-friendly environment. The Fourth Estate is a conduit between the public and those in power. When sporting clubs deny media requests and coaches refuse to answer questions, they are treating their supporters with contempt by failing to communicate to those who pay their wages. Our club will strive to build amiable relationships with the press to ensure basketball receives the coverage it deserves.
• We envisage an ideal vehicle for our corporate partners. The Dragons enjoyed the loyal support of a myriad of sponsors, including Deloitte and Crazy John's. By helping to save the club under a community-oriented vision, our partners will benefit from the simultaneous opportunities to associate themselves with both suburbia and the major capital cities involved in the national league. They will also be associating their brand with a fairytale narrative in which our club will be rescued from the wilderness and, ultimately, go on to add to its championship banner of last season.

If you share our vision and wish to Save Our Dragons, please click on the PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT and POTENTIAL SPONSORS pages to get involved and make it a reality.

"It isn't all doom and gloom -- year one is a time for consolidation before we see the return of Sydney and Brisbane along with a second club back in Melbourne. It has been shown in the past Melbourne can sustain a second team." – Larry Sengstock, The Australian, 29 August 2009.

"We have to have Brisbane and Sydney, and we believe there is also an opportunity in Melbourne for a second team as well." – Larry Sengstock, Sydney Morning Herald, 14 October 2009.

These quotes from Basketball Australia chief executive Larry Sengstock confirm the NBL’s interest in establishing a new Melbourne team for season 2010/11, along with a presence in Sydney and Brisbane. Sengstock’s comments are certainly welcome, for the Melbourne Tigers are incapable of representing the entire Victorian basketball community due to the intense passion of previous cross-town derbies. This town flourishes when there are two strong sides, with crowds in excess of 9000 people packing into Hisense Arena to see the South Dragons host the Tigers. However, despite the positive vibes from NBL HQ, there remains great uncertainty over the identity of the proposed club, which Sengstock simply refers to as a “second Melbourne team.” We often hear this term.

By referring to supporters of the Giants, Magic, Titans and Dragons as the one identity, there’s an assumption that we are always going to accept whatever brand the NBL throws at us. We must no longer be taken for granted. Our passions are not transient. We are Dragons. For the Dragons were our panacea following many years of pain, in which we bought season memberships, experienced the highs and lows of sport and remained loyal to the league when others deserted it, only to have our teams ripped from our hearts.

We could have bought into the Tigers’ monopoly between 2004 and 2006, which saw the league’s profile sink into an abyss and newspapers relegate their basketball coverage to the page adjacent to the obituaries. We could have turned our backs on the NBL forever, choosing to spend our summers soaking up the sunrays at the beach, joining in a Mexican wave at the ‘G or chanting “Ole Ole” at the soccer.

But when two businessmen named Mark Cowan and Raphael Geminder came along and launched a new club on December 15 2005, how could we resist? We, the basketball junkie, had been invited to a family reunion. A reunion which was going to offer more than a fleeting relationship.

Good things come to those who wait, and suddenly we had a product to be proud of, as we would walk up Swan Street on a balmy summer’s evening, glance at the Nylex Clock and ascend the steps of Hisense Arena to embark on a night’s entertainment incomparable to anything else in the sporting landscape. The results didn’t always go our way – the wooden-spoon season of 2007/08 tested our patience – but the welcoming arms of the South Dragons Basketball Club were impossible to escape. This was an inclusive environment, in which the players were accessible, the staff were amiable and the supporters were finally united. We didn’t necessarily know each other’s name, nor did we necessarily speak to one another. But there was always time for a smile and a nod, for our journey was too common to be ignored.

It become an exhilarating journey, too, with the recruitment of Brian Goorjian and star players such as Mark Worthington and Adam Gibson delivering results which seemed unimaginable just twelve months earlier. These were times to savour, as we’d congregate in the members’ function room and be greeted by the familiar phrase of, “How about those Dragons?!” Those Dragons would soon be champions, and our rocky journey had reached its summit.

Or so we thought.

Now we found ourselves without a team once more, and the generic phrase “second Melbourne team” has returned to the NBL lexicon. There’s every chance the team will be a completely new brand, and, considering our loyal history, there’s ever chance we will be in the stands together showing our support. However, we would be doing so with a heavy heart, as we all know that nothing can replicate the days of the Dragons.

It is for this reason that we ask you to join us in saving our Dragons. This is a team which now has history and an existing supporter base. Only egoistic games of one-upmanship could motivate a prospective owner to overlook the Dragons’ legacy and design their own brand, and this is not the time for self-interest. Our sport has enough rivals without shooting itself in the foot. So let’s put any differences aside, work in harmony and, with a bit of luck, we will meet underneath our championship banner next season and have the Black Army roaring like never before.

Now that is a reunion to look forward to.