Budget restraints will prevent the Launceston Tornadoes from taking a full squad and staff for their SEABL south conference final on Saturday night in Melbourne.
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But the club is set to bring an extra two players onto the away bench for the penultimate game of the women’s season.
Tornadoes interim executive officer Corey Ackerly confirmed that despite the conference title being on the line, rival host Kilsyth will be handed a decisive numerical advantage other than playing on its home court.
“We probably won’t take more as fingers crossed that we win and because the (championship game) goes back to Melbourne that is when we will be taking more people away,” he said.
“Normally we’d take about 10 – so eight players and a couple of staff.
“This week we will probably send the full 10-player squad, so we have a full bench and maybe a couple of staff other than the coach and the physio to make sure we’re all well prepared for the game.
“If we win this week and make the SEABL (championship) grand final with the two conference winners playing off, hopefully we will have the resources to send the whole squad and extra staff.
“It just comes down to trying to manage the finances that we can afford to do that.”
The SEABL championship game will be at Melbourne’s State Basketball Centre on September 10.
Taking a full squad of 13 players and extra staff that include coaches, managers, physiotherapists and trainers from home to interstate would cost the Torns an extra few thousand dollars per trip.
SEABL pays for travelling clubs to send their “base” teams of up to eight players and the coach interstate under its equalisation policy.
“Any more than that, the club needs to pay for it all,” Ackerly said.
“During the year, every now and then we have extra people for double-header games because you need a couple of extra players in case someone gets injured in the first game.
“We just need to be really careful with our finances, so we can afford to do it first.”
Ackerly said matchday preparation will come down to coach Reece Potter, but travel plans for Melbourne will remain the same.
That includes flying out of Launceston on Saturday morning, a light practice early in the afternoon before relaxing before the 7pm tipoff against Kilsyth.
“We’re keeping to the things we have done all year still,” Ackerly said.
Launceston last reached the championship game in 2010, losing the SEABL grand final to Dandenong Rangers.
The club is positioning to win its second SEABL championship in 21 years.