January 10 2018

Today we were given a clue on what Melbourne United will wear for Heritage Round (Month).

It is from 2007/08 and that narrows it down to the Tigers and Dragons, a further clue is that five teams including United will wear a jersey design that was used in a championship year and the Tigers won a title in 2007/8.

So what is this Tigers fan’s thoughts on the matter?

I wish there was a way we could turn the situation if it happens to our (Tigers) advantage.

We need more ex NBL Tigers fans to support the current Melbourne Tigers, while it is true that SEABL is not the NBL and it does put people off, it is still a league that is fiercely contested and has quality.

We have a lot going for us coming into the 2018 SEABL season, our Women’s team has Monique Conti who not only features on the SEABL fixture guide but is used in Melbourne Boomers promotions in the WNBL as well.

Louella Tomlinson will be in for the full season too and her introduction halfway through last season brought a change in form for the Tigers too, Louella has also been doing her bit for the Melbourne Boomers too.

Daryl Corletto will be a full season player in the Men’s team and so we’ll have a season that is not disjointed as we had struggled with have a consistent lineup in the past two seasons.

We have a new set of coaches and assistants, they are highly qualified and the teams are backed by the deep depths of talent the YCM and YCW teams have.

We’re playing our games in Oakleigh and we’ve had our successes there, we get better attendance there and there’s a better crowd atmosphere too.

Fans may be upset that we have moved from MSAC but it is a matter of survival, we were MSAC’s guests, we paid to setup there and pack it up, our fan base in 2016 and 2017 was just too small to make a profit.

Personally, the original idea of Melbourne United is dying, an introduction of another Melbourne team will kill their stated mission to be for all Victorians so they can wear the Tigers colours but the tribute would be just a symbol or token at best, they have our four championships (technically they have just two), they have our retired jersey numbers but they don’t keep the numbers off the court and they celebrate their birthday in May and say they’re almost four and almost 34.

For a brief moment it will be fantastic to see the Tigers colours on an NBL court but then the reality will pop up that it isn’t us out there and will just shrug and think of the day the SEABL season starts or the monumental task of getting back into the NBL which won’t be easy thanks to Larry Kestelman co-owning the rights of United and Tigers (the hushed up conflict of interest).

They’re not us and we’re not them but we have survived and we’ll get bigger over time, it just takes time, money, fan support and dedication.

In just under three months time the city will be ours again for a couple of months Basketball wise, lets enjoy it.