Melbourne Tigers

Looking in from the outside

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Last night, the NBL launched it’s season with the big news that Channel Nine was picking up games along with Foxtel.

This news has basketball fans jumping for joy, enthusiasm that hasn’t been seen in years and yet for many Tigers fans, Dragons fans, Magic fans, Giants fans, Cannons fans, Falcons fans, Blaze fans and all the other teams that been casualties over the years and lost to the NBL are looking on saddened that their team is not part of it all and some wish the league would just die anyway.

The transformation in the NBL has all been because of Larry Kestelman and while the job he has done has been stunning the question that must be asked is why on earth didn’t he throw his weight behind the Tigers when he was their co-owner before the change to United? Tigers fan Peter Disco noted that on his way to work he heard three United radio ads whilst years earlier you wouldn’t hear a Tigers ad.

Was Larry’s majority ownership of the NBL part of a long range plan? Was the first step to take out the Melbourne Tigers name, colours and history and replace it with a we’re for Victoria team to eliminate resistance and the second was to take control of the league to build upon his business interests?

Will Larry put Melbourne United at risk by allowing a second Victorian team in? Which cap will he cling to the most, the co-owner of Melbourne United cap or the NBL majority owner cap? Will he let go of the Tigers to expand the league so he can rake in more cash? There’s no finer team to put in than the Melbourne Tigers.
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We’re asking him to risk United, we’re asking him to release the Tigers Intellectual Property and establish a new Tigers with it’s name, history and colours intact and allow them to compete against Melbourne United but WANMU cannot do this alone, we need every fan to support the petition in some way, sign it, share it, get family aboard, all the little things because all the little things is how big things happen and everyone has to decide if they’d take the little time to do them.

https://www.change.org/p/larry-kestelman-vince-crivelli-michael-slepoy-larry-kestelman-release-the-tigers-intellectual-property

Let’s not stop there, C’mon Dragons fans make a petition to enter the league, C’mon Giants fans it’s time to awaken your sleeping Giants and Magic fans it’s time to cast your spells again.

Why? Because now is the time to act while the media is so in love with the NBL, it’s time to be heard so speak up while you still can.

#wewanthardballtoo

Tigers on the prowl for wins

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After both the Tigers Men’s and Women’s teams scored wins last weekend over Sherbrooke and Eltham respectively, The Tigers teams are on the prowl for further success this weekend.

The Tigers Men take on Corio Bay at MSAC at 8pm April 25 at and Waverley on April 26 from 2:30pm at the Waverley Basketball Centre.

The Tigers Women aim to go three straight when they take on Waverley at the Waverley Basketball Centre at 12:30pm Sunday April 26.

Tigers fans are really excited with the Tigers teams recent form and hope the form continues this week against the quality opposition.

Tigers fans are reminded that memberships are still available to purchase, Details can be found on the many Tigers Facebook pages and groups.

WANMU will inform fans of the results as soon as news comes to hand.

Tigers Women get first win for 2015

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The Melbourne Tigers Women’s team have scored their first win of the 2015 BigV season by downing Warrandyte 64 to 58 in front of their home crowd last Saturday night.

This win will no doubt be a major morale booster for the Tigers who were belted the previous week by Hume City, This win shows that the team can rebound from disheartening losses and it is hoped this win will give the Tigers the confidence and belief to continue to win games this season.

Meanwhile the Melbourne Tigers Men’s team failed to capitalize on it’s win against Hume City by falling to the previous winless Whittlesea 76 to 66., With both Diamond Creek and Whittlesea winning games on the weekend it means the Tigers battle to stay off the bottom of the ladder has tightened back up.

Round 5 will tip off for the Tigers on Saturday night with the Women travelling to Eltham High School to take on Eltham Wildcats at 6pm while the Men are once again at MSAC from 8pm taking on the Sherbrooke Suns, WANMU will report on the game as soon as news comes to hand.

Tigers aim to square up season

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The Melbourne Tigers Men’s team (1-2) aim to square up their BigV season ledger when they take on the Whittlesea Pacers (0-5) from 8pm tomorrow night at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre (MSAC) while the Women’s team hope to get a win on the board when they take on Warrandyte Venom from 6pm also at MSAC.

The Tigers Men go into the game full of confidence after beating their more fancied rivals Hume City Broncos on their home turf last week, Tigers fans are steadily making their way to BigV games as word of the season in progress makes it’s way to fans who were left in the cold after the axing of the Tigers name and history in the NBL.

The Tigers Women’s team (0-3) is hoping to rebound from a massive loss to Hume City by beating the similarly luckless Warrandyte (0-4), Despite the massive loss last week Tigers fans are sticking with the team knowing that success will come in the future as the team learn from each other and their abilities.

WANMU will report on the results as they come to hand.

Tigers trump Broncos on Broncos turf

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The Melbourne Tigers Men’s team scored their first win of the 2015 BigV season last Saturday night by defeating the Lanard Copeland coached Hume City Broncos 90 to 63.

The result is a major confidence booster as Hume City has had an impressive start this season under Copeland’s coaching and were expected to add more early season misery to the Tigers season but the Tigers taught the Broncos a lesson on their own turf by taking out the win.

The Melbourne Tigers Women’s team unfortunately suffered a massive loss by going down to the Broncos 105 to 30, while this result is no doubt disappointing to the ladies and their fans, The ladies should feel good in the knowledge that they fought out the game and that with time and practice great results will follow for the only way from here is up.

The next round will take place on April 11 with the Women’s team taking on Warrandyte (0-4) at 6pm and the Men’s team will be taking on Whittlesea (0-4) at 8pm with both teams playing at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre (click on link for map).

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Many thanks to Brett Be for taking pictures of the game including the one above showing Andrew Gaze in action as Tigers coach.

If the NBL falls, what happens to Melbourne?

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With news that Townsville and Wollongong are in financial receivership as well as the NBL being dragged over the coals for their sloppy Awards announcements and being fairly pummeled in the press by Andrew Gaze over the above, Where will United Ballers owners Kestleman and Slepoy take Melbourne United if the NBL falls?.

Would Melbourne United go to SEABL next year and set off a potentially tense situation with Tigers fans who are rebuilding their team hoping to go to SEABL in 2016? Would they step back further and go to BigV where the original Melbourne Tigers already exist causing more angst among already angry Tigers fans? Would they put Melbourne United on ice and wait for the NBL to return to strength or would they do the unthinkable and put a torpedo into Melbourne ending 31 years of any NBL team occupying Melbourne.

Melbourne Tigers fans are no doubt watching developments with interest for it would no doubt be awkward to have the Tigers and the United Ballers in the same competition then again it could give Australian basketball that well sought after bit of spice that’s been missing for some time.

If United Ballers owners took the drastic option of renaming the team and history from Melbourne Tigers to Melbourne United (Ballers) last year in order to survive, does it mean that a withdrawal from Basketball is not impossible? Could this mean a consortium could take the license back and restore the Tigers if United’s owners have to hand it in? These are interesting times sports fans.

Meanwhile at Tigers Land, Fans are reminded that Tigers memberships for the 2015 BigV season are available by clicking on, filling in and emailing out the membership form provided in the picture below, memberships are cheap and affordable but most if not all families across Australia.

Personally this writer wishes this chaotic day would never happen to the NBL but at the moment it is starting to resemble Titanic despite all the efforts to keep it floating, it was saved once in 2009 but the fear is it won’t survive 2016 and that is a big shame.

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Tigers fans snap up BigV memberships

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Melbourne Tigers fans have started to sign up for memberships in the BigV team as the 2015 BigV season nears it’s beginning.

The Melbourne Tigers are offering a range of memberships that are financially reachable for the majority of fans with Armchair Membership being the lowest at $25 with Membership Red and Family Membership being the highest at $110, each membership level guarantees a minimum of a membership card, newsletter and a Tigers cap with those who want the higher Tigers membership levels awarded more perks.

Every purchase of a membership will bring the Tigers that little bit closer to making it’s way to the SEABL competition or other high quality competitions in 2016 as the team and it’s fans seek to be once again the top major basketball team in Melbourne.

A membership form can be downloaded by clicking on the membership form below and send it to membership@melbournebasketball.com.au or email the same address to enquire or to start the membership buying process.

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United claims state for Heritage Round

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Melbourne United Ballers this morning posted an image of Daryl Corletto from 2002 in Melbourne Tigers gear with the caption ‘Circa 2002: Kicking off Heritage Round with this Melbourne youngster!’ leading fans to speculate the team was returning to the Tigers for the game against Townsville.

Hours after this post, Melbourne United Ballers revealed that they will be wearing 1953 Victorian state jerseys in a move that has puzzled Basketball lovers from around the country, this isn’t the first time United have chosen state gear with pre-season matches played in Victorian colours due to the team not having their jerseys launched at that time.

Imagine if Collingwood, Carlton or any of the other Victorian teams played say Port Adelaide in Big V gear with their justification being that because some of their players played for Victoria as kids they can wear the Big V for the AFL game, nobody would buy that for a second because although Collingwood etc are in the state of Victoria they are not the state team and cannot claim to be that team at any time.

One more thing to consider is that with a second Victorian team looming in the distance could Melbourne United Ballers be trying to do good for the state now so they get a head start on state opposition when they arrive? The team is based in Melbourne, want to play in Ballarat and wears state jerseys for Heritage round, what more could they do to say that are wanting the entire state?.

The big losers from all this is the Melbourne Tigers fans, first Melbourne United Ballers owners took away the Tigers name and history then they disregarded the five retired numbers that hung proudly at home games by allowing their players to wear them and now they bypass direct history, is there anything more United Ballers want to take away from the fans?.

What will United wear?

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Heritage Round for the NBL is here and all eyes on are Melbourne United on what they’ll wear when they appear at The Cage to take on Townsville next week.

Will they be wearing Melbourne Tigers gear? SE Melbourne Magic? Nunawading Spectres? North Melbourne Giants? Frankston Bears?  St Kilda? Any of the other Melbourne and Geelong area teams?.

If the Tigers jersey is chosen it will no doubt make unhappy Tigers fans even unhappier considering the Tigers history was booted in favor of United Ballers and the game it is at the Tigers former home turf.

If they pick other teams those fans would be unhappy because they didn’t like the Tigers and lastly if they chose a state jersey then people will be reminded by United Ballers statement that the United Ballers aren’t trying to grab the whole state for themselves.

United Ballers will later on be having a Foundation Round, since Melbourne United Ballers have said the Tigers and United Ballers are the same team, the below should serve as a reminder that Foundation for Melbourne was 1984 and not 2014.

1984 Tigers

Harrower’s retirement brings back Tigers WNBL memories

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This writer was too young to remember the fact that the Melbourne Tigers had an WNBL team but the knowledge of the team existing in that league is something to be proud of as Melbourne has had teams in the very best leagues that Australia can offer.

The recent retirement of WNBL legend Kristi Harrower who played for the Melbourne Tigers among other great teams has brought memories of the Tigers days in the WNBL back to many fans, perhaps this will spur on Tigers fans to fill in the gaps where there is a lack of recorded history of the side in the league.

The Tigers didn’t win any titles after being denied twice by Adelaide Lightning but perhaps one day a new Tigers team will take to the court and win the elusive WNBL title and join a few clubs to have a NBL and WNBL title to their name.