THE usual squabble for game time will be on again at Newcastle Basketball Stadium tonight when past and past-it Falcons players of various shapes and sizes soar again for a charity exhibition game.
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The Falcons Reunion match at Broadmeadow will raise funds for the Cancer Council and maintain momentum for the push to have a Newcastle team back in the National Basketball League.
Nathan Tinkler’s Hunter Sports Group have postponed by one year a submission to join the NBL and will now target the 2013-14 season.
Until then, events like the one tonight organised by life-long Falcons fan and former Hunter Pirates guard Adam Melmeth will remind the community that there remains a core of passionate basketball supporters who want to see Newcastle back on the national stage.
Apart from wanting to see big-time basketball back in Newcastle permanently, Melmeth has been a supporter of the Cancer Council since his father, Paul, died six years ago of leukaemia.
More than 20 former Falcons, including Melmeth’s big brother Ben, Butch Hays, Tonny Jensen, Martin McLean, Grant Kruger, Peter Harvey, Chris Steele, and even long-time former NBL referee Ken Clifford, will dust off their sneakers and hobble on to the main court at 6.30pm for a 7pm tip-off.
Kruger, visiting from Townsville, almost lost a foot after a staph infection, but heaven help anyone who turns their back when he sets an off-ball screen.
Harvey and Ben Melmeth have had back surgery since retiring. McLean, whose shooting range extended to the car park when his eye was in, has not run for almost three years due to a long-term knee injury.
And they are among the younger and fitter men playing tonight.
‘‘Look, there’s a few of us – quite a few of us – who probably shouldn’t be playing, and I’m one of them. It could be disastrous, but I’ll have a crack,’’ McLean laughed.
One team will wear a green, brown and white kit and the other will play in blue, red and white, to represent the two best-known colour combinations the Falcons wore between their foundation in 1979 until their demise in 1999.
Doors open at 6pm and spectators will be entertained by Fat Elvis, cheerleaders and acrobats before the game and during breaks in play.
There will be merchandise available, a display of Falcons memorabilia, and even a half-time half-court shoot-out. Tickets are $15 each or $50 for four, and are available at the door.
