Coach Joel Khalu hopes a number of NBL1 homecomings can propel Mackay to the success of yesteryear
A number of big names have committed to the Meteors this off-season. We uncover the strategy behind the recruitment, and the lessons learned from a disappointing finals campaign.
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Joel Khalu is getting the band back together.
What band, you may be wondering?
The Mackay Meteors’ 2021 championship-winning one - plus another handy addition.
“I targeted certain players that we wanted, and the fact that they had played here previously really helps, just with familiarity,” Khalu said of his off-season recruiting strategy.
“All of them have been coached by me previously so they know what I’m about and what we’re about, and it’s going to help fast-track a lot of the stuff that we have to put in place.”
Fan favourites and key figures of the celebrated 2021 roster Emmanuel Malou and Jerron Jamerson have both put pen to paper to return to Mackay in 2024.
As has Todd Blanchfield, a Mackay local that began his state league career with the Meteors back in 2007 at just age 15, and would go on to register over 350 NBL appearances across a decorated career.
Malou has registered 16 NBL appearances for the Adelaide 36ers, and was previously a Team MVP and All-League member with the Meteors.
Alongside Malou, Jamerson played a starring role in the 2021 success, earning grand final MVP honours off the back of a season where he averaged 19 points, five rebounds and three assists. He spent the past two seasons co-captaining the new Darwin Salties franchise.
Along with the signings, Khalu also noted it was “huge” to have 2023 stars Isaac White and Christian Maran recommit to the club.
But Khalu hopes the flurry of additions won’t stop at his newly-acquired and much touted trio.
“If we can land the next couple of guys that we are chasing it’s definitely a much stronger roster on paper compared to previous years,” he said.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done, trying to get everyone together on the same page.”
Following the lessons learnt from a 2023 finals campaign that derailed at this first hurdle - a 22-point quarter final loss to the South-West Metro Pirates - strengthening the roster has been a key focus of Khalu this off-season.
“Depth is important, when (Isaac White) went down with his injury and didn’t play that quarter final, that certainly impacted,” Khalu conceded.
“We had built everything around him pretty much the entire season. When you take out such a pivotal point, it makes other guys have to step up and we didn’t have the cattle to do what needed to be done.
“Any team that wants to win a championship probably has to go nine or ten guys deep, and this year we think we can do that.”
Khalu’s coaching adventure
Amidst his efforts to build a roster that’s reminiscent of his 2015 and 2021 Meteors championship sides, Khalu has been busy adding some tantalising experience to an already impressive resume: NBL assistant coach.
Since early December, the Mackay basketball stalwart has taken up the post of assistant coach at the Illawarra Hawks. It’s a position he’ll hold until the end of the season.
“I’ve been enjoying it, it’s been a great opportunity, good to coach at this level and get involved,” Khalu said.
“It’s been really cool to be involved and have input. Just reinforcing a lot of the stuff I’m already doing at NBL1.
“There’s not a lot of change at NBL level, it’s just dealing with professional athletes everyday in a high performance environment.”
It isn’t Khalu’s first stint as an NBL assistant, having previously worked with Illawarra in 2019, and he’s also been coaching alongside new recruit Blanchfield.
But given his success in the tier below, does Khalu have ambitions to one day coach in the nation’s top league?
“It’s something I’ve always had in the back of my mind, as I’ve progressed and gotten a little bit older, I haven’t had so much of a focus around doing it,” he reflected.
“But this opportunity came along and the timing of it seemed to work being our off-season.”
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