WNBL news: Sydney Flames coach Shane Heal slams light sentence for not fitting illegal video crime

The Canberra Capitals gained an ‘unfair’ advantage to beat the Sydney Flames in the opening round of the WNBL season and coach Shane Heal wants justice.

Sydney Flames coach Shane Heal has lashed out at the light sentence handed to the Canberra Capitals for using private training vision to gain an unfair advantage, declaring: “You can’t cheat and keep your points.”

Heal’s push for justice comes as Basketball Australia will appeal an independent panel’s decision not to dock the Capitals WNBL competition points for sharing confidential Flames training video for scouting purposes.

Referee Simon Cosier and Capitals coach Paul Goriss were both suspended for engaging in prohibited conduct after a Basketball Australia investigation found that the pair misused inside information and engaged in conduct that would impair public confidence in the integrity of basketball.

Watch Every Game of the 21/22 NBL Season Live & On-Demand with ESPN on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start Your Free Trial >

Flames coach Shane Heal is furious over the light sentence handed down to the Canberra Capitals and believes they should not be allowed to keep their points.

Cosier, who was suspended for the rest of the season, supplied Goriss, a two-time WNBL championship winning coach, with confidential video clips of the Flames training scrimmage that had been used for referee education purposes.

Goriss was suspended from all coaching until January 20 for behaviour was labelled “unprofessional and extremely disappointing” by BA chairman John Carey.

Despite the guilty finding, an independent panel found that no actual advantage was obtained by Goriss or his team when the Capitals beat the Flames by three points in the opening round of the WNBL season.

Heal strongly disagrees with the panel’s findings, revealing Canberra received private video of actual warm-up games, including three clashes between the Flames and the Capitals, and not just training vision as previously stated.

Capitals coach Paul Goriss was suspended for engaging in prohibited conduct after a Basketball Australia investigation.

He believes this clearly gave Canberra an unfair advantage to beat the Flames in the opening round and he wants to see the Capitals docked points for “cheating”.

“To say that it was only training vision and that they (Canberra) only got seven clips, which is what has gone around, is the most disappointing thing,” Heal said on the Basketball Show.

“I’ve got those edits of what Canberra got and it is our games.

“We played Canberra in the first three games, which was what our schedule was, and everything we did tactic wise was in preparation to be able to beat Canberra.

“We ran a full-court press for most of the game and they got the vision of what we were doing to prepare for.

“We ran that play 27 times in the first game, so to say there was no advantage is simply not right.”

"You can't cheat & keep the points, that's what it comes down to. We spent weeks preparing for what they were just handed, that they had no right to get. If this was AFL or Rugby League it'd be front page" @ShaneHeal on Flames V Caps & BA's findings
More - https://t.co/pPxQdUr0WSpic.twitter.com/U7dubnr1VZ

— The Basketball Show 🇦🇺 (@BasketballAu) December 27, 2021

Heal said Canberra’s inside knowledge of Sydney’s game and specific plays was clear during the opening round clash.

The Flames even had a chance to win the game in the closing seconds, but the Capitals were aware of the play having seen Sydney’s training footage.

“We came down to the wire and with 10 seconds to go we had one chance to be able to tie the match with a three-point play,” he said.

“The three-point play that we ran was on their vision that they got and had prepared for.

“They (Canberra players) were yelling at our players from the start, so they knew exactly what they were doing with our numbers scheme.

“The most used offensive scheme that they got, we ran 19 times in offence, and they got our top four plays.

“It is collusion between two people. They gained unfair advantage and we should just get the competition points.

“You can’t cheat and then keep the points – that is what it comes down to.”

Sydney had employed three WNBL officials to referee five warm-up games for preparation purposes.

Heal revealed he initially refused to allow the WNBL referee’s boss to film Sydney’s warm-up games as he wanted it to remain private.

However, the ref’s boss pushed for the filming to go ahead for educational purposes.

The Flames agreed, but the club never thought the game vision would used for a team to gain an unfair advantage during the season.

Heal was originally fuming about the independent panel’s findings, but now he just wants justice.

“We worked together with the referees, and we allowed them to do film our games, and we got a guarantee that no one else would see that vision,” he said.

“We spent weeks preparing for what they were just handed, that they had no right to get. If this was AFL or Rugby League it‘d be front page.”