NBL1 North: Gold Coast Rollers will look to repeat their late 80s triumph

It might feel like history is repeating at the Gold Coast but star Rollers guard Todd Blanchfield isn’t getting too far ahead of himself just yet.

It might feel like history is repeating at the Gold Coast but star Rollers guard Todd Blanchfield isn’t getting too far ahead of himself just yet.

The Gold Coast rolled into the NBL1 North grand final after a dominant 108-95 semi final win against South West Metro Pirates, a success which has them on the cusp of repeating history.

Then known as the Cougars, the Gold Coast made – and won- back to back conference finals in 1987-88, and this group led by Blanchfield and Jason Cadee has earned the chance to do so again next week.

The Rollers led from start to finish against the Pirates with Blanchfield leading the way with 32 points and 16 rebounds, while Cadee stuffed the stat sheet with 22 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds to fall just short of a triple-double.

The win sets up a best-of-three conference final against Ipswich Force, with all three games held in the Gold Coast.

Gold Coast Rollers' Todd Blanchfield dropped 32 points and collected 16 rebounds in the semi final win over South West Metro Pirates. Picture: Trent Schwarz

Rollers guard Todd Blanchfield said he has never seen the group more focused than what they are now.

“It has been great to be part of this group, everyone is determined and putting in so much effort and getting around each other,” Blanchfield said.

“Training this week will be amazing, everyone is very focused on what we need to do.

“But also the spirits are up and about, everyone seems to be pretty relaxed by the whole thing.

“I wasn’t apart of it last year, so the chance to be part of a championship this season, in any sport really is something that won’t be taken for granted.

“Anthony (Petrie) has done a great job with this side, not many teams can win 18 games in a row.”

The Rollers will look to heavily guard Deng Deng and Nathan Sobey who have put together dominate quarterfinals and semi final matches.

Deng finished with 28 points and 11 rebounds against Cairns followed up by 17 points and 11 rebounds against Logan in the semi final.

Sobey, who plays for the Brisbane Bullets in the NBL, finished with 24 points, eight rebounds against Cairns and 26 points and eight rebounds against Logan.

“They are both quality players, any time you get to line up against a Boomers player it can be quite exciting,” Blanchfield said.

“We can’t just focus on them though, yes they are both big players but they have plenty of other players we will watch closely as well.

“We will need to be on our game throughout the series if we want to claim the championship.”

Both teams sit poised at one win each in the two games between each other, with the Force beating them in round two in April by 20 points at the Gold Coast.

The Rollers returned the favour when they travelled to Ipswich at the end of June, winning by five points.

Blanchfield again had a night to remember dropping 42 points and collecting 19 rebounds.

”If I could repeat that, then that would just be awesome but the best thing about this group is if one player is off, someone always steps up,” Blanchfield said.

“We had Jase (Jason Cadee) drop 50 points one game and a few times he has hit 40 points.

“So that is the thing, yes I would love to repeat that game again but if it doesn’t happen and we still get the win, then that I won’t be complaining.

The Rollers will look to go to national finals if they can hold off a strong Ipswich side that came back from 20 points down to beat Logan in the semi final on Saturday night.

Game one of the three game series kicks off on Friday night at 7:30.