The family of slain Darwin Saltie Alier Riak says their bond with the club will last ‘forever’
The uncle of slain Darwin Saltie Alier Riak has spoken of the enduring connection between his family and the new NBL1 team.
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The connection between the Darwin Salties and its Kenyan-born star recruit who never made it to the floor in the Territory, Alier Riak, will remain “forever”, the late basketballer’s uncle has told the NT News.
Riak, 23, who was born in a Kenyan refugee camp and moved to Australia in 2005, was allegedly stabbed to death in the early hours of March 13 in Melbourne’s CBD and six men were charged over the incident.
However, the fledgling NBL1 club will honour Riak’s connection to and legacy at the Salties by presenting a trophy at season’s end to a special, deserving player in his honour.
At a singlet presentation on Friday night at Crocodylus Park, Abraham Akout, who was presented with his nephew’s number 15 guernsey, said Alier and his family would forever be linked to the Salties.
“The Salties... has put a smile on the faces of our family at this devastating time,” Akout said.
“We feel so honoured... (he has provided) leadership and inspiration for the young people in the sporting community
“(The connection) lives on forever.
“We were hoping to come here and watch the game and see Alier play.”
He said sport in general had a wonderful ability to lift people out of the toughest of times, and the story of Alier and the Salties was a testament to that belief.
“This is what sport is all about, if (remembering Alier) didn’t happen here, who else would have done it?
“At a time of feeling so low, sport can pick you up.
“And that’s what the NBL1 has done for the family, at a time of despair, a time of desperation.
“It’s put a smile back on our face.
“And Alier is going to live on forever. And his dream was to live on forever.
“The whole family will be connected, the Salties is part of our family from now on.”
Earlier, men’s senior coach Matt Flinn said his players had made “an oath” to honour the memory of Riak as a founding member of the club.
“Recruiting’s about relationships, although I never met Alier personally and we never had the ‘eye test’... we used to speak about all the time: ‘Let’s share the hardwood together’,” Flinn told players and supporters at Friday night's presentation.
“It still certainly resonates with me.
“The impact this is going to have on this group (will be big), and it won’t be lost for one second, win, lose or draw, whatever this team does this year.”
Meanwhile, Flinn said he was proud to be at the starting blocks of a new beginning for Darwin basketball, two-and-a-half years after the push for its own NBL1 team began.
“It started with, like all good things, an idea, and here we are. I’m super excited,” Flinn said, who had only been involved at two foundation basketball clubs: Illawarra Hawks and the Salties.
“We want to embrace the community first and play basketball second,” Flinn said.
“I’m really looking forward to the journey.
“Make no mistake, we’re starting at the bottom, it’s an incredibly tough league but it’s going to make it all the more sweeter... when we rip in and make you guys proud.”
Darwin Salties men’s coach reveals his values
There are many unknowns that come with a start-up basketball team, but you can be certain of one thing with the Darwin Salties men’s outfit this NBL1 season: they have a strict “no d*ckhead policy”.
Speaking to the NT News before the team’s inaugural match against Red City Roar this Saturday night, new coach Matt Flinn said the squad had already set several non-negotiables and values to live and play by.
Flinn, who describes himself as “24/7 hoops”, said they were essential for the players to hold each other to account, while creating an environment where players want to come to “get better”.
“We have a no d*ckhead policy, number one,” Flinn said.
“We want to be first and foremost, good people.”
Flinn is also a man of vision who wants to create a “linear pathway” for the 15-year-old Darwinite currently dreaming of playing at a higher level, and not be a place for players looking to have some fun at the tailend of their careers.
He said new processes and building blocks were essential to retaining Territory talent and not losing it to other sports, from that key time period between Year 11 and the traditional “gap year”.
“The vision is to start a Salties Academy,” he said.
“If they’re any good, they’ll have a few different paths now. I wouldn’t be sitting here without that pathway available.
“So many kids I grew up with just turned away from the sport in Year 11 and 12. They can have a legitimate pathway and opportunity (in Darwin).”
To instil the new team’s core beliefs, a three-man leadership group has been announced, including a familiar face in Jerron Jamerson, who has been embraced by the Darwin community after living and playing here for several years with Ansett and Tracy Village.
“He’s had success in NBL1 both as a team and also personally,” Flinn said.
“He just ticked a lot of boxes.
“We ultimately want to make sure we’re walking the walk in the community.”
The trio is rounded out by Ambros Eugster from Hobart Chargers, who has a “good understanding” of what is required at the level, and Josh Spiers from Townsville Heat, who Flinn has watched closely for years.
“They’ve all got different skill sets, they’ve all got different leadership styles,” he said.
However, the Illawarra Hawks mentor and former player said the new franchise was facing a variety of challenges with the start of the NBL1 season looming.
For starters, it had been difficult to build team chemistry at this early stage with some of his key players late arrivals in the Territory, including Adelaide 36er Tad Dufelmeier.
Essentially, this team has never hit the floor before in a competitive match and there are plenty of rough edges to smooth down.
“You’re going to stub your toe a couple of times,” he said.
“It’s not all smooth sailing (for a new team) and we’ll be no different.”
Dufelmeier will arrive on game day on Saturday but is unlikely to play, even though the Salties are fighting it out in what Flinn believes is the toughest conference, with each team having at least one “legitimate star”.
“I just think it will be unfair on him to fly in on game day and we go: “OK mate, out you go, you’re our star signing… give us 20 and 10.
“I view it as a great opportunity for some of these guys we’ve signed… we’ve got a core group of guys who are all scrapping for minutes and roles within the team.”
He said the shape of the starting five was still a work in progress, including Donovan Russell, Jarrod Molnar, Daniel Babb, Ben Wright and Shaq Hohipa-Wilson.
“We don’t know where they’re going to sit,” he said of that five-man group.
“I’ve seen a lot of good training players in my career… (however) when the lights come on it’s a different beast.”
He also said the squad lacked a genuine barometer at this early stage.
“We still don’t have everyone here yet,” he said.
“We haven’t been able to have any litmus test on where we’re at as a group.
“I don’t know where we are in terms of our conditioning, in terms of our development as a team.
“It’s been a challenging task, especially when everything is so new. A whole new roster who have never played together before.”
Flinn was used to having several months to build towards an NBL season, but was mindful of not “overcomplicating the system”.
“I’m just trying to be comfortable with the mess and not worry too much,” he said.
“I’m confident the guys coming in, they’re pros.
“It’s a matter of everyone getting on the same page.”
Despite being a start-up, Flinn has set the bar high for the Salties in season 2022.
“We definitely want to make the play offs and make the top four,” he said.
Darwin Salties to roll out new wheelchair team
THE Territory will boast three, new sporting teams at a national level this year, with the newly-formed Darwin Salties joining the National Wheelchair Basketball League.
Five teams, from Sydney, Wollongong, Perth, Brisbane and now Darwin, will compete from May 27 to July 17, which comes after the Darwin Salties joined the men’s and women’s NBL1 competition for 2022.
And the new wheelchair outfit will feature two-time Paralympian and former Territorian, Tom O’Neill-Thorne.
The 24-year-old, who was born with the congenital condition Arthrogryposis, which severely limits his range of motion within his lower body and has confined him to a wheelchair since the age of two, first watched the sport at the Arafura Games in 2007.
He said it was “super exciting” for local wheelchair basketballers to access a higher level right here in the Territory.
“We didn’t think it was possible,” the 2017 NT Sportsperson of the Year winner told the NT News at Marrara on Friday.
“Kids coming through the ranks who want to take it to the next level... it brings it right to their doorstep.”
O’Neill-Thorne, who also won the 2013 Junior Sportsperson of the Year award, was one of those youngsters who had to leave the Territory for higher honours, effectively poached by Brisbane’s Spinning Bullets in 2012.
However, he said it felt “really good” to be back in the Territory after several years away.
“I never thought I’d come back,” he said.
“The opportunities weren’t really up here, but to come back and build those opportunities... I never thought I’d have this.”
He said slowly building local interest in wheelchair basketball, and improved administration and infrastructure, had cleared a path for the Salties to enter the NWBL.
Darwin Basketball Association chief executive Kerri Savidge said it was great to have O’Neill-Thorne back in the Territory, who was refereeing local Thursday night games and attending schools for promotional activities.
“Covid brought him back to us and we’ve kept him,” she said.
“We’ve been working for the last three to four years to get everything into place.
“This is going to be a crazy year, but it’s a year we believe financially, strategically, everything, it’s gotta hit together and we think 2022 is the year.
“The guys have chosen to go under the Salties name, rather than have a different identity. That’s quite huge.”
She admitted there was more appreciation for the sport than in the past, and through grant funding for better chairs, it had become a more attractive package for people of all abilities to play.
“And better care factor too. I don’t think anybody will shy away from saying we never put it as high priority,” she said.
Sports Minister Kate Worden said the three teams would provide further “great branding” for the Territory.
Meanwhile, the Salties’ able bodied teams have so far signed Jerron Jamerson, Matty Hunt, Shaquille Hohipa-Wilson, Ben Wright, Josh Spiers, Kylie Duggan, Serena Waters, Teyla Evans and Erin Bollmann as players and Sam Rioli as an assistant coach of the women’s team.
“I almost quit basketball”: Salties recruit returns to her roots
Slumped on an Adelaide basketball court nursing a second ruptured ACL in less than 12 months, a then 18-year-old Serena Waters’ thoughts began to drift towards an early retirement.
Six months previous, at an Under 20 national training camp in Terrigal, NSW in late 2018 during a scrimmage at the final training session, Waters suffered her first major injury setback.
Trying to change direction while defending her end of the court, Waters’ foot gripped the floorboards and “got stuck”.
“My ACL snapped,” Waters told NT News, who was announced as new NBL1 club Darwin Salties women’s team’s third recruit recently.
After shoring up her spot as a shooting guard in the team, the former Top End resident was “devastated” by the sudden turn of events.
“I actually passed out... I actually thought I broke my leg at first, I was in so much pain, I couldn’t believe it,” she said.
Then, in Adelaide just six months later, Waters admits she “slacked off” in her rehab and began running ahead of schedule.
She remembers pushing off the baseline backwards when she reinjured the same knee, albeit without the pain of the first break.
“I completely ruptured it again,” she said.
Ensuring a two-year break from basketball, Waters’ mental health inevitably took a dive.
“It was pretty hard,” she said.
“I almost quit basketball, (I thought) there’s no point getting back into it.”
However, through it all, Waters learned the value of resilience.
“Mum always said, if I can get through an ACL... not being able to play sport, I can get through anything,” she said.
And Waters also discovered sometimes best laid plans can tempt fate — her initial goal was to transition from high school to college and then the WNBL.
“Everything happens for a reason, if I didn’t do my ACL I wouldn’t be on the path I am now,” Waters said, who played US college basketball with South Plains.
“It taught me that plans change but you can always end up where you want to be.”
So in just over a month’s time — after some work with former Adelaide 36ers coach Joey Wright — Waters will pick up the car keys, grab her bags and drive towards Darwin, via Sydney and Cairns, to pursue a shooting guard role with the Salties.
Waters, who spent part of her childhood in Darwin from about the age of seven, was excited to be “part of something that’s new and up and coming” while playing in front of her extended family.
The daughter of police officer father Ron and great granddaughter of Katherine elder Ronnie Booth valued her indigenous heritage “so much”.
“That’s props to my parents for teaching me and showing me how important it is,” she said.
“Being able to represent that a high level, and represent my people, is so important to me.
“Show the younger generation that anything is possible and can be done if you put your mind to it.”
Local legend Matty Hunt signs with Darwin Salties
THE good news was that overwhelming, Darwin Salties recruit Matty Hunt forgot to take his freshly-signed contract home with him.
The Ansett premiership player and born and bred Darwinite became the Salties’ second men’s team signing – and first plucked from local basketball circles – ahead of its debut NBL1 season.
“I was ecstatic, I couldn’t wait to get in there,” Hunt recalled of receiving a phone call from Darwin Basketball Association executive officer Kerri Savidge last week.
“I actually said: ‘Do you want me to come in today and sign it?’ Before she changed her mind,” Hunt said with a laugh.
“To be honest I was that excited I actually left my contract on Kerri’s desk.”
It capped off a nervous few days for the 33-year-old guard, after having a brief conversation with new coach Matt Flynn the week prior, walking away from trials “having no idea” what his future held.
Flynn would eventually say, earlier this week, Hunt’s inclusion is partially an acknowledgment of his work building up the local competition.
“(I’m feeling) a lot of different emotions to be honest,” Hunt admitted.
“It’s great for the Darwin community and secondly for me to be involved … is an honour and a privilege.
“I’ve always been waiting for this opportunity, not just for myself but for the community to have a team.
“I didn’t think this was going to be a possibility for myself to be honest. They’ve been talking about it for years and years.”
Hunt is all too aware it’s been a “big time between drinks” when he last played at an equivalent standard for Sturt and Woodville in the Adelaide Basketball League which eventually became NBL1 Central.
Hunt had to leave the NT at age 16 for Adelaide to pursue basketball at a higher level.
Now, the birth of the Salties will provide a clear pathway for the next generation of Territory talent, like Joel De Barros Anthony Rowse, Clayton Jewell and Will Burton.
“(De Barros) doesn’t have to leave to chase that NBL1 dream anymore,” he said.
“Basketball in the NT is in a very healthy spot and this is going to make it even stronger.
“I can’t wait to see the community out there at every home game.”
When pressed about the chances of other local players being added to the roster, Hunt only said: “I think there will be a few others”.
Hunt, who turns 34 in May, said after winning the Darwin Basketball League title with Ansett in September – its first since 2016 – and the grand final MVP, he was feeling confident about having an impact.
“I’m probably coming off one of my best seasons,” he said.
“I’m not as quick as I once was, but I know my body and I’ve improved in other ways which has given me that advantage.”
However, he admits the opportunity comes with sacrifice.
Hunt, who works for the health department, said Salties would gobble up an additional 10 hours for training and games per week.
“It will affect my own time (away from work) during the week in regards to spending time with family and friends,” he said.
“It’s definitely going to be a massive sacrifice.
“But I wouldn’t have put my hand up if I wasn’t willing to do it.
“I’ll spend the next few months getting my body right so I can give it a red hot crack.”
Blockbuster drawn announced for Darwin Salties’ inaugural season
THE Darwin Salties have been given a blockbuster draw for their inaugural NBL1 season with ten home games including the opening round and the First Nations round.
For the first time in sporting history the Territory will field senior men’s and women’s teams in a national sporting league since its involvement in the Australian Hockey League across the 1990s and 2000s.
The Darwin Salties have already made a number of key signings including names well known in the Territory such as Kylie Duggan and Jerron Jamerson.
Ten home games will be hosted at the Darwin Basketball Stadium against the sides of the NBL1 North conference.
Darwin Basketball Association executive officer Kerri Savidge said the fixture list was fantastic for the team with matches particularly getting the chance to host the First Nations round.
“This fixture is fantastic for the Darwin Salties – it sets both teams up for an exciting and historic inaugural season,” Savidge said.
“Playing at home in the NBL1 First Nations Round is a massive coup but who better to host this game than the Darwin Salties.
“The Saltwater Crocodile – Dungalaba – is the main totem of the local Larrakia People and is a key reason we chose ‘Salties’ as our name.
“We have also already announced an indigenous player and coach in our women’s team and we will recognise and celebrate Indigenous culture in a number of ways during this important game.”
Basketball NT executive officer John Mitchell was also happy to see the team and the buzz around the team growing each and every week.
“Since we launched the team late last year, there has been a huge buzz around the Salties and that will grow with the release of this excellent fixture,” Mitchell said.
“We have already signed two male and two female players, a head coach for the men’s team and a head coach and assistant coach for the women’s team. We are gaining serious momentum.
“We know that playing in the NBL1 North will be a challenge but it will also develop local players, officials, volunteers and grow the already booming sport of basketball in the NT.”
The full 2022 NBL1 fixture can be seen https://nbl1.com.au/fixture with season tickets to Salties games to go on sale soon.
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