Season 53 has come and gone with Australia performing well but ultimately falling just short of our goal of a Semi Final or better finish. There were a number of factors in this, but certainly injuries to key players at key times and a late run with game shape certainly didn't help.
Our squad developed across the season however, with some genuine depth in 60% of our positions, however there are definitely some positions that will likely open up in the next season or two.
We finished the season with 10 wins and 4 losses and were unlucky in a number of ways.
This season saw one of the tightest races for the MVP award, with a handful of players right in the running until the final match.
In the end it was the emergence of a new breed of versatile SF that was rewarded, with Jay's Josh Laga-aia finishing on 14 votes to claim his first National MVP.
Laga-aia had a breakout season for the National side, playing in 12 games, scoring 171 points, dishing out 41 assists and pulling down 74 boards. He also stole the ball 11 times, which is a good season tally at that level.
He narrowly pipped the all time most capped Aussie player, Dwayne McFlynn, on 13, who had another bullish season with 13 games, 153 points and 114 rebounds.
In equal third were the future our of guards, Houghton and Payne, who split the season to each poll 10.
Houghton grew into the season, playing 13 games and scoring 145 points, dishing a season high 57 assists. Payne also played 13 games, scoring 151 points, dishing 42 assists and pulling down 34 points.
Final vote tallies were:
Laga-aia: 14
McFlynn: 13
Houghton: 10
Payne: 10
Honjing: 9
Omu: 8
Grunter: 5
Duffield, Rajandran, Dawes, Bill: 3
Gibbins: 2
Nagata: 1
We have, however, earned ourselves a crack at the Repechage, with games over the next three weeks against Uruguay, Belgium and Misr to try and snag a place in the World Champs.
Scouting for the future will start in earnest, so if your player disappears from the roster or briefly appears on the roster, please understand it's part of the scouting process to try and find the next group of National heroes. If you have a player you think is ready or who could make it into the squad in the future, please get in touch with a cut and paste of their skills in a direct message to myself or Whitewind.