The Illawarra Hawks Championship team is engulfed in a sea of ticker tape. Photo: Julian O’Brien.
The moment you knew the Illawarra Hawks were going to be crowned NBL25 Champions on Sunday came even before a ball was bounced.
When the interior doors of the WIN Entertainment Centre opened, and the crowd spilled into the arena, a small but hardy band of Melbourne United supporters lined up along the concourse at the eastern end.
They started by cheering for the Melbourne-based NBL commentators who were in the arena to call the game. Interesting optics.
And then, as Hawks import and star guard Trey Kell underwent a shooting drill by himself at the end they were positioned, they started to jeer and taunt him.
The parochial Illawarra crowd, which had sold out the arena for game five of the tied Championship series in less than 60 seconds, wasn’t having it.
It started as a low rumble, but within moments, the stadium erupted into a bellowing chorus of this club and community’s favourite war cry …. “ILL-A-WAR-RA”. The stadium shook, such was the noise.
This was all 30 minutes from tip-off.
The United supporters retreated meekly to their seats in the bleachers of the stadium like a lion cub that had received a firm tap on the nose from its mother’s paw.
This was the Illawarra’s party. And nothing or no one was going to spoil it.
From that point on, as close as the game was, it never felt like it was going to be anything else but an Illawarra victory.
Despite having the home-court advantage for the series, the Hawks lost both home games and had to mount remarkable wins in Melbourne to tie the series at 2-2 against the league powerhouse.
Yet the younger Hawks team simply ran United off their legs in the final two games of the series, and it was a uniquely Illawarra story that had led the way.
Last week, in the wash-up of the game four win in Melbourne, Hawks legend and head of basketball Mat Campbell had remarked how he looked into the stands to see all the Hawks ex-players from across the generations in attendance.
“There were so many players who had found a home in the Illawarra and that’s what’s been great about our club, it gives players a chance,” he told me.
Will “Davo” Hickey has found a home in the Illawarra.
Cut by two other clubs in South-East Melbourne and, indeed, Melbourne itself, the young Indigenous player was the most valuable player in the series even though league records will officially show he is not.
Instead, Finals MVP award judges gave that honour to United star and NBA champion Matthew Dellavedova, who, in a display of sportsmanship that will go down in history, walked from the stage and handed his trophy to Hickey.
Fittingly, Hickey’s performance and the performance of the team were reflections of the Illawarra. It was a performance full of fight, full of resilience. Grit. Grit is the right word. The Illawarra itself was built on grit and determination.
One player who didn’t take the court at all but was every bit a part of the Championship was club co-captain and the Illawarra’s adopted son, Sam Froling.
The Illawarra has watched this young man grow up in his six seasons with the club, only for him to rupture his Achilles tendon in game four in Melbourne.
Surrounded by his family, including sister Keely, who is a WNBL champion herself, Froling rightfully soaked up the celebrations, none of which would have been possible without him. On Tuesday morning, he will go in for major surgery to repair the failed tendon, and he faces anywhere up to a year on the sidelines.
And surrounding Froling for the celebrations on court was the Hawkhead community.
On court, at the heart of the celebrations as the ticker tape rained down was the Illawarra faithful.
A total of 8710 days of emotion poured out. That’s how long it had been between Championships for the NBL’s only remaining Foundation Club.
Wollongong Lord Mayor Tania Brown stood resplendent in red. If you cut the Lord Mayor, there’s a chance she’d bleed red and black. A true Hawkhead.
Her apartment had proudly displayed an array of Hawks jerseys from its balcony for weeks during the playoffs.
Now, Cr Brown stood arm in arm with Hawks head coach and Championship hero Justin Tatum, the man who may be the only threat to her Mayoral title if a vote was held tomorrow. Heck, there’d be half a chance even Tania would vote for him.
Among a cavalcade of former players on the floor celebrating were members of the 2001 Championship team, the weight of that title finally lifted from their shoulders. Glen Saville quietly sipped an ale. They were going to enjoy this moment.
Other long-term servants like Eric Cooks, AJ Ogilvy, Oscar Forman and Tim Coenraad were there to enjoy the moment.
Illawarra’s latest OAM and trainer, “Sir” Phil Driscoll, who has been with the club since day dot, rang a cowbell loudly and proudly.
One of the Hawks’ most recognisable fans, Graham Lancaster, with his horned hat and stuffed toy Hawks, stood proud and prominent with his wife, Cath.
No one better reflects the resilience and passion of the Hawkheads than Lancaster, who this season revealed his diagnosis with motor neurone disease.
The unique thing about the Illawarra Hawks, as Gordie McLeod told Region Illawarra last week, was this club was built on community. It’s not confected or contrived. It is part of the fabric of this region.
As the Hawks’ players, sponsors, supporters and greats celebrated joyously together on the floor of the WEC, league boss Larry Kestelman cut a lone figure on the fringe of festivities, like that one bloke that hadn’t been invited to the party.
Kestelman, who remains a part owner of United, had been engaging in open warfare with Hawks owner and US businessman Jared Novelly. Novelly has been vocal in trying to get a better deal for club owners.
Kestelman took no formal part in presentations but did share a brief but cold handshake with Novelly. Frankly, there have been warmer handshakes between a polar bear and a seal.
Yet this was not a time for politics as there was partying to be had and work had already started to clean up the stadium. All the ticker tape that now adorned every inch of the WEC would need to be removed and a new stage erected.
In less than 48 hours, where Illawarra history was made, Human Nature would be performing.
And perhaps, as Australia’s most famous boy band takes the stage and performs their hit Every Time You Cry, they can dedicate it to the small band of Melbourne supporters who set the scene for Illawarra’s second NBL Championship.
Plans are underway for a community celebration to be held in honour of the team. Details will be released soon.
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