Geelong United’s men’s and women’s teams will have one thing on their mind when they travel to enemy territory to take on the Bendigo Braves.
A transgender athlete hoping to play semi-professional basketball in Victoria has had her application rejected by Basketball Australia. The panel found Lexi Rodgers ineligible to play for the Kilsyth Cobras in the NBL1 South league.
The Braves came out victorious against the Supercats at the Geelong Arena in round 2, handing the women a three-point loss and defeating the men by 10.
However, since then, the Supercats women’s team have added Chantel Horvat and Agnieszka Skobel to the line-up and are on a five-game win streak, while the men have gone on a 6-0 run since welcoming Demarcus Gatlin back into fold following his three-game suspension.
A big factor in the Supercats men’s recent success has been the hot hand of 2022 MVP, Gabe Hadley.
Gabe Hadley is hopeful of picking up another NBL contract. Picture: Tans Photography
He is currently the leading scorer in NBL1 South, averaging 26.2 points per game and also leading the league in three pointers made with 44 across 10 games.
Hadley returned to the Geelong United this year after spending the 2022-23 NBL campaign with the Cairns Taipans, signing on as an injury replacement and training player.
“Cairns was awesome, I loved it the whole time I was up there,” Hadley said.
“It was a great team; I learned a lot from everyone in that team and loved the experience.”
While the thought of staying in Far North Queensland and playing in the NBL1 North competition this year to stay close to Cairns connections did cross Hadley’s mind, it was an easy decision in the end to return to Geelong.
“To be honest, I just couldn’t get out of (coming back to) Geelong,” he said.
“I love it here, the fans, the crowd, the community – they get behind us and support us very well.
“I love playing and living in Geelong in the NBL1 season.”
Chantel Horvat has been a key part of Geelong’s winning run. Photo: Tans Photography.
With no confirmed contract for the looming NBL season, Hadley is keen to make another national league roster, but is focused on continuing to play well and prove himself with the Supercats.
The loss to Bendigo in round 2 is still fresh in his mind and the team is ready to even the score.
“We definitely owe them, they beat us at home and we didn’t take that very well,” he said. “It’s good that we get to re-play a team that’s beaten us, we get to go out and prove ourselves, improve the things that we know we did wrong in that (first) game.”
Tip off for the women’s game is 5pm at Red Energy Arena, men at 7pm, with the livestream available at nbl1.com.au