The Breakers have been cleared to resume training after a Covid health scare ran through the camp following their twin games in Adelaide to open the new Australian NBL season.
The Auckland-based hoops club had been forced, under strict health regulations in place around the pandemic in Australia, to miss their scheduled flight from Adelaide to Perth where they were due to meet the defending champion Wildcats on Sunday evening.
“The Breakers were unable to travel from Adelaide after a number of their travelling party reported being unwell,” the NBL said in a statement on Saturday. “They have since undergone precautionary Covid testing and will remain in Adelaide until they receive their results and are able to travel.”
A Breakers team spokesperson confirmed to Stuff on Sunday that all the Covid tests undertaken had come back negative and that they would resume training immediately in Adelaide.
The club was awaiting word from the NBL around when the postponed game against the Wildcats would take place and indeed when they would be able to fly to Perth.
As well as the postponed Sunday game against the back-to-back champs, the Breakers were also scheduled to meet the Wildcats at their home RAC Arena next Friday. That match was also postponed late on Sunday as a five-day lockdown was announced for Perth.
The Breakers will wrap up the fourth round with a visit to the Cairns Taipans on Monday, February 8.
NBL Commissioner Jeremy Loeliger said the New Zealand team had been following the NBL’s strict protocols.
“The team is unable to travel because it can’t meet pre-boarding health requirements and so its travel has been deferred,” he said. “They will remain in isolation in Adelaide until they can meet their travel requirements.”
