RECORD BREAKING YEAR FOR THE NBL
A survey of the rosters of the eight National Basketball League teams has revealed that the current season is a record-breaker for the NBL, with Perth’s Sam Harris and Wollongong’s Zac Delaney respectively earning the mantles of the tallest and shortest players ever to compete in the league.
Wildcats’ centre Harris currently towers over everyone else in the league at an astounding 221cm and is in fact taller than any other player in NBL history. The previous mark was shared by Canberra Cannons’ centre Andy Campbell and Glen Sudhop of the St. Kilda Saints, who both measured up at 218cm.
Harris’ Wildcats teammate Luke Schenscher comes in second amongst current NBL players at 216cm while there are currently five different players who are 213cm playing in the league - Tony Rampton (Cains), Greg Vanderjagt (Gold Coast), Chris Anstey (Melbourne), Alex Pledger (New Zealand – 215cm), and Paul Rogers (Perth).
While Harris is the tallest athlete to ever play in the NBL, the 169cm Zac Delaney of the Wollongong Hawks is officially the shortest. The previous mark for the shortest player in NBL history was a three-way tie at 172cm between Wayne Larkins (St. Kilda, Westside, Eastside Geelong, Brisbane, Gold Coast), Peter Stacker (Nunawading), and Dean Draper (Launceston).
Delaney’s height is 11cm less then the next shortest player currently in the league. Townsville’s Kelvin Robertson comes in second at 180cm, while Joel Wagner (Perth) and Kerry Williams (Cairns) both measure at 181cm.
Even though the Wildcats have the tallest two players in the league, they only have the third highest average height at 199.2 cm, while the Melbourne Tigers have the tallest overall roster with an average height of 200cm. Coming in on the short end of the stick, and well below the league average of 198cm, are the Townsville Crocodiles, whose average height is 195.3cm.
Along with analysing the height of the teams, Basketball Australia also did a study of the players’ ages, with the average age in the league this season coming to 26.3 years.
The New Zealand Breakers are the veterans in the league this year with a combined average age of 28.5 years. This is mainly due to the fact that they currently roster the two oldest players in the league, in the newly-acquired John Rillie (38 years) and the league’s most experienced player ever in terms of games played, Tony Ronaldson (37 years).
A full three years younger than the Breakers are the Wollongong Hawks who are this year’s youngest team in the league with an average age of just 25.3. The gap this year between the youngest and oldest players in the league is 20 years. Michael Chitham of the Taipans is the youngest player at 18 years old. He just edges out Todd Blanchfield of the Crocs, also 18, by six months.
Full rankings are listed below, including the tallest/shortest and youngest/oldest players on each team’s roster.
Average Height of Players per Team
Melbourne Tigers 200.00cm
Chris Anstey 213cm
Robbie Stone 188cm
Adelaide 36ers 199.27cm
Matthew Burston 211cm
Darren Ng 189cm
Perth Wildcats
Sam Harris 221cm
Joel Wagner 181cm
New Zealand Breakers 198.25cm
Alex Pledger 215cm
Paul Henare 183cm
Cains Taipans
Tony Rampton 213 cm
Kerry Williams 181 cm
Wollongong Hawks 197.08cm
Tim Behrendorff 211cm
Zac Delaney 169cm
Gold Coast Blaze 196.38cm
Greg Vanderjagt 213cm
Adam Gibson 188cm
Townsville Crocodiles 195.36cm
Russell Hinder 208cm
Kelvin Robertson 180cm
League Average 197.997 cm
Average Age of Players per Team
New Zealand Breakers 28.25
John Rillie 38
Corey Webster 20
Adelaide 36ers 26.8
David Cooper 33
Chris Molitor 21
Melbourne Tigers 25.8
Chris Anstey 34
Tom Stephens 20
Perth Wildcats
Paul Rogers 36
Joel Wagner 22
Cains Taipans
Tony Rampton 33
Michael Chitham 18
Townsville Crocodiles 25.7
Stephen Hoare 34
Todd Blanchfield 18
Gold Coast Blaze 25.5
Pero Cameron 35
Brenden Teys 19
Wollongong Hawks 25.3
Glen Saville 33
Zac Delaney 19
League Average 26.3
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