Geraldton Buccaneers travel to new frontier as they take NBL1 north to Karratha

Regardless of the outcome of the match on Saturday both the Perth Redbacks and Geraldton Buccaneers will make history as the first-ever NBL1 teams to play a game north of Geraldton. Both teams are coming off big round-one wins against lowly opponents with this weekend set to be an early season test for two sides likely to make the play-offs. Buccs coach Dayle Joseph admitted after having a record-breaking home crowd in round one, the trip to Karratha was a bit of an unknown. “Hopefully they follow the Buccs and not the Redbakcs,” he said. “I’m not sure what the crowd will be like, I think we’ll lose a little bit of that homecourt advantage but when we travel to Perth we often perform well and there’s no reason Karratha will be different. “Travel-wise the flight up there is probably quicker than five hours on the bus to Perth, so I don’t think that will impact us. “It’s been pretty warm and humid here the last few weeks so I’d like to think that will help when we touch down.” The teams split results last year with the Redbacks winning their most recent meeting in July on the back of a three-point barrage and Joseph said they had some dangerous players at their disposal. “They’ve got a pretty big line-up with four or five new starters this season with some real scoring talent,” he said. “Only being one round in we haven’t had much of a look at them but I think we’ll match up well with them on the defensive side of things.” One key difference will be Zac Gattorna who will be on the Buccs’ side this time after dropping 19 points against them last year. “Zac was chewing at the bit to get on court after his time at the Sydney Kings and the energy he showed once he got out there was great,” Joseph said. The team will be flying out to Karratha on Saturday connecting with the Perth Redbacks who will be flying up from Perth and Joseph doesn’t expect changes to the squad. “We only named 11 last week and Flecther Klasztorny will slide straight back into our 12 after missing last week but other than that there won’t be any changes,” he said. The Buccs will also be hosting a coaching session on Sunday morning in an opportunity to share their elite talent with the region. The game is scheduled to tip off at 7 pm at the Karratha Leisureplex on April 8.