Blues Dial Up A V For Victory
Sydney Morning Herald
Monday February 5, 1996
Watching the Sydney Blues' off-field team work overtime at the weekend, one can only wonder how sport survived before the introduction of the cellular phone.
While the home side battled it out against the Hunter Eagles, the Blues' hierarchy had smoke coming from its mobile phones, anxiously inquiring about the results of two games south of the border.
Sydney went into the final round of the regular season, their place in the top four secure, but mystery still surrounding their finishing position.
Going in, they were placed fourth, and looking ominously as though they would be facing first-placed Brisbane in the opening round of the play-offs, if results went as expected.
With second-placed Perth taking on the Melbourne Monarchs, and the third-placed Melbourne Reds battling with Adelaide, only a series of upsets could see the Blues leapfrog their rivals and finish in second place, thus earning the right to host next weekend's play-off series.
It seemed on Friday evening that more focus was on the two Melbourne games than on the local game, as 03-prefixed phone numbers were repeatedly dialled.
When Sydney took the opening game against the Eagles 14-5, and it was discovered that the Monarchs had downed Perth ands Adelaide had beaten the Reds, the Blues' destiny was suddenly back in their own clutches. A win on Saturday would secure them second place, regardless of the other results.
The home team gave their supporters some minor heart palpitations, trailing the last-placed Eagles 2-1 in the bottom of the eighth inning; but, just as the off-field team members were heading for their mobiles again, a base hit to centrefield from Anthony Sanders scored two runs, lifting the Blues to a 3-2 victory and safely wrapping up second spot.
"It's nice that someone has beaten up on someone else to do us a favour," Blues manager Darren Balsley said. "We went 12-3 (wins-losses) last month and dropped from second to fourth. It's nice that finally some games going our way can move us back into second spot. But that's just how close this league has been all season.
"Getting home field for the first play-off series is a huge advantage for us.
"You look at our percentage at home and it's got to be around .750, and it's always a bonus to have your fans there cheering for you at your ballpark."
That home advantage Balsley was talking about is verified in this season's results. From 24 games at the Showground, Sydney are 18-6, including 3-0 results against minor premiers Brisbane and their opponents next week, the Perth Heat.
And Balsley should have good reason to head into the play-offs with his share of confidence. Sydney are the only club of the four remaining with a positive win-loss record against the other three this season.
"The bottom line is that we are at the moment the best team in the league," he said.
© 1996 Sydney Morning Herald
