Pledger keen on another swim with Sharks

Giant human Alex Pledger has finally broken through for his first win in his third attempt with the SIT Southland Sharks and he’d love to pull on an orange singlet again in 2019.

The 31-year-old known as ‘Chief’ will likely return to Invercargill later this year when his new Melbourne ANBL team takes on the New Zealand Breakers at ILT Stadium Southland, but he also wants a crack at defending the title he played a major part in wrestling from the Wellington Saints last weekend.

Photo: Alex Pledger, left, and team mate Jarrad Weeks celebrate with young Sharks fans. Pic: Southland Sharks

On coming to Invercargill and winning a title with the Sharks, especially against the Saints.

“It’s a nice little change of pace from the hustle and bustle of Auckland. It’s nice to be somewhere a little bit quieter and you can just kind of put your head down and work on your game a bit. I enjoy coming down here and hopefully next year I can do it again.

I’ve been in a few championship teams, in the Aussie league and in this league, and this one in particular is pretty special. After losing the grand final to the Saints last year, and getting knocked out in the semifinal by them the year before, getting one back on them - it’s a pretty nice feeling.”

Surviving a late charge from the Saints.

“We knew that they were going to make a run at the end, but we made enough plays down the stretch, both offensively and defensively, to come away with the championship

We were up by 14 at halftime and as much as 17 at one point, but they did a good job of getting us out of the rhythm we were in. We did enough. It was the goal at the start of the season and I couldn’t be prouder of the boys.”

A season to remember.

“We lost our first game of the season after people had been labelling us potential preseason favourites, but we knew once we got our full team here and we had that streak of seven home games early in the season we developed pretty good chemistry and a good rhythm within the team.

We had a few little stumbles in the closing couple of weeks, but we had a great week leading into the Final Four. Our depth was really tested with Weeksy getting hurt in the lead up to the finals, but this team was put together with depth and versatility in mind and I think it speaks volumes that we were able to offset the loss of someone who was vital to our success during the season.”

Moving to Melbourne to prepare for the ANBL immediately after the NBL win.

“That’s the life of a professional basketballer, go from one assignment to the next. I’m looking forward to getting over there.

This season will be my first with Melbourne. They are the defending champions and from what I’ve heard it’s a great club and an awesome city to live in.

For a lot of guys, me included, I don’t know what else I’d so with myself - sit around and play Playstation or something, I suppose. I’ve been pretty lucky so far, I had some injury troubles a couple of years ago but, touch wood, I’ve been able to get over those and hopefully I’ve got a few good years left in me.”