The Castec Rural Pioneers are ready to take on the NBL1 South this weekend as they kick off the 2025 season on the road.
The Pioneers will play two games on the road as they face Geelong United on Saturday followed by the Keilor Thunder on Sunday.
The side has looked good in their pre-season games as they came off a solid win over Knox in Melbourne last weekend.
It will be good to see the debut of the Pioneers’ new recruits in Joe Palmer, Alex Mudronja and Kaden Archie while Akech Aliir will return to the side after playing with Melbourne United during the summer.
Pioneers head coach Richard Hill said the side was ready to compete off the back of a good preseason, although there is still work to be done.
“It’s been a pretty good pre-season, we had a pretty good win on the weekend in Melbourne against Knox, we have got Akech (Aliir) coming in later this week which is good but is also a bit of a distraction because he has not been here,” he said.
“It gives us more talent but the other guys have been working together for seven games, so it’s great because we need him but it can cause some disruption a little bit.”
Hill believes everyone in the side has been pulling their weight and playing well in the pre-season.
“Everyone’s had their moments, Joe Palmer’s played every game and has been good, Dylan Marshall has had a really good preseason, he’s improved significantly from this time last year,” he said.
“Kaden Archie was a bit slow starting, especially the first few games but he played really well on the weekend.
“They have played a lot of basketball in a short period of time so it’s good for them and they’re in really good shape.”
A player who has the potential to cause some problems for the Pioneers in the Geelong game will be George Blagojevic who had a great game against Mount Gambier last season.
Despite playing against Geelong a couple weeks ago Hill is unsure with how his side will go as the Victorians were not at full strength.
“We played them in Portland a couple of weeks ago and they only had less than half a team so we’re just not 100% sure who they’re going to front up with,” he said.
“George Blagojevic is their best player but from my understanding he’s been out injured and has not played any preseason games.
“If he does not play that hurts them, so there’s a lot of unknown but they are always tough over there.”
Another curveball for the travelling Pioneers on Sunday will be the impact of Keilor’s new coach.
“It’s even more difficult because Kelior have got a new coach so at least for Geelong we have an idea of how they will play but Keilor have got a new coach and besides from their young players they have recruited a lot of players I do not know a great deal about,” he said.
“By Sunday when we play them we will have a much better idea because they play the night before and we will be able to look at that game and scout that a little bit and have a better idea come Sunday.”
