Herbert and Rys Carter.

*Rhys*

That was one loaded dragons roster.

Darden having a very successful career in Europe and earning some nice coin. Doubt we'll see him grace our shores again.

I'm sure they all magically fit within the cap. Just like Gibson's old Brisbane team and Worthington's old Sydney Kings and Melbourne Tigers teams

Darden is playing for Lithuanian team Zalgiris Kaunas in the Euroleague and VTB United leagues, the two best comps in Europe this year.

That Dragons team was really good at the end of the year once Smith found his way and they hit their strides, but they werent dominant against the other good teams - 2-7 on the road against the top four, and NZ and Townsville in 3rd and 4th werent great teams by any stretch.

Gibson, Ingles and Vukona have developed a lot since then, so if you reunited that team now it would be pretty darn good.

They couldnt afford it obviously.

That Dragons roster was paying $9 for the championship before signing an import. I remember betting on them and then having to wait all season to collect!

You guys are only saying that roster is stacked because you are retroactively inserting the 2012 versions of Vukona, Ingles, and Gibson in there. They were young guys back then, playing at nowhere near the level they are playing at now.

There is no reason why you couldn't put together a roster like that now, if you rely on young local players to play key roles for "young guy" money, and spend the full cap.

Like Jackson, Wilkinson, Abercrombie, Pledger, Bruton, Boucher, Corletto and Vukona for example!

"They were young guys back then"

No. Vukona was 27.

Ingles was 22.

Gibson was 22.

Gibson had been in the league for 3-4 years, Vukona had played with Breakers for 5 years (from 2003). Ingles had played 2 previous seasons with South Dragons (06-07 and 07-08)

Sure they weren't quite as good as what they are now, but to say they were "playing at nowhere near the level they are playing at now" is getting a bit carried away.

Vukona came off bench..Hell at 27 when he was with S.Melb he was still the workhouse, lock down defender, rebound king that he is now.

Ingles had already represented the Boomers at 08 Olympics, and was a potent force in the NBL. (As a matter of fact, he was a threat as soon as he came into the damn league..29 points on debut)

Gibbo was voted All-NBL 3rd team in 2009, and 2009 Defensive NBL POY.

As a Dragons member I can say Ingles was very inconsistent that year. He had some very good games but went missing just as often.

Gibson was in his first year running a team and did his role very well but wasnt the leader nor all-court player he is today obviously, given he's had another three years of development.

Vukona's major international experience has seen him improve quite a bit since 09. They were all good players then, but not standouts like they are now.

That Dragons team peaked at the right time, got top spot thanks to Melbourne's silly early-season Barlow experiment and Bruton's injury for NZ and then managed to hold their home court in the playoffs.

I wouldnt put them up there with Sydney's three-peat teams, Brisbane 07, Melbourne 08 or NZ 12 as the best of recent times.

The Breakers had five proven internationals last year and two gun imports! South had one gun import, one good role-playing import, one proven international and three guys on the cusp of making it.

I think the only spot that Dragons team would win in the starting five would be Ingles over Corletto. I also think Bruton, Boucher and Pledger gave as much off the bench as Burston, Smith and Carter.

I saw lots of that Dragons team and they have certainly been overrated by history. They werent much better than the 09 Breakers team which is was shadow of the 2012 version.

I believe Darden's salary in Lituania is about $300,000 US dollars after taxes.

So that's probably why.