yeh man its true. he's off like a bride's nighty

i think there was some beef off-court. there's an article in todays border watch but havent read it yet.

im goin cause my contract was terminated i wasnt given a warning or a good reason for that matter except breach of contract but they were also in breach of contract but i was thinking bout quiting anyway thats y i didnt say anything bout them in breach of contract on there part it was gonna happend sooner or later if you look at how my minutes droped n wen chris mason an i's minutes droped we loss 8 outta 9 games every an i went back for the dentist when i did strickly for health reasons maybe it was for the best all the best for the pioneers for the rest of the season

Article from today's local newspaper:

"THE Mount Gambier Pioneers have taken a drastic step in a bid to resurrect its disappointing 2005 South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) season, axing young recruit Derrick McDonald.

The club terminated the contract of listed player McDonald on Tuesday night, citing contractual issues as the reason for the decision.

McDonald's presence will be immediately missed, with the contract termination effective immediately.

"He breached a few conditions of his contract and in a meeting with myself, Derrick, (coach) Sonya (Knight) and (assistant coach) Kym (Hammond) last night, we decided that something had to give and this was the way we had to go," Pioneers spokesman Darryl Starick said yesterday.

"The decision has nothing to do with his on-court performance."

McDonald represented the Pioneers on court on 15 occasions, missing their 115-94 home win over Frankston a fortnight ago and registering a DNP (did not play) on the second leg of their two game trip to Tasmania.

In his 15 appearances, McDonald averaged 20 minutes of playing time, chipping in with nine points per outing.

McDonald also contributed 3.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.2 steals per game, while also registering one amazing blocked shot.

But the biggest loss will be the drawcard McDonald was, showcasing an amazing leap that often produced a number of spectacular plays and dunks.

The Pioneers are moving forward despite the termination of McDonald's contract and are focusing on achieving their objective of making the 2005 SEABL finals.

"I think the group is professional enough to deal with it and not let it effect them," Starick said.

"Other teams have shown you can be competitive in this league with six of seven players, but it also will give more of an opportunity to players like Allen Cram, Ben Jones and Simon Berkefeld to step up and say "I'm ready".

"Jason Williams is getting fitter every week after his run of injuries and has been recovering his touch through playing in the (Millicent and Mount Gambier intertown) A grade competition.

"This will give him more minutes and I am sure he will relish the added responsibility."

While McDonald will leave a space in the Pioneers' roster, his departure will also produce a void in the Pioneers players' involvement in coaching clinics and will also create a dent in the line-up of Mount Gambier A grade team Cougars.

McDonald has made time to help out with various coaching sessions for junior basketballers and was fast becoming a favourite of young stars from the region.

The Pioneers will have their first taste of life without McDonald when they head to the nation's capital on the weekend, searching for revenge against the Canberra Gunners tomorrow night, before facing an in-form and energetic Australian Institute of Sport on Saturday night."

very true about being liked by the juniors.went out of his way to be involved with most at the stadium

word up dmac im gunna be outtie aswell. best of luck for your future bruz. from pioneers #8

Word up??? C'mon Mullet man, your white! Are you leaving as well?

WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE PIONEER CAMP? WHAT DID D-MAC DO SO BAD THAT HE HAD TO GET RELEASED? COME ON PIONEERS GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER.

Maybe one day people that actualy know the true full story will get a chance in the correct forum to have their say.'till then you are all speculating. Just remember there are always two sides to every story. I am sure The Club and the coaching staff had their reasons, and the decision was taken in the best interests of the club and team. Hopefully d-mac you can learn from this and make better life decisions in future. Brad if you don't want to play - simple - don't!

I noticed in the "Watch Whispers" today that the Pioneers were calling for more people to get involved at Board Level. Fellow posters like to Moses and Our own intrepid Journo - perhaps your energies could be better put to work by getting involved.

thanks for the support 'the cheap seats'. i wasnt askin for anyones opinion, i was just posting towards derrick himself. do i know you?

No mullet - you probably don't know me, but when you say "im gunna be outtie aswell" (#37476) and list your playing shirt number what does that say?

Quoting D-Mac
"im goin cause my contract was terminated i wasnt given a warning or a good reason for that matter except breach of contract but they were also in breach of contract but i was thinking bout quiting anyway thats y i didnt say anything bout them in breach of contract on there part it was gonna happend sooner or later if you look at how my minutes droped n wen chris mason an i's minutes droped we loss 8 outta 9 games every an i went back for the dentist when i did strickly for health reasons maybe it was for the best all the best for the pioneers for the rest of the season "

... the longest sentence i have ever read ... WOW.

i listed my playing shirt number just so he was aware of who was commenting to/about him. once again, that post was directed to dmac himself, not for me to discuss on here sorry. you involved with ball in the mount?

Well hasn't this brought out some divided opinions on the subject, especially since nobody really knows the full story.

All I can say is that the club has made an official statement to the media and if Derrick thinks he was hard done by then he should have his say on the subject in an official capacity.

The Pioneers obviously had their reasons for the decision and I can understand that Derrick may think there was something wrong with the reasons or the way it was done.

Unfortunately I think that both the club and Derrick himself may take a while to shake off this, which although it may have been the right or wrong decision (without the full facts you can't know the real deal) when you are dealing with money, the club becomes a business and this was clearly a business decision.

I know most people know who I am and know what I have said already about this, but the fact is I don't know all the reasons behind the Pioneers decision and they must have had their reasons, but I do also think that Derrick was good with people in the community and could have been used to draw a crowd back to the Icehouse.

My final statement is that I refuse to take sides, it is not my position, so I hope both parties as well as basketballers and Pioneers fans can move past this and continue to support basketball in Mount Gambier.

"We write, you believe", I doubt my employer would be kosher with me being on the board but if the opportunity did arise ..... yeah, might be interested.

Sad to see D-Mac go. Good guy who spent plenty of time with the young kids and had a great smile. See ya round the traps, D.

Great to see a well written response on here by Bulldog. There is a lot more to basketball that what we see on court, and as Bulldog says we don't know the full story. Everyone wishes both the Pioneers and D-Mac every success.

Mullet - I am still confused - if you wanted to speak to D-mac - ring him up, I don't think this is the forum for personal messages. As a pioneer supporter who feels young players like yourself are the future of this club, I am still downright confused as to just what "im gunna be outtie aswell" (#37476) means? I am sorry if I have misinterpreted what you may have meant, but please explain?!?!? Does this mean you are quitting? - Does it translate into I am going to be out aswell?

Derrick getting the flick doesn't surprise me, Pioneers board has never been known as honourable just look at what they did to Mobbs and Joynes over the years.
And what they did to Jamie earlier this year was verging on criminal. Bottom line the crowds are down and paid players have to go. Guess we're lucky it wasn't Jake .....this time

Enforcer, what did they do to Joynesy, Mobbsy and Jamie?

I have not heard of any bad blood between Joynesy, Jamie and the Pioneers.

Joynesy retired on his own terms, Jamie is still playing.

What have they done?

Is this coming from a personal vendetta against the club or do you have facts to back them up?

What happened to the $ Big J was supposed to make from his testimonial?

Who ended up paying for Mobbsy's Knee reco even though he was still contracted.

Why was Jamie's pay cut back for spending a day with his mother for God's sake.
Sure you're right these guys rise above the crap that has been served up to them and they'll be loyal to the game and the team, because they are true loyal sportsmen, they shouldn't duped because of it. The problem with the board is that it is run from a business focus with no personal loyalty starting from the top down.
Maybe the new blood that clearly has a love of the game will do some good.
I don't want to hurt the club or heaven forbid the players I think they're fantastic but the board needs to wake up to, is that it is putting it's name to some really dodgy things and get back to grass roots common loyalty. If you say you're going to do something do it. if you sign a contract abide by it.
Is that so hard?

I don't think they showed the true respect that Joynesey deserved. The guy has been the biggest player in club history and gave ten years of his life to that club and what have they done for him? They had a singlet presentation for Moose, what about Big J..nup
They presented Moose with a 150 game plaque, what about for Big J's 250...nup
They had going away parties for Sam, Moose and Kurt, what about a retirement party for the Big fella?
How about you retire his singlet and hang it from the rafters as it will probably be the only one for a long time.
Jamie was told he would have a "marketing" job with the Pioneers last season and then once he was out here they told him they couldn't afford it.
Mobbs was the same as Big J, did not get the respect and accolations that he deserved. May not have been a big contributor on the court but at trainings was huge and had the upmost respect from all his team mates.
Just a few thoughts anyway...

Ok, for starters, anytime you start paying players the club becomes a business and should be run that way.

Sure there should be times when you pay respect to achivements by loyal players such as Joynesy, god knows he deserves it, but on contracts, if you dont fulfill your part as a player then why shouldnt you suffer the consequences?

In regards to the Jamie Holmes admin position, he has one this year and maybe the money was there but a sponsor pulled out.

Without knowing the ins and outs of the specific contracts then it is impossible to tell who, if anyone, is in the wrong.

As for Joynesy's retirement party, yes he deserves it, has accomplished a lot, but I think Panther is just looking for another reason to come back to the Mount and get trashed with the guys!

You dont need a reason Panther, I'm sure the boys would get trashed with you any weekend!

Ha ha ha, nice one Bulldog!
I'm sure they would be too!
Hey, i'm still waiting to here when my singlet presentation is!!!

Whilst I don't agree with everything that Enforcer and Panther have said - what it all balls down to is that the Pioneers are not run very well at all. Like minded people like yourselves are what are needed to get involved at board level and get the club back on track!

The club needs people and money.....

Well, I've got $6158 coming my way in August when the kids are born but sadly and selfishly, I'm keeping that money for my family.

Interesting stories about some of the former (and current) players. Doesn't sound too good. Maybe we need Yogee down here to do a one-on-one with the board down here?

Money comes from sponsors and bad word about the establishment is not going to bring in any more.

At the heart of the Pioneers problem I feel is their association with local basketball, which is where they will win the fans and bring more people to games.

You're getting there BD, there are some basic changes that need to happen at board level and if that means that some of the entrenched senior members have to go then so be it.
You also mention that it has to be run like a business,if so then go out and source funds other than the same usual suspects Timmy D's hoops for health was fantastic for the kids and brought in big bucks in no small part because the Pioneers board didn't get a chance to stuff it up.

We have to remember that the people on the Pioneers board are all giving up their own time for no money. They are doing this thankless job with out thanks from anyone. The board make alot of mistakes but they trying there hardest i take my hat of to them. But they need help or they will fail and the Basketball fans will be the true loser.

The last 3 posts.... very well said.

"Enforcer" there was a board member involved with the "Hoops For Health" with timmy Duggan actually. some comments on here are correct bust most are coming from hear say or from a one sided point of view, namely the players and/or friends of the players. Its good to see so many people with an idea how things should be run, why dont YOU make the change and join up and help out the club, put your good ideas to where they will be needed the most and not slinging mud. Like I said, some point are spot on and I agree 100% but I think the most of them are only half the truth and thats what is REALLY hurting the club and is keeping the crowd away. "Panther" Joynesy WAS given a 250 game plaque actually, a pana print of his 250 game and was also told that he would be presented with his championship top, if they knew where it has ended up, it seems that one is not with the rest of the kit from last year, hard to give out a top that they cant find or dont have.

hey i think this club really good leave them alone gosh!!!