Sabres Shift Focus to National Finals

David Barlow has guided the Sandringham Sabres to their first NBL1 South championship since 2005, overcoming a rocky 0–6 start to the season before storming home as both head coach and veteran forward.

For Barlow, the turnaround was about sticking to core principles rather than being consumed by results.

“We were focused on the process and not the result,” Barlow explained.

“We wanted to play beautiful basketball and we were on a mission to accomplish that. Not to say the losses didn’t hurt but that’s where our focus lay. Once we got our complete roster back from injury and overseas commitments, we were tough to beat.”

The dual responsibility of being both player and head coach, on top of his role as assistant coach with Melbourne United, is not lost on him.

“It’s definitely demanding and I can see why it’s not very common,” he admitted. “I’m lucky to have and have had an elite coaching staff each year that I’ve been in charge, with Andy Lim this year and Rhys Carter in years past as well as Tom O’Brien and Evan Valance.”

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Sandringham’s championship was built on resilience, none more so than in the Grand Final when they erased a 17-point deficit to overrun the Melbourne Tigers 99–80 in front of a sold-out State Basketball Centre.

“So incredibly proud of the group, and the club as a whole,” Barlow said. “Again, we focused on the process and solving problems in the moment and to come from such a deficit only made the victory more special.”

Now, attention turns to the NBL1 National Finals in Canberra, where Barlow acknowledges the Sabres will look different to the side that triumphed in Melbourne.

“The Nationals presents a different challenge with half our team unavailable due to injury or NBL Blitz commitments,” he said.

“We have a great opportunity to give minutes to the guys that missed out on court time towards the back end of the NBL1 South season as well as younger Sabres juniors that are deserving of more NBL1 opportunities in the future.”