There is no guarantee a new-look national basketball competition will have a team in Brisbane, with the group driving the return of the Bullets revealing they will fall short of Basketball Australia's demanding funding benchmark.
On the same day foundation club Wollongong announced it would cease to exist after the current NBL season, Brisbane NBL Back on Board said it too would lack the financial backing required to apply for a licence in a revamped league.
While the Hawks will simply not submit an application by the February 27 deadline, the Brisbane group will plead its case with Basketball Australia (BA) in the face of economic demands many clubs feel are unreasonable and unrealistic in the current climate.
With teams dropping like flies, clubs seeking entry to the new league must now have a bank guarantee of $1 million plus $500,000 in working capital.
With no guarantee of a team from NSW, given the financial frailties of the Sydney Spirit, the new competition could also be minus a team in the vital South East Queensland market if BA chooses to play hardball with its entry criteria.
Hawks chief executive Richard Clifford has already taken aim at BA, suggesting that the funding benchmark is "unsustainable" and lacking perspective.
"In recent years the NBL has had five teams fold and yet they want to raise the bar at a time when economic conditions are very tough," Clifford said.
"It doesn't make a lot of sense."
A leading Brisbane basketball identity said yesterday only one or two clubs could afford to meet BA's demands - and that was when the league was enjoying better days with successful teams in Brisbane and Sydney.
With interest sorely lacking in the sport and Australia plunging into recession, it would seem a longshot that an influx of suitable applications would be rubber-stamped when they hit the desk of BA chief executive Scott Derwin later this month.
Brisbane's philosophy in trying to revive the Bullets, a proud foundation club that folded amid heart-breaking scenes last year, is more along the lines of "you have to be in it to win it".
The push for a Brisbane side in any new league has been steadily gaining momentum since the demise of the Bullets but a spokesperson said yesterday the looming deadline meant there would be a funding shortfall.
Not deterred, the group - which is being advised by Australian basketball great Larry Sengstock - will argue its case no matter the state of the books.
"The new requirements are quite significant and at this point, we're not sure if we can meet those requirements. But we're certainly prepared to discuss our options with Basketball Australia," the spokesperson said.
"It wouldn't be a great shock to BA that people aren't going to meet it. They are probably going to have to reassess their goals at this point."
That sentiment would seem to correlate with comments from Derwin, who said the Hawks should have put their hat in the ring no matter the status of their financial backing.
"We had encouraged them to put forward a bid whether it conformed with the criteria or not so it's disappointing they opted not to put anything forward," Derwin said.
He went on to back the taxing criteria, saying a new league would not survive with clubs that are not financially viable.
"In creating a new league we need to ensure all the clubs are solid for that so we don't have the casualties we've had over the last few years," Derwin said.
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