Airs on the road early in next year's NBL

Will Johnston

The Taranaki Steelformers Airs will be on the road early in the Sal’s National Basketball League (NBL) when the competition starts in April next year.

Coming off the back of a history making performance in the 2022 edition, where the Taranaki Steelformers Airs topped the competition after the regular season for the first time, they will play nine home games at the TSB Stadium in the 18-match regular season.

Home matches will be played between Thursday and Sunday making the competition pride itself on its family-friendly environment.

The Taranaki Steelformers Airs will be away for the first three matches against the

Canterbury Rams, Auckland Tuatara and Hawke’s Bay Hawks between April 9-15.

The first home game at the TSB Stadium will be against defending champions Otago Nuggets on Saturday, April 22.

Taranaki Steelformers Airs general manager Cole Brown said he’s looking forward to seeing how the team stacks up against last season’s winners.

“Having the defending champions at home is a great start to the season for us. We respect what the Nuggets have done last season and we’re looking forward to testing ourselves early on in the competition,” he said.

“It’s also great for our fans to see hot competition at home during the early part of the season, which will hopefully be a dress rehearsal for what’s to come later in the season.”

Taranaki Steelformers Airs will host Manawatū Jets a week later at home before an away game to Nelson in early May.

Brown said he’s pleased the Airs will then play four consecutive home games against the Hawks, Franklin Bulls, Rams and Wellington Saints.

“We know our fans come out in full force and if we gain some momentum during that important part of the season, it would be good reward for our supporters at home.”

The Taranaki Steelformers Airs will play a further three home games on June 24, 29 and July 13 against the Southland Sharks, Tuatara and Giants.

The final regular season match is against Otago on 15 July. Times for all matches are to be confirmed.

Brown hopes to leverage off last year’s match-day experience.

“We are improving an already awesome match-day experience with a number of new initiatives and giveaways that will be announced closer to the season. We are planning to pick up where we left off in 2022 by selling out our first game.”

He said corporate offerings are nearing capacity and warned supporters to buy season passes quickly to avoid missing out when they go on sale at the end of November.

The official trade window opens on 30 November and the Taranaki Steelformers Airs are poised to announce some key signings after that.

Taranaki Steelformers Airs 2023 Draw (times TBC): Sun 9 April v Canterbury Rams, Christchurch; Fri 14 April v Auckland Tuatara, Auckland; Sat 15 April v Hawke’s Bay Hawks, Napier; Sat 22 April v Otago Nuggets, New Plymouth; Sat 29 April v Manawatu Jets, New Plymouth; Sat 6 May v Nelson Giants, Nelson; Thurs 11 May v Hawks, New Plymouth; Fri 19 May v Bulls, New Plymouth; Thurs 25 May v Rams, New Plymouth; Sun 4 June v Saints, New Plymouth; Sat 10 June v Sharks, Invercargill; Sat 17 June v Jets, Palmerston North; Sun 18 June v Saints, Wellington; Sat 24 June v Sharks, New Plymouth; Thurs 29 June v Tuatara, New Plymouth; Sat 8 July v Bulls, Auckland; Thurs 13 July v Giants, New Plymouth; Sat 15 July v Nuggets, Dunedin.