Crocodiles Looking For New Big Man

Posted: Sat Sep 11, 1998 at 11:23 AM ET

Townsville Crocodiles coach Ian Stacker has begun a global search for an athletic centre following fears that team captain Clarence Tyson may miss the NBL's inaugural summer season. Tyson, the league's leading rebounder in 1996, sat out the 1997 season after undergoing major knee surgery. Just three weeks from the the new season he is again in danger of being ruled out. The American took a heavy knock on the same knee during a practice match on Sunday and will undergo exploratory surgery on September 20. While Stacker was building up Townsville's telephone bill today with a string of international calls, the Brisbane's latest American import Thaddeous Delaney was expected to arrive in town tomorrow.

It's unlikely American Ray Owes, who filled in well for Tyson last season, will be available this time to answer any SOS from Stacker. "This screws up our season before it begins, but what can you do," said Stacker who has replaced Mark Bragg as coach. "But I guess it's better it happened now rather than in the middle of the season." The recent addition of North Melbourne centre Andrew Goodwin, picked up in the NBL's merger draft, now takes on far more importance following Tyson's latest setback.

*This article taken directly from the AAP