Feature image via: Viesther Rex Bergas
Glenn Morison is a two-time NBL1 East All-Star Five member, an NBL1 East champion, and represented the Canberra Gunners at the inaugural NBL1 National Finals – but he still doesn’t consider himself a “professional athlete”.
From SEABL to NBL1 East, he’s never considered signing with another club for more money, as he doesn’t consider himself a professional player. He has a full-time job and plays for the love of the game, to play alongside the teammates he grew up with.
The Canberra native explained he couldn’t imagine himself wearing any other jersey, other than the Gunners’ blue and yellow.
While it’s admirable to stay loyal, Morison has not only done that but made Canberra a perpetual Finals contender, with the club making the Grand Final and then the Semi-Final in back-to-back seasons. Not to mention they sit atop the NBL1 East ladder once again heading into Round 12.
“There's a few different factors around it. My life's entrenched in Canberra. I don't see myself as a professional player who plays a different team. It's like I have a life in Canberra and it's tough to uproot that,” Morison told NBL Media.
“Pete's (Herak) been my coach since I was 15-16 years old, and he was my brother's coach before that. And the same thing with Will (Mayfield) and James (Toohey). He gave all of us our first shot at men's basketball when we were really young. So there’s definitely a loyalty to that as well.”
THE CANBERRA GUNNERS ARE THE INAUGURAL #NBL1EAST CHAMPIONS ? ?
The Gunners have pulled off a miraculous win 76-73 over the Maitland Mustangs to win it all ? pic.twitter.com/O44CwITBil
Without spending money on big-name NBL talents or imports, the Gunners are an anomaly when it comes to success. The captain explained that the loyalty towards Coach Herak and the chemistry they have built has been critical in retaining their strong core.
“How we do it each year, It's kind of beyond me as well,” he said.
“We have really good relationships with Pete and like we all love playing for him. He's got his flaws, but like he's a great guy and we love him. It’s the loyalty factor, we've all played together for so long. There's a chemistry there that other teams don’t really have. They build a new team each year or have like a bunch of revolving pieces so they can't really have that same thing.
“Our biggest thing is the chemistry we have together and we all know how to play together.”
One of Morson’s childhood friends, William Mayfield, has been a critical piece to Canberra’s success. One of the heroes of the 2022 championship, Mayfield ended up signing with the NBL1 South’s Mount Gambier Pioneers for the 2023 season to further his basketball career.
While you may expect teams to reject someone after they leave, the culture Morison and the Gunners have built left only admiration for Mayfield’s career progression and open arms once he decided to return for the 2024 season.
“That's why I guess we've been so good, even if the Canberra boys leave, they know they've always got somewhere to go back to,” he said.
“As long as you keep the relationship, you've always got a place to go back to. Which for us is a good thing, we give them a chance to go and if they find they want to come back home, they've got a place in the Gunners.”
Morison explained that Canberra basketball is in a very unique situation. It continues to grow with the success of the Gunners, Nationals, and the WNBL’s Capitals, and basketball in the ACT has reached new heights in the past few seasons.
However, Morison said that the Canberra market is hard to break through, as many residents have moved to the ACT for work and aren’t tied into the local “tight-knit” basketball community.
He said success is the ultimate driver in bringing in new fans, which leaves a lot of pressure on his Gunners to succeed each season.
“The problem in the past years is that we were always a losing team. When I first started in SEABL in 2017, we went three of 21, the year after we went 0-20. Tough to ask fans to come if you're throwing around that kind of record.
“So now that we're winning and we're winning with local guys that the community knows and the community have grown with, it's really done a good thing for the fans.”
The Canberra Gunners will take on the reigning champion Sutherland Sharks on Saturday, streaming live from 7:30pm AEST via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App.
