South Adelaide Panthers v Sturt Sabres, Sat, Mar 13, 8:15pm at Marion
The Panther Army has seen the best and the worst of their team over the past two years but the retirement of Danny Kosmider leaves a big hole. The recruitment of former Victorian state representatives Sammy Gazzo and Tim Pickert will help, as will Cameron Bruce. The performance of Canadian Brian Finniss will be the X-Factor. Sturt’s new coach Scott Butler will run with a plethora of local junior talent including 5 members of SA’s Under 20 silver medalists. Darren Ng will join the team as of week 1 and If the likes of Staunton medalist Corey Maynard can translate junior success to this level, expect Sturt to be high performers, especially when Jacob Holmes and Marcus Ng join the team.

Central Districts Lions v Norwood Flames, Sat, Mar 13, 8:15pm at Starplex
Central Districts bolstered their backcourt in the off season with the addition of Gary Birmingham (Woodville) and Dan Wilson (Forestville), though will take a hit with the early absence of Jake Templeton who is playing college ball in Iowa. The Lions regain promising centre Daniel Carlin from the AIS and Zane Reeves from Bendigo, and with American Wade Pidock joining the team, Centrals enter their game against the defending champions as favourites. Norwood will suffer through early parts of the season without 36ers centre David Cooper and Keith Krause (injured), and Dan Thompson (interstate), though 6’10” Jimmy Fanning will help provide some relief until all three return.

Woodville Warriors v Forestville Eagles, Sat, Mar 13, 8:15pm at St. Clair
Mark Molitor returns to the league as the Warriors new men’s coach, and takes over one of the CABL’s least changed groups. Woodville has signed Brady Brink and expect him to be a third scoring option along with Cameron Wilson and Josh Knight. Shooter Ben McKay may progress to a starter and their decision on how to fill the 5 spot could determine their chances. Forestville has lost Matt Sutton (Mount Gambier) and Peter Hoban (football) who were both legitimate talents at this level, and will also be without Brenton Campbell, but 6’5” Riley Luettergerodt from the University of Hawaii has impressed in trial games and with Scott Arnold out of retirement, the Eagles will again challenge for the premiership.

Eastern Mavericks v West Adelaide Bearcats, Sat, Mar 13, 8:15pm at Adelaide Hills
Steve Breheny takes charge of one of the more promising Eastern teams since their 2004 premiership. Brad Hill won’t be there at the start but Jordan Dodman will, and when Ben Madgen returns from a stellar college career, the Mavericks will hit their straps. For West Adelaide, NBL veteran Brad Davidson moves from the bench to the hardwood allowing Paul Bell to take the reigns and with a year of experience with the 36ers under his belt, expect Chris Molitor to become a more dominant force in the league. Western Australian Steve Watts, who returns to Australia from the US, is an unknown.

Southern Tigers v North Adelaide Rockets, Sun, Mar 14, 3:00pm at Morphett Vale
Heath Jury’s Tiger outfit, which was already one of the smaller groups in the competition, lost Brad Bungey interstate in the off-season, but athletic former Sturt centre Mark Paget, who had a breakout year in 2008, may offset this somewhat. Brandon Brine will benefit from the experience at the recent Under 20 Nationals and if Academy Award Winner Michael Florence continues the improvement shown in 2009, the Tigers may be competitive. Ryan Kersten, Michael Zorich and Ben Groves rejoin a Rocket group already full of local talent, and when livewire centre Pero Vasiljevic joins the team mid-season, the Rockets will become a legitimate finals contender.