Former 36er and current Woodville Warrior 3-point specialist Darren Ng is a busy man.

The 29 year-old shares his time between his young family, comprised of wife Tamara and one-year old son Orlando, and his playing commitments for the Woodville Warriors for which he’s the starting shooting guard.

In his spare time he’s also a doctor.

A self-confessed “trailblazer” in regards to balancing a profession as demanding as medicine with that of a high-level basketball career, Ng recalls former 36ers coach Phil Smyth and assistant Steve Breheny as being instrumental during the early days in allowing him to manage both careers.

“When I arrived at the sixers, Phil and Steve were really welcoming in terms of fitting in my medical studies, schedules and exams,” says Ng.

“It was just a matter of staying really well organised and on top of my schedule, and making sure I passed my exams.”

Well organised, sure. Yet despite Ng’s modesty, no amount of organisation accounts for his incredible talent on the floor. Particularly when it comes to shooting the ball.

Regarded as one of the most explosive scorers in the league courtesy of his incredible range and speed of release on his jump shot, Ng’s marksmanship has helped earn him the honour of being one of only several dual Woollacott medallists in CABL history. The awards came in 2006 and 2009 whilst playing for Sturt, part of a successful 10 year stint with the club that culminated in a championship in 2010.

“He’s not just a good shooter, he’s a sensational shooter,” says Woodville teammate Nathan Baggot.

“It’s great having a teammate that every time I put the ball in his hands I’m confident he’s going to make it.”

However despite such obvious ability on the court, Ng insists that his primary focus never wavered from completing his medical degree.

“Coming out of high school, I always wanted to finish medicine first,”

“Halfway through when the basketball picked up a little bit I took a little bit of time off med school… but in my head I always wanted to finish the degree pretty much on course.”

Ng’s plan took a brief detour during his final year of study when he decided to take six months off medical school to sign with NBL-expansion side the Signapore Slingers for the 2007/8 season. But when the franchise pulled out of the league just prior to the commencement of the season, Ng’s travel was confined to South-East Asia as the team entered the local ASEAN league instead.  

“It ended up being a great experience playing over there in Malaysia where my parents are from,” says Ng.

Thankfully for 36ers fans Ng’s hiatus from the NBL didn’t last too long, returning to Adelaide to take up an internship at the Royal Adelaide Hospital six months later. Incredibly Ng still managed to find time to suit up for the Sixers, despite spending up to 60 hours a week at the hospital.

“I had to do a lot of extra hours in the gym lifting weights in the offseason, as well as before work and after work,” says Ng.

“It was jut a matter of fitting it all into one day.”

Following his retirement from the NBL last year, Ng claims his decision to return to junior club Woodville for the 2013 CABL season as being a long-term desire to play with old teammates from his junior days.

“I’ve still got a couple of mates from my junior career that are still playing for the Warriors and we’d always talked about playing a season or two again before we retired,” says Ng.

“I loved my time at Sturt…but I thought it was the right time to make the move back to Woodville and am really enjoying it so far this year.”

Hopefully for Warrior fans, their team can capitalise on Ng’s experience and offensive firepower and bring home a championship for the first time since 2005. 

After all, whilst Ng claims he hopes to play for a few more seasons yet, even his incredible time management skills won’t keep the door open forever.

Click here for the extended interview on the Central ABL Podcast

By Lachlan Sellar