Vickerman looks back on ‘phenomenal’ Championship journey

With his time as Melbourne United’s Head Coach having come to a close, departing club legend Dean Vickerman has reminisced fondly about the pair of Championships he claimed with the organisation.

The first came during his debut season with a star-studded team featuring the likes of Chris Goulding, Casper Ware and Casey Prather.

While his maiden campaign may have gotten off to a slow start, Vickerman explained how a now famous wrestling session during the FIBA Window helped turn the season around.

“I think we might have been 5-5 at a FIBA Window and (then club CEO) Vince (Crivelli) kind of walked in my office and said ‘I don't think we're tough enough, I don't think we like physicality enough’. 

“That put us in the position to say, well, how can we change that? And through that FIBA Window we got into wrestling, and it became kind of famous for that season about Casper and the instructor, just getting on the wrestling mat and battling each other.

“I thought we came off that FIBA window with a different intent and to me that really set up that Championship.

“I guess when you come home, the goal was always to get to a Championship Series and try and win it. To me it was an incredible championship series against Adelaide and no-one could win on each other's home court

“You see the value in what it meant to win a regular season Championship, just to get that Game Five at home and just, you know, the crowd support that we had there was phenomenal.”

Two seasons later, having fallen short in his chance to go back-to-back against Perth in 2019 and losing a rollercoaster semi-final series against Sydney in 2020, Vickerman and United looked poised to secure a second title in 2021.

Led again by Goulding and newcomer Jock Landale, United dominated much of a wild regular season, leading to a Throwdown semi-final series that was played in Sydney, before sweeping the Wildcats in to claim the Championship.

“The uncertainty (of the season) and how well the club did and how well the team responded to adversity (was great),”

“To play our semi-final series in Sydney with no fans, and then we start the Grand Final series with two games in Perth because it was a better place to play to start that series. 

“To win with all those many challenges, as talented as we were, it was super credit to that group.”

Melbourne United will look to claim its first title without Vickerman at the helm in NBL27. 

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