Kingma may move to rival team

Michael “Wookie” Kingma served three loyal seasons with Gladstone’s Yaralla Port City Power QBL (Queensland Basketball League) team, but now it is speculated that he will make the switch and join forces with Gladstone’s biggest rival team.

The 207cm centre is said to leave Gladstone to add extra strength to the already powerful Rockhampton Rockets when the season opens in April.

Power’s coach Blair Smith said the team was sorry to see him go, but admitted that it would be the right move for a player of his calibre.

“He is a professional player that has to do what is right for him and the change will be good for him,” Smith said yesterday.

“He is a very good player and a crowd favourite – he will be a great pick-up for the Rockhampton team.”

Although Rockhampton Rockets could not confirm or deny the change, Smith said the switch had been on the cards for quite some time.

Smith said if the change went ahead it would increase the already existing tension and rivalry between the teams and would make the games “even more awesome” for the crowd.

“He is a crowd favourite for a few years now and if he suits up for Rockhampton, it will make it good for the games (between Rockhampton and Gladstone),” Smith said.

“Rockhampton is our biggest rival and our games draw in a big crowd and it is great for all Central Queenslanders because we are close – our next closest team is Mackay which is quite a drive.”

But with two other top players out of the Power, James Cochran and Daniel Simanic (knee injury), Smith looks at the 2010 season in a new direction.

“We will be changing our style particularly with the game time being 40 minutes (reduced from 48 minutes), which is going to make a big difference,” he said.

“The game is going to be a different tempo and a lot faster; we are going to be more aggressive.”

The Rockets plan to announce more team members this month.