Hugely talented US import Tyler Monroe is expected to return to the Maitland Mustangs line-up for Saturday's road trip to take on the Sutherland Sharks.
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Monroe was sensational in his first year for Maitland making double-double figures for points and rebounds in every game last year.
Hailing from Sacramento in California, Monroe has been anxiously waiting on the sidelines after his stint at the Perry Lakes Hawks in Western Australia’s state league was cut short by a broken bone in his left hand.
Monroe left Perth and has been recovering in Maitland and the 201cm, 100kg star is fully fit and received news yesterday that a bridging visa should allow him to play in Saturday’s game until his visa is transferred from the Hawks to the Mustangs.
“It’s great to be back in Maitland. I made a lot of friends and loved my time playing here,” Monroe said. “When I injured myself, Maitland people were among the first to contact me on Facebook to say ‘get back to Maitland and we’ll take care of you’.
“That was a great feeling and made a tough time a lot easier to deal with.”
Monroe will be virtually straight on a plane after the Sutherland game to fly back home for the birth of his second son, who is due next week.
“The timing has been ideal, learning today I should be OK to play on Saturday and then I will head back home for a couple of weeks for the birth of my son and be back for the Mustangs next game,” he said.
Monroe said it had been frustrating watching the Mustangs from the sidelines as they struggled to match other teams for size.
“They’ve been undersized and have struggled on the rebounds and in defence against the bigger bodies.
“I think the biggest player taking the court has only been 6’3 (190cm) and that’s tough trying to win rebounds.
“But they’ve been some good signs, young Dan (Millburn) has been playing really well.
“We need to work on our shooting percentages, but I’m confident we can make the play-offs. I think in this league eight or nine wins will get you a play-off spot and we are more than capable of doing that.”
Monroe said the Mustangs had come through a tough run against the best teams in the competition mostly on the road.
“We start to play teams lower on the table now,” he said. “It’s also good because we will be at home when we face those leading teams again and the Maitland crowd gives us a tremendous lift.”
The Mustangs will be further strengthened with the return of Taiga Cantor later this month from the US where he has been playing college basketball.
Sam Huggins also returns to the line-up after missing last weekend.
The Mustangs have a bye after the Sharks game and then host the Norths Bears.
