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Subscriber only BACK in great shape after conquering his mentally and physically demanding challenge, Jason Ralph has a new conquest and extra responsibility. The fiercely loyal Ipswich Force captain is working extra hard in the next phase of his team s home-grown development. Ralph is guiding his side in the highly competitive NBL 1 North competition where Ipswich is yet to win a game from its first four appearances. It s tough. The NBL1 is another level, the experienced guard said of this year s elite basketball competition. An Ipswich side, bolstered by having Australian player Nathan Sobey playing, finished last year s Queensland State League (QSL) in second spot, making the semi-finals.
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Subscriber only IPSWICH Force head coach Chris Riches knows how valuable the NBL1 North series will be as excitement builds for this weekend s new competition launch. It s been a long time coming with the false start that we had last year with COVID, Riches said. Everyone just wants it to start. There s a real sense of just getting underway with it and us being able to take off with the rebranding of having it as NBL1. There s been a lot of positives that a lot of associations have seen through that connection with the NBL. There s a lot of good stories happening and we re just ready to put on a show.
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Subscriber only WITH a core of home grown players, the Ipswich Force men s basketball team has been progressing tremendously in recent years. This season, they have the perfect player to inspire them further. Force has secured professional National Basketball League and Australian Boomers achiever Matt Hodgson for the inaugural NBL1 North season starting next month. After last year s new competition was postponed due to COVID, the Force men reached the semi-finals of the Queensland State League, having finished the regular season in second. Ipswich Force head coach Chris Riches is delighted to have a player the stature of Hodgson returning to his home town team.