“It’s just not fair”: Vickerman gutted for injured-again star

Dean Vickerman couldn't hide devastation for Shea Ili. The latest hamstring injury hurt not only the guard, but Melbourne United’s season, and the coach is starting to accept he may never have a fully fit roster in NBL26.

United snapped a four-game losing streak on Thursday night, opening a three-game home stand at John Cain Arena with a dominant 97–76 win over the Illawarra Hawks in a Championship Series rematch.

Vickerman woke up on Thursday excited to finally have a full squad available for just the second time all season, after briefly enjoying that luxury against Brisbane on November 15. That optimism quickly faded.

Chris Goulding fell ill again, with the decision made not to risk him playing. Things worsened in the second quarter when Ili went down.

Going up for a layup, Ili suffered his third hamstring injury of the season and walked straight to the locker room in frustration. When Vickerman realised what had happened, he couldn’t hide his emotions at half-time. The reaction wasn’t anger, but heartbreak for Ili.

“We were on the break and then I saw him go into the stands a little bit, and then Tyson (Walker) got a steal on the next play and 'Shili '' hadn’t returned so he could throw it down to him, but he was gone somewhere else,” Vickerman said.

“When I heard that he'd re-injured a hamstring I was just super flat and walked to my coaches' office, and smashed a pen against the wall.

“It's just not fair that he comes up with another injury right now, with him just coming back to play.”

Melbourne began the season without Goulding for the first four games, before Ili missed 13 of the next 14. Just as United appeared close to full strength, Vickerman was again without both veterans in the second half on Thursday night.

“Someone had called me today and was all excited that we had our full roster, and I told them not to say that, because then the phone goes and it's the physio saying that Chris is sick and is not going to play,” Vickerman said.

“It feels like we're just not meant to have our full roster this year, but credit to Tyson, he took on a massive load once Shea went down and credit to Tanner Krebs for taking on a massive load with CG going down.

“When it was his turn to guard (Tyler) Harvey tonight, he just really locked in to it and was exceptional, and then Finn Delany is just playing at a really high level for us too, to step up for those guys we are missing.”