The West Australian press have launched an attack on the Illawarra ahead of Friday night's first NBL grand final game between the Hawks and the Wildcats in Perth.
WA Today writer Joseph Sapienza has criticised the Hawks' underdog status heading into the grand final series.
He said nothing irked him more than sports fans trying to build morale on the basis that their team is not as big - in terms of population and land mass - as their rivals.
Sapienza rejected the notion that the Hawks were the sentimental favourites going into Friday night's game and that the game had been likened to a David and Goliath battle of big city, big-spending glamour club versus the small-town, small budget minnows.
He described the Illawarra in most unflattering terms: "that NSW South Coast backwater with a population of what, 345, with eleven dogs, a rec centre in Dapto and a fraternity club."
Despite being annoyed by those trying to secure underdog status, Sapienza then went on to detail the Wildcats' tale of woe: how the team was also saved from the brink of financial oblivion and had to let go of countless players because of tight funds.
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