OK, so they're only a little bit alike, but the former Hawks coach is looking to make the best of both having bitten the bullet and made the trip over the ditch on Wednesday to resurrect his coaching career with the Southland Sharks.

With wife Suellen and kids Jaydon, Annie and Noah back in Wollongong, it was a tough enough call to make before the coronavirus pandemic threw the world into chaos.

Beveridge admits he's "rolling the dice." Had he left it two more days it would've been taken out of his hands entirely after New Zealand closed its borders to non-citizens on Thursday.

All visitors to the country - citizens or not - are required to quarantine for 14 days. It's from his own self-isolation Beveridge spoke to The Mercury about the trip, what he's learned in a year out of the coaching mire, and his burning desire to coach in the NBL again.

Linking with the Sharks is a step to that goal, but it's already been a bumpy ride to Invercargill given the measures in place around the COVID-19 crisis.

"It was interesting coming into the country, all the paperwork through immigration and everything else, then you had to go through a health check and customs," Beveridge said.

"I gave myself two hours but I only made my connecting flight with 20 minutes to spare. I had a meeting this morning with my assistant coach but you've go to be two metres away from him and that sort of thing.

"Other than that you can go and exercise and things like that so it's a common sense approach. It is what it is.

"When it all blew up last week I got contacted on the Friday night about coming on Sunday. I said I couldn't, my daughter was in Sydney, I couldn't just jump on a plan and say goodbye because I don't know how long I'm going to be here."

They're tough circumstances, but necessary to end a coaching hiatus that's lasted 12 months since parting ways with Illawarra after four seasons. His stint with the foundation club was a roller coaster, one that saw him take the club from voluntary administration to the finals in his first season in Wollongong.

He took an on-paper inferior squad to a grand final series a year later but went without finals action in the following two seasons. The latter was the toughest, with Beveridge ultimately deciding to part ways with the club amid differences over its future direction.

He was subsequently linked to Sydney, with talks well advanced before the Kings ultimately opted to bring in Will Weaver in from the US. It let him without a full-time gig and with plenty of that free time career coaches supposedly crave but secretly live in fear of.

He continued to work in various development and consultancy roles, but he admits there was still a void.

"Obviously I finished up with the Hawks at the end of last season and I was 100 per cent mentally and physically burned out," he said.

"It was a horrible time and I needed time away from the NBL and the Hawks and everything else. I took some time off to refresh the mind body and soul. I went back and worked with grass roots basketball and in coach education and trying to give back a bit.

"It was good for me. I've been very lucky in my career so I thought it was time to do that but I really miss that feeling when the lights come on. I miss the adrenaline and the competitiveness of wanting to win, working in a team environment and how you beat teams.

"I've missed all of that immensely."

In the ensuing time he's been inducted into the Basketball NSW Hall of Fame and coached the Emerging Boomers to a bronze medal at the World University Games last July.

The latter re-stoked the competitive fire but, despite the fact he's inevitably linked to any NBL job that comes up, it's not merely as simple as putting his hand up.

The sport's rise in this country sees no shortage of emerging young coaches, while the league's growing global presence is seeing clubs look internationally for the likes of Weaver or Breakers coach Dan Shamir.

Beveridge has been around the caper long enough to know that currency is everything in professional coaching.

"Do I want coach in the NBL again... I'd love to, it just comes down to right place, right time with the right people," he said.

"Going to the World [University Games] last year confirmed to me that I can still coach and it put the fire back in the belly. I thought 'yep, I still want to do this'.

"I looked at that situation and, if I want to get back into the NBL, I've got to be coaching. People make assumptions that I'm doing all sorts of things and speaking to all sorts of people but it's not the case.

"You get forgotten about really quickly. Things didn't work out with the Hawks, that's life, it happens, but I don't want to be forgotten about. There are a lot of younger rookie coaches coming through but I know I'm still at the top of my game."

The Sharks fit that bill, so when outgoing coach Judd Flavell sounded him out about coaching in New Zealand, Beveridge listened.

"Judd Flavell, who was the coach for several years, has moved to South East Melbourne and he approached me about the position, what a great organisation it is," Beveridge said.

"That's what I wanted to do, get back working with good people and a good organisation. I needed to get back on the horse and what better way than with the New Zealand league which has really grown.

"A lot of NBL players go there in the off-season now, the league's got a lot of credibility, they're signing TV deals and everything like that so it was all really positive. I thought this gives me an opportunity to get back into coaching, put my hand up and say 'hey, I'm still around, I'm not going anywhere'."

It was all rosy, until COVID-19 put it all in jeopardy. With sporting leagues around the world - including the NBL who pulled the pin mid-grand final series - shutting down, there were no guarantees.

There still isn't, with the league on Friday deciding to postpone the start of its season that was due to start on April 10. Beveridge said that prospect was part of frank discussions with his family about whether to make the journey. Ultimately, he left with their support.

"It's a risk me being here, I get that," he said.

"The club called me last week and said if I wanted to pull out of my contract they'd completely understand, they get it, it's all up in the air.

"I went out to dinner with my family on Tuesday night and we sat there and said 'what do we do?' I said I could take the easy option and stay at home but I'd be like a caged lion.

"We've rolled the dice. It's a tough, tough decision for me to be away from my family but they know why I'm doing this. If they said 'no Dad don't do it' I wouldn't have, but they know this is who I am and this is what I do.

"I'm a basketball coach. I've been extremely successful, I've had a setback over the last 12 months confidence-wise and things like that but I've got the fire in the belly, I've got a point to prove."

The New Zealand NBL remains hopeful of getting a season started in May or as late as June. There's no guarantee it will, but Beveridge says he remains committed to the season. His marquee recruits Sunday Dech and Jarrad Weeks have made the same leap having also touched down in New Zealand in anticipation of the season tipping off.

"I'm going to stay here in Invercargill and do what I can do behind the scenes to ensure that the team will be ready to go when, and if, it goes ahead," Beveridge said.

"Weeksy's here, Sunday's here and we've made a commitment to doing this thing. Hopefully common sense prevails and we can work out what's best for the players, the league and the sport moving forward.

"I'm an optimist, I don't feel like the world's caving in. If I get knocked down, I'll get back up. I've never, ever been a quitter and I'm not going to start now."

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