OWNERSHIP speculation, voluntary administration, an uncertain future - Hawks veteran Tim Coenraad could be forgiven for feeling a sense deja vu.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It's virtually been par for the course in a decade-long career with the NBL battlers after playing in the Hawks 'last ever' game at the end of his first season in Wollongong.
The famous Save the Hawks campaign ensured that ultimately wasn't the case, but it's been a bumpy ride since through community and then private ownership.
That continued last month when former owner Simon Stratford relinquished ownership and placed the club into VA, with the NBL taking control of the license.
It'll see another change in ownership prior to a postponed free agency period opening on July 1, but Coenraad says the club's current predicament has a very different feel to its previous brushes with death.
"I messaged Flinny [Matt Flinn] when this first happened and said 'surely we've broken a record for the amount of times we've gone through voluntary administration?'" he joked.
"This time it's been a lot different purely through the fact the NBL's really had our backs and are in a position now where they can really take hold of it and look after the guys.
"The last VA we got cut three months worth of pay so that was obviously hard to swallow, a lot of us were doing other work at that time as well.
"What's been really good this time is that NBL's picked up the license and offered to pay out everyone's contract. Financially, I've had an off-season contract cut so it's not ideal but it's been a lot easier because they've had our back."
Free agency loomed for the veteran of more than 300 NBL games regardless, but the VA process saw all player contracts terminated, leaving the entire roster free to negotiate with rivals from July 1.
Coenraad's preference is to stay in Wollongong, as has always been the case, but the 34-year-old says he's always been awake to the reality that he may have to look elsewhere.
"It's a time where big decisions are made and, for me, almost every free agency the question is: do I leave the Hawks?" he said.
"I've always stayed on, even when when there's been more money offered elsewhere in the past, because I felt that commitment to the Hawks. This is where I wanted to be and where I was wanted.
"Will that always be the case? I'm not sure. At the end of the day, I'm a basketball player and I want to keep playing basketball. I feel like I'm in pretty good nick at 34 and I've got some basketball left to play.
"If another team's willing to put me in the situation to do that when the Hawks might not, that's a decision I'll have to make. That's always been my position because of the nature of our business."
Like the entire Hawks roster, he'll have more clarity once the club's ownership is settled, something he hopes for sooner rather than later.
"There was some [contract] chat earlier on but once this thing got in full swing it obviously all stopped," he said.
"You can ask some questions here or there but, essentially, we've had to wait and figure out when free agency was going to start, sort out this pay bracket situation and all the rest.
"Hopefully the Hawks will have a definite owner by that time, hopefully a bit before that to re-sign some players they want to keep on board.
"I'll have a pretty good idea where I stand when that time comes. Hopefully things work out well, we have some good owners come in with a good vision and hopefully I'm a part of that vision."