Basketball: Southern Huskies confirmed to join New Zealand NBL

Harry Froling is one of the first signings for the Southern Huskies. Photo / Getty

There will be an Australian team in next year's New Zealand NBL.

Tasmania's Southern Huskies have been confirmed to join the league on a five-year deal, starting in 2019, as the competition's ninth team.

They should be competitive too, with Adelaide 36ers big man Harry Froling on board as their first major signing for the 2019 season, while former Hobart Chargers coach Anthony Stewart will coach the side.

It's a big move for the NBL, and one that comes with plenty of logistical consequences, though the Huskies seem to have covered most of the concerns raised by New Zealand sides.

Each New Zealand team will visit Hobart to play the Huskies at least once, and the Huskies will play every Kiwi team in New Zealand as well, playing double-headers each time they cross the ditch.

Additionally, the Huskies will foot the bill for a touring party of 12 to visit Tasmania for each game, also paying for a night's accommodation for the New Zealand team visiting, and picking up the cost of flying a New Zealand referee over for each game.

As for the logistics surrounding imports, the Huskies can have any Kiwi or Australian as an unrestricted player, unless they have played more than 7.5 minutes in the Australian NBL in the proceeding season, in which case they would be classified as an import.

That means Froling is set to be an import, with the talented 20-year-old - formerly of Marquette and SMU - currently averaging 8.5 points and 4.5 rebounds for the 36ers in the Australian NBL this season. The Huskies have also signed former Perth Wildcats development player Mason Bragg, and are in negotiations with Melbourne United's Craig Moller.

The Huskies have ambitions of making the ANBL, but are understood to not be likely to earn a licence in the next few seasons. If they do gain acceptance before the end of their five-year deal, NBL CEO Iain Potter says their indication is that the Huskies would then play their development team in the New Zealand NBL.

"We've assembled an exciting and extremely competitive team, and we're fully committed to accessing the vast talent pool in Tasmania," said Huskies CEO Justin Hickey.

"We're hoping to provide an aspirational team for all basketball prospects to aim for."

Potter confirmed to Radio Sport that the NBL is set to retain all eight Kiwi sides along with the addition of the Huskies, with the Supercity Rangers intending to play in 2019 after a rough campaign in 2018.

The Rangers, who struggle to get crowds and seem generally apathetic to the idea of promotion, had talked about potentially becoming a Waikato-based side, but instead are set to stay in the Auckland region, and they will need to perform better both on and off the court.

"They will have to work hard to bring their brand back into a positive view," said Potter.

"Should they fail to do that, then we'll be looking at them differently next year."

The 2019 NBL season will start on April 11.