Basketball New Zealand

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Preparing for their Ramsay Shield opener against Australia, the NZ Tall Blacks have suffered another setback with the withdrawal of Wellington Saints forward Brendon Polyblank.

Polyblank helped his team to last week’s Dominion Finance NBL finals and seemed set to end a four-year absence from the national team.

But as the squad assembled in Auckland to prepare for their last-ditch Olympic qualifying campaign, he informed coach Nenad Vucinic he had aggravated a foot injury and could not take his place on the roster.

Vucinic is determined to take the loss in stride and does not intend replacing Polyblank.

“Brendon’s withdrawal has merely opened up some doors for others,” he insists.

The biggest beneficiary should be rookie Corey Webster (19), who was initially chosen for experience and may now see extended court time.

Polyblank’s departure reduces the squad to 12 for the series against Australia with now just one to be cut before it heads to Canada on Sunday. That casualty will be either Casey Frank or Nick Horvath, who are competing for the one naturalized spot available in the line-up.

The Tall Blacks face the Boomers at the North Shore Events Centre, 7.30pm Thursday, before traveling to Melbourne for the re-match on Saturday.