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THE personality clash between terminated men’s coach Al Green and Woodville’s rookie president Benn McDonald took a new twist yesterday with a meeting of club members anxious to see the issue resolved and the Basketball Australia Hall of Fame legend agreeing to assist at Forestville Eagles.

Green was dumped by the Warriors as the club’s state SA league coach in May for undisclosed reasons, and the club has been in turmoil since.

Woodville was top when the termination was enacted, with no reasons specified and the committee adopting the position it could not reveal details because of pending legal matters.

The implication is Green had done something heinous, which clearly is not the case. Consequently he is suing McDonald and members of the committee – of which he also had been vice-president – for unfair dismissal and defamation.

Yesterday a meeting of members seeking clarification on the dispute was attended by club notables including past president Helen Gleeson and current committeeman and former AFL footballer Sam Phillipou.

While Green clearly was moved by the show of support and Phillipou told the gathering he was pleased to have heard the axed coach speak – an opportunity the committee was not afforded before it reached its decision to terminate – Basketball SA intervention means a special general meeting will be held within three weeks where a vote of no-confidence will be tabled in the club’s current management.

The delay in calling the Constitutionally-required SGM ostensibly has been because of, according to Woodville’s website, a lack of clarity as to who constitutes a club member. Nice to know that wasn't an issue at the last AGM.

BSA has provided the club clear guidelines and will provide an independent arbitrator to attend the SGM.

Green said although his life has had its ups and downs, the past six weeks and this year had been the worst of his life.

That was until longtime friend and Forestville coach Andrew Simons stepped in eight days ago.

Aware of the developing situation and the little likelihood Green would be reinstated given how long the issue has been drawn out, Simons called the 1982 NBL MVP to offer him a role in the Eagles’ SBL campaign.

“Al and I are mates and we talk a lot,” Simons said.

“We’ve talked a lot about the impact this has had on him and it’s been a very emotional time for him.

“So part of me asking Al to come in as an assistant is about helping out a good mate but it is also about having the opportunity to have a great basketballer involved with the program.”

Simons has held the reins at Forestville for 13 years, with Todd Grocke his assistant through that period.

Forestville has won five Championships during that time and finished runner-up three times.

“I’m cautious and careful about who I take on board,” Simons said.

Green ticks all the boxes.

“He has such a lot to offer and has an appetite to be involved,” Simons said.

“Plus coming from the outside, he can give good insights to our program.”

In the aftermath of Simons’ match debrief last Saturday, ironically a comfortable win over Woodville, Simons invited Green into Forestville’s changeroom.

“My team had no idea he was coming in and when I introduced him, I said: ‘You’re probably wondering what this $%#* @#&! is doing here’.

“When I told the team Al was coming on board as an assistant coach for the rest of the season, they spontaneously stood up and applauded.”

Green was visibly moved and only able to speak briefly about what this opportunity meant to him.

There is very little chance he could or would return to Woodville this season, with the SGM still three weeks away.

But he still regards the club as his basketball home and where he ultimately would like to be.

Forestville has won the past three State Championships, joining North Adelaide (1957-59) and West Adelaide (1970-72) as a three-time defending champion.

The goal of catching West Adelaide’s all-time record of five straight SBL Championships from 1978-82 under Ken Richardson, remains elusive.

The Eagles currently are in sixth place with a 6-6 record and six rounds to go to try and gate-crash the final five.

HAPPY birthday to the New Zealand Breakers which turns 11 today as an NBL club.