Tasmania's tale of resilience

Battered, bruised and undermanned – like so many times this season, the JackJumpers had plenty going against them against Sydney in Grand Final game three.

While they’d defied the odds so many times this year, when so few gave them a chance, this time the toll of illness and injury proved a bridge too far for Scott Roth’s team.

As a record crowd poured in Qudos Bank Arena, Jack McVeigh and Fabijan Krslovic were forced to watch on from their hotel rooms, with the flu sweeping through the club.

Matt Kenyon wasn’t faring much better, and while he did make it to the court, he managed just five minutes of action.

Jarred Bairstow limped on his sprained ankle across 20 minutes, and even the loss of star centre Will Magnay earlier in the season simply can’t be ignored.

Even so, the JackJumpers ran the Kings to within nine points, in a performance that typified a quite incredible first season. Against all the odds, they found a way to fight.

Tasmania’s season officially coming to a close, but not before a state was united as one.

“The grit and grind, the toughness of them (the players) and the ability to just pick up where someone left off, defend the island and make Tasmanians proud was our number one priority all season,” Roth said.

“It was an unbelievable effort from our guys and I’m just super-proud of them.

“To rally an entire state, not a city, but an entire state … the impact these gentlemen have had and the way they’ve (the players) carried themselves over the course of the season has been remarkable.

“The impact we’ve had on an entire state with what we’ve been able to accomplish in such a short amount of time and the culture that’s been built, it’s fairy-tale, it’s Cinderella, it’s everything great about sports.”

Stranded towards the bottom of the table at two wins and six losses, Tasmania mounted an incredible turnaround in the second half of the season.

No one expected them to play finals, no one expected them to make the Grand Final … well, perhaps no one except the JackJumpers themselves.

“I’ve said it a million times, ‘our process of showing up and doing the work would lead us to where we needed to be’,” Roth said.

“If we didn’t shortcut ourselves and were open to being unselfish, love each other, team-first, no ego, we not me, that things could happen that maybe would be remarkable.

“When I put this team together I was trying to find humble and hungry guys with character that were ready to do something different.

“It’s been a privilege to coach them.”

Captain Clint Steindl paid tribute to the JackJumpers' resilience.

"We probably at some stages weren't going to reap the rewards of this season, but this group of guys said 'to hell with it, let's give it a real shake'.

"I couldn't be more proud of the group.

"This is a tough one knowing how far we were able to come and falling short at that hurdle, but I can tell you what ... this group will be back next year ready to go, hopefully with some more healthy bodies and we are going to give it a real shake again."