Dribble Podcast: Perth Lynx owner Christian Hauff firmly with Red Army despite part Bendigo Spirit stake

Perth Lynx owner and Bendigo Spirit part owner Christian Hauff has declared he will have both of his feet firmly in the red camp on Thursday night when the two teams clash for top spot on the WNBL ladder. Thursday night’s top of the table clash between the 6-1 Lynx and 7-0 Spirit is unique in that both clubs are heavily linked to Craig Hutchison’s SEN Teams. Hauff and wife Jodi became a minor investor in SEN Teams in February year which gave him a small piece of the Perth Wildcats, Bendigo Spirit, netball’s Melbourne Mavericks and two basketball teams in New Zealand. But he then became the outright owner of the Lynx in June. Hauff’s relationship with Hutchison instantly led to him reaching an agreement to have SEN involved in a management role at the Lynx. But Hauff said it was clear that both he and SEN Teams would be barracking for different results on Thursday. “It’s a very professional structure and arrangement,” Hauff told The West Australian’s The Dribble Podcast. “Kudos to everyone involved both on the Lynx side but also that of SEN Teams and even the league itself. There’s no sharing or any conflicts with respect to the strategy and private information. We are very minor in our participation in the SEN Teams. “Thursday sets up for a classic match. I’m biased but hopefully there’s two clubs at the top of the ladder at 7-1 on Thursday night. “What a great showdown we have. It will be electric this game on Thursday. It could be a three-point shoot out. We feel like we’ve got the players to match and hopefully exceed whatever they can throw at us.” The Lynx will be without star guard Alex Ciabattoni who will miss both of this week’s games while getting married in South Australia. But Olympic bronze medallist Amy Atwell will play her first game for the season after recovering from a knee injury. She will go head-to-head with former Lynx captain and Olympic teammate Sami Whitcomb who has been in brilliant form for Bendigo. Lynx General Manager Sam Macpherson is expecting a high scoring shootout. “The inclusion of Amy Atwell is really exciting for us,” Macpherson said. “The most exciting part for us is we are scoring really well and so are Bendigo. We could see a score of over 200 points combined. “We’re so thrilled to have Amy back. She’s been really close for a couple of weeks.”