NICKNAME/S: Rob

BIO: Robert Loe was born in Leicester, England and grew up in Auckland, New Zealand where he attended Westlake Boys High School, less than five kilometres away from Breakers Headquarters.

At Westlake, he helped the team win two national championships and was a Westlake Sportsman of the Year recipient after averaging 19.5 points, 12.3 rebounds, and 3.7 assists while shooting 63 percent from the field.

He also earned the ASB college sport Sportsman of the Year award in 2009 and the ASB college sport Basketballer of the Year award in 2008 and 2009, while being named Westlake’s most outstanding basketball player three years in a row.

In April 2010, he was a member of the World Select Team that competed at the Nike Hoop Summit in Portland, Oregon.

Loe went on to play college basketball for Saint Louis University and represented the New Zealand national team.

He holds a British passport which allows him to play as a unrestricted player in Europe.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Robert Loe made his NBL debut with the New Zealand Breakers at 25 years of age. He scored eight points in his first game.

Following the Breakers’ 2016 grand final loss, chief executive Richard Clarke and coach Dean Vickerman parted ways with the organisation, with Paul Henare stepping up from assistant to take the reins as head coach, while Dillon Boucher took control of the front office as general manager.

Joining Dean Vickerman in departure was Cedric Jackson and Tai Wesley, both of whom moved across the Tasman and joined Melbourne United. While retaining Thomas Abercrombie, Corey Webster, Alex Pledger and Mika Vukona, the Breakers acquired the services of club legend Kirk Penney. With two vacant import spots, the Breakers signed Ben Woodside and Akil Mitchell. A strong New Zealand contingent also stepped up from development player roles this season, with Finn Delany, Shea Ili and Jordan Ngatai all being elevated onto the full-time roster.

An injury filled pre-season saw Shea Ili (back), Penney (calf) and Webster (hip and back) suffer injuries that would see them miss multiple games during the first half of the season. Even when Webster did return mid-season, he was never fully recovered and his production dropped from 19.6 ppg to 11.7 ppg as he battled to shake off a prolonged hip injury. After 20 games New Zealand had a total of eight wins and the ‘injury bug’ only got worse. Abercrombie (11.7 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.2 assists) and Woodside (8.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 1.3 steals) both spent time missed games due to injury and then in January, during a loss to Cairns (81-94), Mitchell (9.5 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists) suffered a poke to the eye from Taipans centre Nnanna Egwu which caused his left eyeball to come out of its socket. He was rushed to hospital and although his vision was restored that night, he returned to the US to seek further specialist advice.

Webster made a valiant second return to the court before the end of the season, but under medical advisement, it was felt his injuries were too serious and he was shut down for the remainder of the season. New Zealand added import forward Paul Carter (9.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 0.9 assists) and shortly replaced a underperforming Woodside with David Stockton, the son of NBA Hall of Famer John Stockton. Stockton (8.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 4.2 assists) lasted only 10 games before he too succumbed to injury and was replaced by another import, Kevin Dillard.

The combo of Dillard (18.1 points, 4 rebounds, 4.8 assists, and 1.6 steals) and Penney (17.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 2.4 assists) helped salvage the remainder of the Breakers’ season. The duo propelled New Zealand to a four game winning streak and revived the Breakers playoff hopes, but after back-to-back losses in round 17, they dropped to fifth place (14–14) and their playoff hopes were shattered.

Despite winning their last two games of the season, they fell short of a playoff spot, finishing in fifth place (14–14). Loe finished the season with averages of 7.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game.

2017/18
In 2017/18, Loe averaged 7.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.1 assists, playing a key role in the Breakers rotation, helping the team reach a fourth place finish in the regular season, behind a 15-13 record.

CAIRNS TAIPANS
2018/19
In 2018, Cairns chose to go in a new direction, parting ways with long-time coach Aaron Fearne after eight years of him patrolling the sidelines. Mike Kelly was brought in as his replacement and was tasked with rebuilding a roster that had already lost key players Cameron Gliddon (to Brisbane), Mitchell McCarron (to Melbourne), Jarrad Weeks (to New Zealand), and Stephen Weigh (retired).

With only a short time before the season kicked off, Kelly bolstered the roster by adding free agent Rob Loe (via New Zealand) and a new import trio consisting of Melo Trimble, Devon Hall, and DJ Newbill.

Cairns started the season with a dominant victory over Brisbane (88-70) in their opening game, but consistency soon became an issue. The team endured a six-game losing streak between 21 October and 9 November 2018. Despite these struggles, the Taipans managed some impressive wins later in the season, including a surprise victory over Perth (81-79) and a dominant win over Brisbane (109-80), but an inability to consistently win at home (3-11) or away (3-11) saw them finish the season dead last.

While wins were few and far between, Melo Trimble (21.9 points, 3.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 1.2 steals) and DJ Newbill (14.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.1 steals) formed a powerful one-two punch this season. Trimble earned a spot on the All-NBL Second Team and was named the Taipans’ club MVP at the end of the season.

Robert Loe (7.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.3 assists) provided a solid inside presence and was a key contributor in the frontcourt. Alongside him, a healthy Nathan Jawai (10.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.9 assists), who saw his minutes and production nearly double compared to the previous season, and Devon Hall (8.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists) were also key contributors.

Loe’s best games this season included a 19-point, 7-rebound, 2-steal, and 1-block effort in a win against Brisbane (19 Jan 2019), a 16-point, 7-rebound, 3-assist performance against Illawarra (2 Feb 2019), and a 9-point, 10-rebound, 2-assist, 2-block showing against Melbourne (14 Feb 2019).

The lack of pre-season preparation and large roster turnover prevented the Taipans from building momentum, leading to one of the worst records in franchise history (6-22).

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS
2019/20
During the 2019/20 season, Loe averaged 9.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.7 assists and helped the Breakers finish with a record of 15-13 and end the regular season in sixth place.

2020/21
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020/21 season start date was delayed until January 2021. As a result of the pandemic, the Breakers were forced to commit to being based in Australia for the majority of the season. They hosted a number of games as the ‘home’ team in Tasmania and only returned to play their last seven games in New Zealand in late May.

New Zealand had added Brisbane Bullets star import Lamar Patterson and Colton Iverson as import players, while Tai Webster returned to the team, having left in 2013 to play college ball for Nebraska. The Breakers suffered another blow when its leading scorer Corey Webster sliced a nerve in his hand while cutting a avocado with a knife in his kitchen and would miss the first month of the season.

As would be expected from a team playing their first 29 games on the road, wins were few and far between. After narrowly losing to Adelaide in overtime in their first game, they would win only one game (a six-point win over Cairns) in the first eight contests. The sluggish start saw New Zealand release Lamar Patterson (10.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.8 assists), who had injured his knee against the Hawks on February 22 after just six games. In his previous two seasons with the Bullets, Patterson had averaged 19.7 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 4.1 assists and twice been named a NBL First Team All-Star, but his form for the Breakers was far from his previous stints in the NBL.

With Patterson removed, New Zealand added Jeremy Kendle as a short-term replacement and saw a marked improvement, going 3-1 over the next four games.

Due to losing numerous players to injury and personal issues throughout the season, Robert Loe (20 games), Thomas Abercrombie (9), Corey Webster (8) and Tai Webster (7), the team added Australian guard William McDowell-White (7.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 5 assists) as a nominated replacement player for the injured Corey Webster (13.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.9 assists) and Levi Randolph (14.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.1 steals), who signed as Patterson’s replacement, which also resulted in the release of Jeremy Kendle (7.0 points per game).

The Breakers sat at the bottom of the ladder on a 4-9 record after their first 13 games prior to the roster changes, which made little difference in the win/loss column. The team also losing five of its next six games. Whilst Webster returned from his hand injury In February, on March 13, he was ruled out again, this time a knee injury keeping him out for four weeks.

The Breakers’ faced additional adversity with COVID-19 forcing them to continually move from city to city, attempting to find places where there was limited COVID impact to be able to play their remaining games. A COVID-19 window saw the team able to return home and play their remaining seven games in New Zealand, where they went 3-4 to finish the season.

Tai Webster (17.2 points, 5 rebounds, 4.9 assists, and 1.2 steals) would lead the team in scoring alongside Finn Delany (16.2 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 2.2 assists), who delivered a breakout season and was named club MVP after boosting his scoring from 12 points per game the previous season.

Loe would appear in only 17 games and averaged 6.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 0.4 assists, while the Breakers finished second last (12-24).

2021/22
After a season where the Breakers played 29 of 36 games in Australia, things only continued to get worse for the Breakers, with the team unable to play any home games during NBL22 and finishing dead last during the regular season.

After playing the previous season with a trio of Corey Webster, Tai Webster, and William McDowell-White at point guard, the team decided they would build around the younger of the three and move Corey to the bench. The Breakers then allowed him to exit his contract with him choosing to play in Europe instead. Not long after, as a result of the NBL requiring players to be vaccinated for COVID-19, Tai Webster chose to exit his contract as well and play overseas.

While losing the Webster brothers, the team gained the signatures of Kiwi Yanni Wetzell (via South East Melbourne) and import players Peyton Siva, Hugo Besson and Jeremiah Martin. Additionally, the team signed French prodigy Ousmane Dieng under the league’s Next Star program.

The team immediately faced adversity, losing Siva and Thomas Abercrombie to injury and having to absorb a COVID outbreak on the eve of the season. The team signed Chasson Randle (7.8 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 0.9 assists) as a replacement player for Siva, and the team began the season with a 0–6 start.

Siva was able to return to the team a few weeks later which then saw Jeremiah Martin (12.3 points, 2.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 1.2 steals) and the Breakers agree to a mutual release, the move came as a result of high-level play from Randle, who they chose to retain instead of Martin once Peyton Siva (11.8 points, 2.5 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 2 steals) returned from injury.

Although the team had planned to play their home games at the back end of the season, COVID-19 restrictions made that impossible and forced the team to base themselves in Tasmania for the majority of the season.

The Breakers were led by the all-around play of Yanni Wetzell (17.7 points, 8.4 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.1 blocks) who left the team to play in Europe once New Zealand had no chance to make the playoffs. Despite leaving the team with a month of the Breakers season still remaining Wetzell was named club MVP. Hugo Besson (13.9 points, 4 rebounds, and 2.3 assists) and Finn Delany (10 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2 assists) would raise their games during that final month of the season but by mid-February had fallen to 4–10.

In April, Loe (4.2 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 0.4 assists) had the best scoring night of his career when he top-scored with 27 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists against Tasmania. New Zealand would finish the season with a 5–23 record, the Breakers worst season in their 19-year history.

2022/23
With the departure of Dan Shamir, assistant Mody Maor was elevated to head coach, with the Breakers entering their first season where they would play regular home games in two seasons.

The Breakers lost six of their top eight players (Yanni Wetzell, Hugo Besson, Peyton Siva, Finn Delany, Ousmane Dieng and Chasson Randle), and only Thomas Abercrombie, Robert Loe and William McDowell-White returning from the previous season.

Tom Vodanovich (via Sydney), Izayah Mauriohooho-Le’Afa and Cameron Gliddon (both via South East Melbourne) were added for defence and perimeter shooting off the bench. At the same time, Dererk Pardon, Jarrell Brantley and Barry Brown Jr were signed as import players. Utilising the NBL Next Star Program, the team also added French NBA prospect Rayan Rupert.

With Abercrombie missing the first month of the season due to suffering a torn retina the Breakers’ season began with a loss to Melbourne, a game which gave little indication to the defensive behemoth they were set to become in NBL23 but four rounds into the season, they already equalled their total number of wins from the previous campaign.

The Breakers started round five with a 99-70 beatdown of the Adelaide 36ers, which included a dominant effort from both Brown Jr (22 points) and Brantley (22 points and four steals) to force the 36ers into 18 turnovers while the Breakers went 15 of 30 from long distance.

Two nights later, New Zealand posted their biggest victory ever at Spark Arena with a 94-62 victory over the Tasmania JackJumpers. The win also resulted in the Breakers overtaking Sydney Kings to sit atop the NBL ladder.

After two seasons living out of suitcases, the Breakers had revived themselves as a contender this season, and the following game saw a top of the table clash against Sydney that more than lived up to the hype. The Kings’ led comfortably for most of the game, but a late run from New Zealand, who outscored them 31-17 in the last 10 minutes behind Barry Brown Jr (22 points), who had settled into a sixth man role, narrowed the gap but failed to complete what would have been a epic fight back. The Breakers fell short 81-77 while also losing Rupert for two months with a broken wrist.

The Breakers returned to their winning ways against Adelaide the following week, a huge fourth-quarter performance from Barry Brown Jr, (scoring 14 of his 22 points in the final term) delivering a 89-83 victory and Pardon (19 points, 10 rebounds) continuing his dominance on the glass and recording his third double-double in four games. Brantley also provided 17 points and 10 rebounds.

New Zealand then became the first team that season to win five straight games after dismantling the South East Melbourne Phoenix (110-84), and by the start of December, had won 11 from 13 contests before losing to the Perth Wildcats (84-92). Other key games during the Breakers’ run home included former Breakers stalwart Corey Webster, silencing his former club as Perth snapped the New Zealand Breakers’ five-game winning streak with a 92-84 victory. Webster exploded for 16 points in the third quarter, including a stretch of 9 straight, before finishing with a season-high 26 points snap. Barry Brown Jr was the best for New Zealand, putting up 27 points.

a epic Tyler Harvey half-court bomb gave Illawarra their first road win of the season against New Zealand (78-76). The dramatic loss motivated New Zealand, who snapped their four-game losing streak with a 93-88 win over the Sydney Kings in the next game, courtesy of a clutch three-pointer from Jarrell Brantley, and defeating Melbourne United, 80-74, to guarantee the Breakers a playoff spot. Jarrell Brantley (18 points) led the team in scoring, while Robert Loe (15 points) was huge off the bench.

During the final month of the season, the Breakers bounced back and forth with the Taipans in a battle for second place but victories over the competition’s bottom two (Brisbane and Illawarra), allowed New Zealand to leapfrog Cairns and finish second overall during the regular season.

Loe averaged 5.6 points and 3.7 rebounds, and 0.4 assists, while remaining a threat from beyond the arc, shooting the ball at over 43% from three-point range as the Breakers finished the regular season in second place (18–10), clinching their first playoff appearance in five years. Barry Brown Jr. (19.4 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.3 steals) and Dererk Pardon (11.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks) were both named to the All-NBL second team, Brown Jr also being awarded the league’s Best Sixth Man award. Jarrell Brantley (16.2 points, 6 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.5 steals) was later named the Breakers club MVP.

With Tasmania having defeated Cairns (87-79) and advancing through the NBL play-in tournament, the Breakers semi-final opponents were set.

New Zealand smashed Tasmania, 88-68, in Game 1 of the Playoffs. It was a wire-to-wire victory for New Zealand, as Mody Maor’s men established a 16-point first half lead. Tasmania got the deficit back to two at halftime before the Breakers exploded with a 49-31 second half. Big man Dererk Pardon imposed his will for New Zealand with 15 points and 9 rebounds, while Will McDowell-White had 13 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds. Rashard Kelly was the JackJumpers’ leading scorer with 12.

The JackJumpers ‘defended the island’ in game two, defeating the Breakers 89-78. Milton Doyle starred for Tasmania, as he poured in 23 points, with several of those coming during a game defining run across the third and fourth quarters. Jack McVeigh added 16 for the victors. Dererk Pardon recorded a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Breakers, and Jarrell Brantley had 17 points and 9 rebounds.

New Zealand then punched their ticket to the NBL Championship Series with a gritty 92-77 semi-final win over the Ants in game three at home. Brown Jr proved the difference, finishing with 32 points (10/16 and 2/2 from deep) and three steals to guide the Breakers to their first Championship Series for the first time since 2016. Dererk Pardon (15 points, 14 rebounds) was also huge for the Breakers with a monster double-double, while Jarrell Brantley (14 points, seven rebounds) was also a big factor in the win.

On the opposite side of the bracket, Sydney eliminated Cairns to reach the championship series but suffered a surprise home defeat from New Zealand, who had struggled against the Kings all season, claiming game one, 95-87, in front of 13,145 shocked Kings fans. William McDowell-White (19 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists) starred for New Zealand, with Barry Brown Jr (19 points off the bench) and Jarrell Brantley (16 points and 7 rebounds) playing key minutes also. Simon was the Kings’ leading scorer with 18 points and 6 steals as the Kings’ leading scorer, Derek Walton Jr was forced to leave the game in the last quarter with a injured leg.

Sydney entered Game two with no Xavier Cooks, and on the Breakers’ home floor at Spark Arena. New Zealand’s case for victory got even stronger when Kings’ leading scorer Derrick Walton Jr managed just four minutes of game time.

With the Kings missing their two best players, the Breakers playing at home, it was expected to be a easy win for New Zealand. Up stepped Justin Simon and the Kings’ backup brigade to snatch the win away from New Zealand, 81-74.

Returning to Sydney, the Kings took a 2-1 lead behind a dominant 91-68 victory over the Breakers in front of the biggest crowd in NBL history. 18,049 fans poured into Qudos Bank Arena, the biggest attendance ever for a NBL game, and watched Walton Jr shake off his injury concerns to notch up 12 points, 9 assists and 6 rebounds while Cooks, who had signed a NBA contract to play with the Washington Wizards that same day, added 10 points and 8 rebounds. McDowell-White was New Zealand’s leading scorer with 11 points.

Game four delivered a Breakers win in Auckland (80-70), extending the series to five games. Brantley (23 points), MacDowell-White (19 points) and Brown Jr (20 points) all coming up big in the do-or-die game for New Zealand. Derrick Walton Jr (18 points) and Angus Glover (12 points) finished as Sydney’s leading scorers.

Then in game five, the Breakers were up by 11 points in the first quarter before being pegged back. They then took another heavy lead deep into the fourth quarter, but the Kings put together a 14-0 scoring run to once again snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

The Kings were able to squeeze a few extra fans into Qudos Bank Arena for game five, breaking the record for fan attendance which they had set in their previous home game with 18,124 in attendance. In one of the greatest championship games in history, Sydney put together a 14-0 run in the final quarter to secure the victory (77-69) and win their first back-to-back titles since their 2003-2005 three-peat. Derrick Walton Jr (21 points and 6 assists) was named the Finals MVP while Cooks (19 points and 11 rebounds) efforts were also key to the victory. Brown Jr (22 points off the bench) was top scorer for the Breakers.

67,811 fans attended the Championship Series, the highest Grand Final attendance in NBL history.

MELBOURNE UNITED
2023/24
After a forgettable season where United attempted to regroup after losing starters Jo Lual-Acuil to China and Jack White and Matthew Dellavedova to the NBA, United welcomed back Lual-Acuil and Dellavedova for NBL24 and added NBA prospect Luke Travers to build out a roster very similar to the team which narrowly missed out on a grand final berth in 2022.

Looking to run things back, import Ian Clark (via Adelaide) was signed as the team’s only import, filling the team’s bench scoring role that Scotty Hopson had previously occupied while young, up and coming talent Tanner Krebs (via Brisbane), Kyle Bowen and Flynn Cameron were also added to the roster. One month after announcing his retirement from the NBL, Loe signed with Melbourne as a replacement player for Jo Lual-Acuil Jr who was recovering from a wrist injury.

“Obviously I’ve been retired for a few weeks now but when Dean got in contact with me about coming in as a potential replacement for Jo and to help the boys with the start of the season, it was really appealing.” said Loe after joining United.

“To be able to help what is a really successful club try to achieve their goals while continuing to play basketball in the interim is something that I had to jump at. “

Loe played eight games for United across NBL24 as our Nominated Replacement Player, averaging 5.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists in less than 15 minutes per game. In his eight appearances we put together a 7-1 record.

Melbourne went on to reach the grand final series but lost to Tasmania in five games.

2024/25
Loe was coaxed out of retirement again by coach Vickerman, signing a one-year deal for NBL25.

“In the time that he spent with us to start the season, we thought he was elite in so many areas,” Vickerman said upon announcing Loe’s signing.

“His IQ, his defensive ability to play within our structure and our system, and the ability to be a motion-maker and a decision-maker with his shooting ability are things that make him special.”

Robert Loe currently plays for the Melbourne United and has played 185 games in his NBL career. He has averaged 6.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.1 assists since entering the league in 2016.

CURRENT CONTRACT:

Melbourne United – 2 Year Deal (2024-26)

HIGHLIGHTS:

Dan Boyce (811 Posts)

Dan Boyce is a die-hard Sydney Kings fan who grew up in Melbourne during the roaring 90's of Australian Basketball and spent far too much time collecting Futera NBL Basketball cards.