When the WNBL fixtured Bendigo Spirit to play hosts to the Southside Flyers in Ballarat something was amiss, and it wasn't about the home side playing in another city.
No WNBL administrators picked up the jersey colour clash connected to this year's Indigenous round until a club official did, by which time it was too late to address.
So before Bendigo turned up to its central Victorian partner city on the team bus following a 90-minute drive south, its playing roster was stripped of their spirit for the planned occasion celebrating culture, community and the contribution of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women to the game.
Instead of designs from the dreamtime, the match-up would have been an optical nightmare.
Preceding Indigenous round, the eight WNBL clubs worked independently without consulting rivals, submitting their Indigenous round jersey designs for approval to the league's front office.
The similarity of Bendigo's and Southside's blue design was never cross-checked although they were scheduled to face each other in round four of the season.
After being exposed, the WNBL quickly sought to clarify the confusion after it ticked off on both jersey designs.
"Due to a uniform clash, at the request of the Southside Flyers, Bendigo Spirit will not wear their Indigenous uniform for round four game on Sunday in Ballarat," the statement read on Friday.
Considering Bendigo was the home side – albeit in Ballarat – the club had the right to deny the Dandenong-based club from Melbourne's outer southeastern suburbs the option to wear the Flyers' specially-designed Indigenous jersey.
But they did – and for good reason.
"The Flyers will be delivering their annual Lifeline round at their round five home game, and hence, will otherwise not have an opportunity to wear their Indigenous jersey in a game adjacent to Indigenous round," the WNBL statement said.
"Based on this, the Spirit have graciously offered to wear their (regular season) yellow away jerseys, while the Flyers wear their blue Indigenous jerseys."
Bendigo were quick to reassure First Nations' and women's basketball fans the club was privileged to have been allocated an Indigenous round home fixture.
The Spirit players still wore Indigenous warm-up tops during the pre-game while also playing with Indigenous round basketballs and hosting a Welcome to Country ceremony.
"For the integrity of the game and to ensure the high level of basketball the league is known for, it was not possible for both teams to wear their Indigenous jerseys," Bendigo added its own statement.
The battle did not need any side issues to promote the Indigenous round clash, with the unbeaten ladder leaders coming up against last season's WNBL champions.
For a while, the Spirit seemed affected by the late jersey change.
Despite the Flyers leading by as many as 17 points during the third quarter, the hosts shone through in the final term to notch up their sixth win in a row.
Led by Australian Opals regular, Marianne Tolo, Bendigo dominated the closing quarter 28 points to nine to claim a 79-71 victory.
The Spirit will rise again to debut their own blue Indigenous jersey on Saturday night against UC Capitals, where they will replicate the Indigenous round back in Bendigo.
