COMING off a game that lasted nearly three gruelling hours, the Illawarra Hawks were forced to endure the flight from Sydney to Perth in a lot of discomfort.

That’s because, according to Rob Beveridge, head coach of the Hawks, none of his team were given exit row seats for the four-hour flight.

Whether or not that contributed to the Hawks’ 101-61 loss to the Perth Wildcats is a different story, but Beveridge, as well as Brian Conklin, voiced their displeasure with the travel arrangements during their post-game press conference.

“It’s tragic,” Conklin said.

Wildcats demolish Hawks 1:38

“You’ve got Dave (Andersen): seven-foot. AJ’s seven-foot. We’re a professional club and we’re (not) riding in exit rows. I don’t know what that’s about.

“You wouldn’t know because you’re not our height, but it’s awful. I’ve got pretty broad shoulders, too, so I’m fighting somebody for a little piece so I can put my elbow on top of the armrest. It’s ridiculous. I don’t know what you want me to tell you.”

@illawarrahawks coach Rob Beveridge slammed the @nbl after his team were forced to fly economy and not in exit row seats on the trip to #Perth. The Hawks had come off a quadruple OT game on Friday and flew early Saturday. Beveridge saying “It’s Disgraceful” @FOXSportsNews #NBL19 — Tim Robinson (@timrobinsonfox) October 14, 2018

@NBL apologised to @illawarrahawks after they didn’t receive exit row seats for their trip to @PerthWildcats. It was said the booking was late. Hawks players usually request 6 and receive a minimum 4 exit seats on flights. They did receive bulk heads. @FOXSportsNews #NBL19 — Tim Robinson (@timrobinsonfox) October 14, 2018

The NBL apologised for the situation, with Beveridge under the impression that a new protocol would be introduced by Round 2.

It was an added blow for the Hawks, who were coming off a quadruple-overtime loss to Melbourne United, with the likes of Jordair Jett and Todd Blanchfield both playing more than 45 minutes each.

“Absolutely not (acceptable),” Beveridge said.

“And we’ve brought it up with the league. It’s as simple as that. The minute we got there, it’s something we’ve addressed and, right now, we’ve had a response from the league and they’re gonna do a better effort. Simple as that.”

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Olgun Uluc covers basketball for Fox Sports Australia. Twitter: @OlgunUluc