Stars chief executive Clint Cooper said the key to the Stars assembling and retaining a squad with so many internationals was that they had collectively committed to accepting below-market value to chase success.
''We've got 11 players who've played for us in each of the three seasons so far … the players who've come in and out are really at the bottom,'' he said. ''There's a core Victorian element, and those guys obviously like playing with each other. How do we squeeze all of that into a cap? Well, most of them took haircuts.''
Cooper said many players had accepted less money and taken longer-term contracts. He cited veteran David Hussey as an example of a player who ''took well unders when he was being offered two or two-and-a-half times more from teams north of Victoria''.
Hastings said he and his Stars teammates were proud to have stayed together after the first season of the BBL, when all players were free to move.
''There's probably six or seven guys who could be the marquee player at other franchises, but we chose to make a pact to stick around and maybe take 20 or 30 grand off our price,'' he said.
