Perth need to win this if they want a chance at the championship. They will need to finish top of the ladder. Perth may have a decent away record but they are 2-4 on the road against Melbourne and New Zealand. They are 3-0 at home against those teams.

There's no excuse for losing this game. Perth have had a big break and Cairns are injury depleted.

Starks returns. Makes this a tough game.

Perth ins again in Cairns they have the top spot all but wraped up. The only other road game they have left is away to poor Kings team. They finish the season with a huge run of home games with the toughest one against the Hawks,

Train, your states are all wrong. Perth are 0-4 against NZ and Melbourne on the road but then again, MU have 0-2 on the road against Perth and NZ and NZ are 0-3 on road against Perth and MU, its not just perth, it shows these 3 teams are tough at home

It shows that the biggest road trip in the league; Perth to Auckland, is tough on both teams.What it shows about Melbourne, I'm not sure.

^^^ What difference does a few extra hours on the plane make? Seriously, some of you blokes are as dumb as dogsh!t.

Perth to win tonight.

It's Perth's game to lose

Depends if we are switched on, we've had mental lapses all year, which have cost us. It's all about mental attitude tonight. We have a good break, so the trip should not be an issue.

"It shows that the biggest road trip in the league; Perth to Auckland"

Can we please stop perpetuating this rubbish? There are direct flights between the two cities that get you there in six and a half hours.

Cairns-Auckland takes at least two flights and the shortest travel time is eight and a half hours. Perth-Cairns is also a two flight trip of at least eight and a half hours.

Townsville-Auckland is also a two flight minimum of eight and a half hours shortest travel time. I could go on but seriously, I shouldn't need to.

So please, stop.

starks and weigh playing ?

Beal to be a major factor.. guy has gone MIA since Sydney..

I don't know why, but Perth have put in some sloppy efforts on the road this year. Whether they aren't switched on enough, or they get distracted with a few poor shots early.Still think that overall they are good enough to get past whatever Cairns throws at them.

I just have this bad feeling that they may already be looking forward to their massive run of home games to finish, and counting their chickens so to speak. They may be slow to start this evening.

Every team has. Perth is the least sloppiest team on the road though.

starks playing off bench, bruce to start. weigh is out for tonight

Wildcats have the best away record. Considering the other teams, the Cats should be happy with their record. Its only the 2 losses to Townsville that were a bit disappointing.

NZ in NZ are pretty much unstoppable and Melbourne have built a fortress at their home this season. So those losses are understandable.

All teams bar Sydney have been hard to beat at their home. Goes to show you how even the comp is.

As for tonight, anything can happen and I wouldn't be surprised at all what the result is.

Wildcats finally hit the 30 point mark with 3:45 left in the 3rd quarter.
Just horrible basketball.

WTF is with Perth when they play in Northern QLD !! Horrible offense!

As predicted no intensity, and the coaching bench just sits there watching. Terrible effort, sadly seen it all year, no way we can win a title unless attitudes change.

Cats have no shooters and they play such boring basketball. Jawai has definitely ballooned since the start of the season and seems to have fallen off. Cairns playing so much better, in context of this one 12 point lead is huge.

That escalated quickly.

Really quickly 9-0 run in context of this one is even bigger!!! Can't see taipans losing though.

I said earlier the title is the Hawks to lose

Perth offense is a momentum killer.

It sure is.
We barely registered a respectable 3 quarter time score

matt neilson looked very unhappy for the whole game.

Wildcats showed no energy and no passion. The refs were bad again, but the Wildcats showed no interest, and you can not expect to produce a game like that to your member base.

Worst Wildcats game of the season.

No biggie. Cats had a similar patch of form in January 2014 and turned it around on the home stretch. Still got a favourable run home too but will need a players only meeting to get some shit sorted though.

I tell you what, I'm sick of the refs imposing themselves on otherwise enjoyable games this season. They didn't impact the result of this one but with momentum and excitement building from the Cats camp, the refs make an obvious stuff up and rather than confer with each other to get the call right, they issue a tech, killing that momentum and enjoyment. Who pays to see that? Fans of both teams want to see the contest and let the players decide the outcome, not some primadonna who has never been told he's wrong in his life.

It is a biggie. That is 3 straight losses now and Perth's offence has looked really bad. Townsvile smashed the Cats and the Taipans did the same.Having few home games inaro wont cover the glaring problems. Bad coaching, no shooters and coughing the ball up reulay hich stems from bad coaching and no offensive gameplan

Same issues as 2014 and it was turned around. I'm not concerned.

There is no james ennis on this team

True but there are better players in other positions. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have gone 3-2 or even 4-1 on this road trip and the two Qld losses were tough to swallow but 6 home games is more than enough time to play themselves in to some form.

Terrible effort, have had too many games like that this year not to be a concern.


Did Jawai even come on after half time ?

Too many players going half arsed, something seems wrong at the club.

No shooters, grinding out games can only get you so far. When Perth are winning they look decent, when they lose, man they really stink. Its performances like tonights that has me thinking Breakers or Hawks to win it.

Well done again to Bruce,pulled Cedric's pants down last week now Martin!
Perth zero chance as Champions. Hawks now morals!

Jawai has caught Cedricjacksonitis with all those turnovers in the paint. The first couple of rounds to start the season the Wildcats were getting some good things out of Jawai's passing out of the double-team, but everyone caught on a while ago yet he still keeps throwing those dangerous passes into a packed key.

Angus I think he has caught too many 2 4 1 junk food vouchers in the mail. He looked woeful and spent all his time yelling at the refs. Not a good sign, for a guy who should be dominating the league and getting in dominant shape come finals time.

Hawks have the most offensive talent especially in that starting lineup which is finally developing a cohesive feel to it. They have always been a powerhouse on offence, but their defence and defensive rebounding has even improved.

Overall Perth has the most talent, but they are to top heavy without any legit shooters from the 3pt line. I just think the Hawks have a better balance of shooting and the big fella in the middle.

Unfortunately played out exactly as I feared.
Taipans Tenacious, and Perth just unmotivated and sloppy.
The joke of it is that Perth could still win it all from here. Problem is that if they're heading home expecting 6 easy wins, there will be a few teams who beg to differ.
Hard to believe that such a professional outfit can be so inconsistent.
Considering the breaks they have had, there's no excuse for the slop they have served up on this road-trip.

Knight, Beal, and Prather trying to carry the team...

the wild cats bench, (players and asst coaches), did not look happy during the game.

Is Gleeson the culprit??

I think there are some games the Cats just are not in the right mental frame.

does anyone else think Beal needs to be more proactive in taking/creating shots. There are quarters where it's almost like he isn't on court.

He has been pretty good this year penetrating and pulling up for the jumper or finishing at the rim. He has become much more than a three point shooter and needs to be more confident.

Also wtf is with him starting off the bench? They got to top of the ladder with him as a starter. Surely benching him because he has a bit of a Nth Qld hoodoo is only feeding the problem rather than resolving it. If there is going to be any change to lineup bench Jawai and start Jervis.

Train I agree a guy who has the shot making ability like he does needs to me or of an alpha dog at times, and force the issue and the shots even if its outside of the Cats system. He is one of my favourite players and I loathe the Cats so that is really saying soemthing haha He is legit, needs to play like it every quarter.

What an ugly game to watch from the Cats.. much like the previous Townsville loss(es). Must be something in the air up there.

As much as I love the Wildcats, it was probably a good thing for the league when Melbourne, Cairns and Townsville won against them at their homes, those fans will be more engaged with their teams and more willing to come back to support, esp Townsville.

Really hope we have at least 9 teams next year.

The Cats inconsistency is kinda scary, but it keeps the league interesting.
As a Fan, I'm happy they win the majority of their home games.
They could still go all the way from here, and that's what keeps it interesting. Whilst I am looking forward to the run of home games, I wonder if they can snap out of "Holiday Mode" and maintain the intensity?

There is clearly something wrong at the Wildcats, when they repeatedly rock up for road games off their game or not in the right mental frame.
Whose responsibility is that? Gleeson?

I'd like a 56 game season in a 9 team comp. Play each team 7 times during the course of the year. Head to Head record will be decided over 7 games team v team.

Playoffs should be best of 3 games then best of 5 for Grand Final with a game every second day.