They have to take him, it's doing him an injustice as they are giving him less chance to be Larry Sengstock medallist.

Even a useless sore Jawai is good for 5 tough fouls and if it makes Webster take a tougher shot than drive to the lane then 8 minutes out of Jawai can still be vital.

Jervis and Hire can play extended minutes and Redhage should lift his production as well

You don't rest a player during the Grand Final.
Back yourself in to win Game 2 and you won't even need Game 3.
I'd imagine Jawai would be a little disappointed if the team held him out of Game 2, then they won, so he wasn't there to celebrate with the rest of the team.
If Jawai really isn't fit enough that he can't play 2 games in 3 days when there's a Championship at stake, he should spend the next year at the Biggest Loser ranch. Players like Randle come back a week early from a serious knee injury to try just get their team into the Playoffs, if he can't get up for a Grand Final game, it speaks volumes about his approach to the game.

Agree Hendo. So much pussyfooting around the lack of discipline. I'd be surprised if they didn't have a psychologist/trainee with him almost F/T, unless they don't plan to keep him beyond this year. I think players have a responsibility to get and stay fit for their job.

I'm assuming Perth players will be flying first class so they should be able to get adequate rest on the flight.

Back injuries can be a real bitch. But if it's something manageable, as it appears to be, then yes I think Nate needs to play if the medicos clear him.

I thought it was common knowledge that each Perth Wildcat player has their own private jet. The flight to NZ shouldn't be a problem.

If he can give us 15 minutes then that is still 15 minutes less fatigue for the rest of our bigs if the series goes to game 3, and it's still another 5 fouls that we have to help deal with Pledger & Jackson, so I'll take that.

By manageable I just mean that if it's the type of injury that could possibly rule him right out of game 3 if he travels, then and only then would I consider leaving him in Perth. It appears not to be that type of injury though. I'm assuming he's a competitive guy who still likes to win even if he also likes to eat, so surely he would want to play a role in a title win if it were up to him.
As much as he got panned for his SF series I actually thought he was more than useful in game 3, and of course played well last night, so keep going with it I say.

There are really two components to this...
1) If he is carrying a back injury that needs rest etc then that is what drives the decision on whether to take him or not. It is all good and well to say you don't rest players in GF etc. But if he won't be somewhere near full fitness then don't take him

2) Him being unfit and overweight. Obviously this would contribute to his back injury, but if he is not able to be ready for game 2 just because of fitness then I agree that they shouldn't re-sign him.
I doubt whether the decision of whether they take him to Gm2 or not is being made based on the fact that he is unfit.

It is disappointing, from the outside looking in, to not see him improve his conditioning and weight. Although I don't imagine I know all the facts about this. With the professionalism of the Wildcats I'm fairly confident that he would have had all the support required to be in peak physical condition. So there might be an issue/s that have restricted this.

Having said the above, if he had all the support etc and still refused to do the right things that would have got him in shape then he is a knucklehead and doesn't deserve to be signed by any team in the NBL

Stop the speculation, he is at the airport with the team as per Wildcats instagram.

There is also a pic without Jawai in it.

Who knows. Maybe the "Qantas lounge" pic wasn't really the Qantas lounge. Maybe it's a photoshop.

We won't know what Jawai's status is until game day!

haha

"Normally, this is the kind of crazy shit that I come up with, but the more I think on this proposition, the more its starts to make sense."

This demands a 'Funny' tag.

Maybe Jawai just went to the Qantas lounge to get free breakfast and wish the boys good luck?

They have to win one more game, and they are most likely to do that with Jawai dominating inside, so I'd keep him in Perth and have him fresh against tired and overmatched opponents in G3 if needed.

So did NZ fly back straight after last night's game, but Perth only flew to NZ today?

Interesting..which one is a better approach?

Agree regarding the comments on Jawai. You don't really have a leg to stand on claiming a back injury if and when that back injury is caused by being overweight - that's kind of like me staying up till 4am every morning and then complaining that i'm too tired to work. If you're own laziness/lack of discipline is causing the issue, it's not a simple case of 'bad luck'. There's a correlation there.

To be fair, even if he didn't have the professional Cats support staff it shouldn't give him a right to "let go" on his weight management and discipline. If ordinary people can achieve workplace success and get themselves into a shape/condition to perform their work property, what's stopping Jawai? I don't have a psychologist, nutritionist etc. but i'm still in shape and fit.

It's a sad situation if you have to "rest" a player in the grand final series.

Not trying to just make excuses here, but it could be the case that his back condition prevents him from doing the work required to get to the level of fitness that he really needs to be at?

I'd say the decision needs to come down to how bad his back actually is, and how he pulled up after Game 1..

It's not about having a leg to stand on, it's doing what gives the best chance of winning a title, and for mine that's leaving Nate in Perth.

That's the ultimate problem isn't it. If he's gonna make the flights, even for moral support) the damage is done and he might as well play.

Yes I said Larry Sengstock medallist and I mean it, I sure would put him ahead of Prather and Beal at this stage and most of the Breakers.

His 5 fouls will come in handy and at worst he will be trusted by Trev more than a DP replacement

"Paul you may as well leave a few more back in Perth then. Why not?"

Because the others don't have back complaints that could be significantly impacted by two six-hour flights. For me, Jawai at 90% in one game is a potential match-winner, as we saw in Game 1, whereas him at 70% for two games isn't. They only need to win one.