He's using the term 'locals' very loosely. Hire is it and he couldn't hit water out of a boat, so he must mean the interstaters they want us to think are from WA. The sooner they miss the finals, the sooner this joke for a coach is no longer left in charge. Good riddance I say

He's using the term 'locals' very loosely. Hire is it and he couldn't hit water out of a boat, so he must mean the interstaters they want us to think are from WA.

Obviously he means the non-imports, not claiming people are from Perth.

Imports are not a good fit, but they are what they are. JJ is generally doing a decent job on the scoreboard. McKay is getting boards and protecting the RIM.

Gus seems to have gone backwards since last season. We need him for banging against the other big bodies, but he needs to do more offensively.

Hire is doing his usual job on D, but again needs to score a few points.

Wagstaff is doing ok, but he's taking too many shots to get his score up, needs to improve.

Wroe needs to show he can do more, and preferably score when open, or at least starting feeding the guys inside. He's only a DP, so not expecting much of him, but he's out of age next season and if he wants a senior slot on any team, he needs to show improvement.

Angus, Wagstaff, Hire and Redhage are all passengers this year.

Brandt has been battling an ongoing injury the last month or so. He's playing through pain every game.

The more I see this team I think there is a lack of hunger this season. Many of these players have won 3 championships you have to wonder whether they want it enough.

Who's under more pressure this season?
Gleeson
Demopulous
Dazz
Dazz's Poor Wife / Partner / "Friend" after each and every loss

In kinda related news, love the signing of Sookhage to the Redbacks. Each whistle there will be a contest between him and Spackovic as to who can whinge the most but still try to look cool whilst doing it!

Redhage, Brandt and Hire are playing under 15 MPG. Could well be hard for them to get going and find consistency in that time.

That said, I imagine he's speaking of Wagstaff and Hire who've been stronger contributors in the past, being part of the team core.

Gleeson needs to lift his game.He's good at blaming others but needs to look at his own coaching as he needs to play the young players more in Bragg and Kernich-Drew.i've watched all there games and if Wroe is a better player than Bragg i'l walk to Perth from the Sydney

Gleeson says local players need to lift, how long does he wait? He has other options.

Kenny has been just ok, he is a solid back up but not a starter. Wroe should not be in the NBL... play Bragg more minutes.

Hire can still rebound and defend but doesn't give much offence and Wagstaff is getting past it (Redhage past it 2 years ago)...So give vague some minutes.

And where is Kernich Drew??? The guy can shoot!

This is likely the last season with the core guys of the last few championships (hire, Redhage, Wagstaff and maybe Knight) Gleeson needs to start preparing the next crop.

To be fair to Gleeson, he called the local players out and they didn't respond. Generally, when a coach has a go at an individual or group of players they respond the next game. Wagstaff, Hire, Redhage??? Could be indicative of their attitude to the coach but more likely they are just not good enough anymore.

Will be interesting to see who Perth poach next year, as they are pretty ordinary at developing their own talent.

Kenny is rubbish and nowhere near good enough to start in this league.
Wroe appears to be struggling in the limited minutes I've seen him.

Knight and flopphage need to retire.

Dunno what's happened to wagstaffs shot, but it's too inconsistent to keep trying it.

Hire has never been anything more than hustle and an annoying bastard to watch play.

Gleeson is a flog.

I'd rather go with DKD starting at SG then hire, the kid can shoot. Better off developing him and giving him the minutes. He is pretty much a younger Ingram..why not go with him if they need a 3 point shooter.

Some of Gleesons rotations and subs are very questionable at times. Why have Johnson and Mckay in the team if they aren't going to play at the most important moments in the game. Hire is not a starter and Redhage should be used more in place of Wagstaff if he isn't producing.

Bragg needs to get Wroe's minutes....Wroe is not going to get much better than he is. Bragg has a lot more potential.

For wroe to be struggling, shouldn't he have played at a better level prior to his form slump. I think if you replace struggling with sh!t, then my friend you are spot on. He stunk it up all year with Stirling, so how was he magically going to improve at nbl level?

Wroe is an average defender with limited offensive ability. He doesn't have exceptional speed or size. Perth need to start looking at the future and it's not with Wroe. He is a poor mans Brad Robbins at the most.

Damo will be a year older next year, as will Knight. Kenny Brandt and Hire are already at their peak, Redhage is gone after this year and Wagstaffs best days look to be gone already. If anything good is to come of missing the playoffs it will be the realisation to recruit and rebuild for the future.

I don't think Gleeson is a bad coach but the Cats roster is a downgrade on last year and most teams has loaded up significantly.

hahaha fair call.

Gleeson needs to go, period. He recruited this team so if the players aren't getting the job done then I would fire Gleeson. He had obviously made the decision to hardly ever play Redhage from the start of the year when he could give us some extra offense that no one else can provide. Now Redhage is not shooting the open shots like he used to and is not the same player in terms of effectiveness- this is mostly Gleesons fault.
Keep: Bragg, Martin, Prather, Kernich-Drew
Cut: Wroe, Wagstaff, Redhage, Knight
Maybe: Hire, Kenny
Recruiting targets for next season: Motum, 2 x NBA calibre imports

@JR, I think you're pretty close to the mark. The only thing is, Knight is one of the best big men in the league (when healthy*).

I don't understand why you'd consider keeping Hire. Other than the fact he's a WA local, he has nothing going for him. He's certainly not a starter, aat absolute best, he's a cheap 10th or 11th man.

Marto/Kenny/Bragg
Import/DKD
Prather/(Aussie recruit, maybe a College guy)
Motum or other high calibre Aussie/Knight
Import/Brandt

It's interesting to think how this team would be going if they had retained Beal, Jervis and Jawai. All were within grips of signing but slipped through the fingers. They still would have had an import slot up their sleeve to cover for Knight and Martins injuries.