*yawn*

We are trading Jervis, hire, Wagstaff, vague, dech and 4 first round and 4 2nd Rd picks for Anthony Davis.

Will be announced by woj before Gossage gets the word out

A sponsorship renewal?

Someone is retiring, meaning that they will have a tonne of motivation and play manic defence for the rest of the season and go on to win the championship

Martin to play on.

Hire to retire?

Martin retiring? Surely they're not going to make such a big deal about Jervis or Hire retiring?

Also remember that one recent major announcement was the Hawks doing an indigenous round. "Major" is at the discretion of the announcer at this stage...

Greg Hire seated beside Gleeson. There you go.

Bye Greg

Greg Hire announces retirement

Very emotional for him as he works through his prepared announcement. Obviously weighed heavily on him to pick the time to go.

Surely they're not going to make such a big deal about Jervis or Hire retiring?

Most love making fun of him but how many teams get 230+ games out of a kid that started at your club as a development player?

Truly a sad day for the mighty Wildcats. This bloke BLEEDS red and black.

^ Yes he does and yes it is.
Guys like him help make this club what it is - i.e. a culture of hard work and unselfishness that gets the maximum out of everyone.
You'll be missed, Greg.

Perthworld is a troll who craves attention just ignore him.

Did well considering most DPs won't play 200+ games.
A good role player and leader, maybe he did play one season too long but wish him well.

Good effort by Hire to play in multiple championships and to do it mostly on effort and hustle rather than any great physical gifts or serious talent. Well done. A bit like Teys or White. Respect to those guys who carve out a role for themselves through hard work and smarts.

Remember him playing SBL at around the age of 17. Skinny little kid looked too small to go further. Went to college, came back bigger and stronger and went from there. Good career and a good bloke. Well done Greg.

I'll start by saying that I find this very bizarre.

Why announce it now? Why not retire mid-season? Perth must have really hated the idea of a 3rd import.

Also, to be perfectly honest, on recent performance I would have preferred either Wagstaff or Jervis to go.

It's also strange, in that with the new team, I thought there'd still be an opportunity for someone like Hire to play on, at say Cairns or Hawks.

Now that said. Congrats to him on a solid career. 3 rings and around 240 games, not bad. Good bloke too. Hope he stays involved in the sport, in a development role.

Thing I have always liked about Hire is that he always gave 100%.

It's also strange, in that with the new team, I thought there'd still be an opportunity for someone like Hire to play on, at say Cairns or Hawks.

D2

"Why announce it now? Why not retire mid-season? Perth must have really hated the idea of a 3rd import.“

Props to Hire. The timing is his choosing.

That said, Wildcats could now have a rolling wave of retirement announcements, each timed before important games/ finals, and ride a wave of emotion to the championship.

Should the Wildcats retire his number?

I hope so.

I don't have anything against Hire except for holding on for one season too long. My comments were more about having a press conference about it since he isn't a superstar player. What next will be announced that isn't hype worthy?

Each of your posts?

So are we going to have Tossage hype up future press conferences that will end up being the retirements of Wagstaff and Jervis. *groan*

@Perthworld.

Shuddup Manu.

Apart from the fact Greg has been with the Wildcats for 10 years, multiple championships, co-captaincy etc etc The press conference shows the respect the club has for it's players and the respect Perth media has for the club. Brad Robbins, Matty Knight, Shawn Redhage all got similar treatment, all are names along side Greg Hire you would associate with the past decade of the Perth Wildcats.

If Greg wanted a quieter exit he could have done this at the end of the season, this gave him a platform to show his appreciation back to everyone who helped him along his journey.

If you have nothing nice to say...

I'd absolutely expect them to call a press conference when Wagstaff retires too.

"Honestly, this is a big decision for players"
No, Really? Who'd have thought.

Timing his decision? I doubt that either the decision or timing is his entirely.
If for no other reason than that Greg Hire would bleed for his club.
He'd play on if they wanted him, and he would also time his announcement at their request.

There's no perfect time, just interesting now with a few games to go.

Hire has been a good role player, but a few too many in the team now.
Thing is that if teams are going to comply with the bench-cap, then guys like Hire fill a vital role.

Simple fact is that next season we will see a bunch of crabs playing past their use-by.
I suspect in his case, his love for the Cats made being a one-club player more important.

As for his singlet, sorry no.
Redhage should be due to go up, but I would expect Martin to be the next.

Put up
Redhage
Hire
Wagstaff
Martin

They all deserve to be there.

Even Knight deserves a look in.

Wow, so now we're at a point where people are suggesting Hire's jersey be retired. I really don't get it.

A jersey retirement hanging from the rafters is the ultimate honour for a basketball professional. Very few get that opportunity. Understandably a succesful club like Perth would have many candidates worthy of that honour, but a standard has to be set and koberulz is correct, you cant start handing out jersey retirements to anyone thats had a good or lengthy career.

Reghage and Martin are the only Wildcats that can stand up to the other jerseys and get theirs retired when the time comes. Cotton too if he stays here long enough and calls Perth home (but i doubt that will happen)

Congrats to Greg Hire. So much more than just another role player. An active force in the media and the community. His work off the court exceeds his on court success - which spanned an impressive 240+ games. I hope he stays involved in the game somehow.

Even further, if they retire #4 Hire isn't even the most deserving of having his name on it.

For the number 4 jersey - I think Hire and Watterson have had very comparable careers (purely on games played, role within the team and to an extent popularity - even though popularity shouldn't be a factor.)

I cant remember if Watto did a lot off the court, but Hire would have to be one of the all time greats in terms of off court engagement.

Watto is fifth all time in games played, over 15 seasons at the club. Not sure where Hire sits in terms of games played but he's six years short.

Wasnt Watto 13 years (1982-1994) with 2 championships from 4 grand finals, Hire 9 years (2010-current) with 3 championships from 5 grand finals and vice captaincy added in.

Watto played more games for sure but dont forget 82-86 the Cats werent any good. As far as impact om the team and role played, Hire and Watto seemed to have a similar position, and I would slightly lean towards Hire being the better player.

Both were club stalwarts, but in fairness the #4 isnt and shouldnt be retired in Perth. Honoured yes, retired no.

Good to see even non Perth fans respecting Hire.
It's a shame that one so-called Perth fan is bagging him.

Yeah, my bad on the Watto math. Point stands though.

I think that due to his blue collar work ethic, people sometimes forget all the highlights Greg has delivered on the court.

eg. who could forget this huge bomb:




and his top 5 dunks are right up there with anyone's:

Brilliant highlights! I'll never forget that time he jumped over Tim Hardaway junior

Insane hops.

Almost looks like he's jumping out of his own body.

After watching the game tonight,Hires retirement would have to be making room for Daniel Grida to come back home to play for the Wildcats.This should be a priority.