I'm not worried yet, Cats always seem to bring their imports in later than most teams, the players we have left on the roster are a very solid core, with most of the dead weight gone. I would presume they want the coach locked in before they make any other player signings.

And what rumours around Gleeson are you talking about?

Phil Handy rumours are getting stronger.

Wont make the playoffs this year without Gleeson, recruitment will be garbage too.

Too early to say, but obviously it's got to end some time, and with the loss of coach, change in ownership, and exodus of a significant number of rotation guys (emphasis on 'rotation') this coming season is as good or better a chance as ever - hard to say without knowing which coach will come on board and what signings are planned/underway though.

With Cotton the Cats will always be a shot, but looking at the list of available local free agents it's going to be interesting to see how they build out their rotation and what imports they bring in. As it stands they have 4 guys who Cats fans would I imagine be comfortable rolling out as starters next season (Norton-Cotton-Blanchfield-Travers) - throw in two imports and move Travers and/or Norton to the bench and you then have a decent rotation. Is it enough with some of the signings other teams have already made though? Going to depend largely on the quality of the #2 and #3 imports.

No.

The Breakers won 3x with Lemanis & 1x with Vickerman and then when the ownership changed so did a ton of the people behind the scenes that helped make it all work.
Gleeson is a massive loss but they still have Bryce so I won't over react yet.

Still a few names rumoured with Perth via Aussie Hoopla.
C Webster
M Darling ( ok for frontcourt depth)
Mudronja
Duren ( Next Star)

The Breakers won 3x with Lemanis & 1x with Vickerman and then when the ownership changed so did a ton of the people behind the scenes that helped make it all work.

Never be worried about Perth they are always fine

Every year we get a "are the wildcats done" thread

Deaths, Taxes, Annual version of this thread

The Wildcats success over the past decade has been based on:

- Great coaching- First Bevo, then Gleeson

- Consistent Aussie core of team first players- Martin, Knight, Wagstaff, Redhage (who naturalised), Hire

- The budget to find awesome imports (but this isn't a stand alone factor, since their coaches got the most out of the imports, hence why coaching is the most important factor in isolation): Ennis, Prather, Cotton.

We don't know who the coach will be.

The local core lacks the polish of days gone by- eg: Norton is not quite at Damo's level. Kay was probably the Knight equivalent but he's gone. Travers has serious upside but it remains to be seen how quickly he'll realise his potential.

Obviously they still have Cotton.

Essentially it'll all hinge on how good their new coach is, and how willing the new owners are to spend up big.

The Cats have Cotton and a few very good core players. They also have the budget to sign very good imports. They will be at or near the top of the ladder again.

In:

None

Out:

Trevor Gleeson (coach)
Jacob Chance (assistant coach)
John Mooney* (Japan)
Will Magnay (Tassie)
Clint Steindl (Tassie)
J. Bairstow (Tassie)
Wani (Sydney)

Quite the exodus but the core is there and with Cotton back should be a playoff contender still.

Dazz we can't judge until signings are in place.
As with Zodiacs list Mooney is the only major loss and he is an import so can be replaced.
Jervis also expected to retire and Kevin White in limbo.

Just wait and see how it pans out.

"And what rumours around Gleeson are you talking about?"

Gleeson has been a great coach for us, and I will always be thankful for that and sincerely wish him well in his future endeavours. In any event, a Senior-Assistant role in the NBA is a great opportunity for him, and it's entirely plausible that he would have taken it no-matter what.

The rumours I have heard about recent events at the Wildcats are many, and they are like most rumours. Unsubstantiated and practically impossible to accurately assess.

It is going to be interesting to see who they actually do sign, and whether that reflects on the plausibility of those claims.

I suppose I would say that at the core of the rumours regarding Gleeson, is the claim that he would not be leaving if the new owners had agreed to certain provisions.
On the one hand, I am sceptical as it appears this opportunity would be too good to pass up. But on the other hand he was contracted, and so the decision had to be mutual...

Gotta love the "Wildcats always find a way" type comments. LOL
So who exactly at the Wildcats do you think was doing the finding?

Marvin is gone, replaced with his Beta.
Dr Bendat, his money, his influence, and his executives are gone.
Gleeson, the coach who always found a way, and the driving force behind their recruitment, is gone, along with the majority of his staff.

Yes Norton, Cotton (when fit) and Blanch make a great backcourt, and any decent NBL coach would be competitive with that.
So, if you happen to find one, let us know.

They get crowds big enough to pay for strong talent. Every year someone panics. The losses are largely replaceable. Might take a hit without Gleeson but I'd be happy starting from Norton/Cotton/Travers/Blanchfield if I were a fan. Wagstaff and Majok serviceable. Two import spots to use.

I'm way more confident of how our team is right now than when we find out who is in the roster and we hope we don't have another Derek Cooke Jr.

Keen for when Wildcats make the playoffs and Perth fans say how much they've overachieved given they’re a squad with the MVP, big budget to make changes when required and a culture of infinity years in a row or making the playoffs.

Extra keen for Perth fans to then go into full troll made when anyone raises that it’s not really achieving so much as it’s business as usual.

I’m sure there will be some good anti-Melbourne conspiracy theories when United inevitably are a rival, and the frothing hate of Conor Henry because 36ers coaches are inherently evil.

Shall some things never change! Cheers to another standard offseason

" Last season should have been a lesson that they need more depth"

What? Cotton was injured.... Having someone like that injured is going to derail things for any team.

It's unlucky, things happen.

I think Perth have a good situation with Cotton, Norton, Travers. Add two (or three depending on Cotton) imports and they’ll be have sufficient talent to beat the best or be the best

The fact is they are going to drop down the ladder at some point and with the exodus it is certainly looking like this will be the year. Dont assume Cotton will hang around either, he is attracting attention from multiple NBA teams and that will be the last ball to drop if he goes, NBA out-clause is apart of his contract. Cotton goes and Perth will be in a massive hole.

Yes, last season showed that they need another scoring option besides cotton and Blanch, and for the most part others stepped up.
But steindl is now gone.

Main problem is that we are only a couple of months off preseason games, and we don't even have a coaching staff.

Was anything mentioned at the MVP ball this evening pertaining to coaching or player additions ?

What if we do suck moving forward, so what?

At least it will be something different. Maybe Adelaide can be good for once so it will be a role reversal and we can feel the pain of Sixers fans.

Some of the funnest seasons were that cheap era at Challenge under Vlahov before Bendat.

Maybe Adelaide can be good for once

Yes Cotton, Blanchfield and Norton, Travers is a great start

But it all depends on coaching.

This thread is all sound and fury, as the most important individual for the Wildcats long term success has departed and we have no idea how competent the replacement will be

If they're wearing a Perth Wildcats uniform and especially if Bryce Cotton is wearing one, I'm assuming they make Playoffs.

I wonder if there was a thread back in the day stating something similar when Beveridge was replaced by Gleeson? I can imagine there were many saying it was a terrible move.


All I'm saying is no one has any idea what's going to happen with no coach and no new players signed as yet. Cotton's impending naturalisation. Gleeson spoke glowingly about Hutchy and his plans going forward, yes could be just for show, but I'm inclined to believe him as he didn't need to say anything about ownership at all.

I wonder if there was a thread back in the day stating something similar when Beveridge was replaced by Gleeson? I can imagine there were many saying it was a terrible move.

He was sacked because he beat LK in the dick-measuring contest. Melbourne just wasn't big enough for the two egos

Makes me wonder how Trev is going to go as a Senior Assistant in the NBA...

I'm sure that when a new coach is appointed, and in the following years, there will be many comments. But for now I'd just like see that new Coach

Dazz with his immature dribble.

I just am shell shocked they havent gone after local talent... Pinder was easily gettable and they should have swooped. Surely they will land a big fish like Bolden?

"I just am shell shocked they havent gone after local talent... Pinder was easily gettable and they should have swooped. Surely they will land a big fish like Bolden?"

Genuinely not trying to be rude, but is this a joke? Pinder is okay, he definitely had some games last season, however probably had more poor games than good.

Also, given Bolden's Boomer antics/reports, surely there's no way he'd lower himself enough to come to the NBL.

Wouldn't want Bolden.

"Genuinely not trying to be rude, but is this a joke?"

Agreed, Pinder was a training player with the Wildcats for a few years before he got a full time gig in the NBL, there's a reason we never picked him up being right under our noses.

"Also, given Bolden's Boomer antics/reports, surely there's no way he'd lower himself enough to come to the NBL."

or .. maybe Bolden sees this as a way back.

New ownership is purely business (as is all/most ownership) and will be most interested in results from their traditionally, top-echelon team. New coaching staff will also want results. They need some quality Aussies.

The criticisms of Bolden are all about him spitting the dummy. OK! Hopefully, he has outgrown that part of his life/career. But the guy can play, can't he?

An Anon posted this current line-up (thanks):
6'1 M.Norton/(*Imp. Combo Guard)?
6'0 B.Cotton/?
6’7 T.Blanchfield/6’8 L.Travers/6’7 C.Shervill(dp)
(*i)/ (6'8" J.BOLDEN)/6’8 J.Wagstaff
(i)/6’9 M.Majok

If JB is good enough to start at the 4(??), all the better. That import spot can now be a back-up, combo guard. Fits in?

Bolden hasn't played since Feb 2020, is he even trying to keep his career going? surely someone with his skills would have found a job in the last 15 Months. NBL had a few late season additions Magnay, Anderson and Coenraad (both out of Retirement), Wildcats pulled Jervis out of retirement. if he was serious about his career he could have been signed if not NBL then Asia or second tier Euro but him walking out on the Boomers was purely ego and has zero place in the national team.

NB: The reference to dropping the ball is simply a play on words.

You can't say that ANYTHING about this season will be "Business as Usual" when there is nobody left to conduct said business. Obviously there are massive changes, it just remains to be seen what the impact will be.

Magnay, Steindl, Bairstow, and Lo Buluk, were all allowed to move on, whilst White and Jervis were presumably slated for retirement. We have to believe there was a plan to replace them.
So where is that plan now???

6 players.
Ok 1's a DIR so not so critical,
Jook and Travers take care of two spots,
and a naturalised Cotton would allow another import.
But that's still 3 players we need to find locally, and the cupboard is getting barer.

Sure we can dredge them up from somewhere, but is that a better option than trying to keep the others?

Apparently Justin Simon's dad has said something about Justin heading to Perth to play with Cotton...

Business as usual

Just saw the tweet too.

What's going to happen with Troy now?

He was sacked because he beat LK in the dick-measuring contest. Melbourne just wasn't big enough for the two egos

@Senator, I remember when Illawarra played In Perth during the regular season and Simon chased Cotton around all game and Cotton had the ball as the time ran out in the game and Simon and Bryce hugged immediately afterwards as a great sign of respect... I'm not sure why that stuck out to me so much both as I watched it in the stands or even now but I'm guessing that Bryce has told the club that he wants Simon which is a quite remarkable thought considering he has got Devondric to the cats and became great mates with Terrico.

I'd welcome Simon with open arms as he plays the game the right way, mad respect to him as a competitor that leaves it all out on the court.

Justin Simon would have been a great fit at the Cats under Gleeson with his defensive efforts but with a new Coach coming in he/she may have different ideas on the teams identity and structure moving forward.
Until some candidates are shortlisted it's hard to visualize what Perth will play like after so long under Trevor.

You never know, we may get a coach who's coached under Gleeson before.

Watch this space... (-8

"What in the world are you on about? McPeake sacked Gleeson."

That would have been difficult considering he nolonger owned the team.

You can debate whether it was LK or Anstey that stuck the knife in, but ultimately the decision was Larry's.
And the point remains that he was sacked because of "personalities" rather than his ability.

Trev does exceptionally well with players that buy into his ethos. But even at the Cats we've seen a few who either butted heads, or wilted under the pressure.

Which still leaves me a bit puzzled at the NBA move. I've always imagined that an NBA assistant would spend a lot of time stroking egos???
(Not exactly Trev's strong-suit.)

" dumbest thing I've ever read on hoops"

Classic dazz

"Wasn't Trevs exit from Melbourne started by the owner sacking a player as they walked off court to the change room while Trev was in the post game interview? Any decent coach would get out of that environment"

That WAS Seamus, but no.
Larry took over, I guess at seasons end, and he's the one that firstly stood Gleeson down (whilst on holidays IIRC) and then sacked him.
He had appointed Anstey as "Director of Something" and they conducted a "Review." Which, in the time honoured tradition of reviews everywhere, came to the precise conclusion they had wanted going in, that Trev should be replaced by Anstey.
(And the only reasons given were that his personality wasn't a good fit.)

People need to understand that LK is, by his own admission, a "Control Freak." (Literally his own words.)
He took control of Melbourne, and later the league, because he believed he could run them better. And you don't do that by being hands off.

Wasn't Trevs exit from Melbourne started by the owner sacking a player as they walked off court to the change room while Trev was in the post game interview? Any decent coach would get out of that environment

" he believed he could run them better"

And he has without a doubt run the league better

"And he has without a doubt run the league better"

Yes, that's the point, he bought in to get involved and fix things. Did it with Melbourne and did it with the league

Signing Mike Kelly as associate head coach is a great move.

Import spots still vacant... No big deal draft and summer league coming up.

Bench local spots remaining, again no big deal.

All good so far.

Dazz a few months ago "have the Wildcats dropped the ball?"

Dazz today "LOL @ the stupid doubters, this was always the plan, blah blah..."