The very credible Sportando are also reporting the same news.

So from what it says on Aussiehoopla, Rillie never been a head coach. Will it be similar to Morrison and not having answers if the team is not performing. Will he bring back a defensive mindset to the team, time will tell.

Ultimately will come down to needing 2 NBL All team level imports to be competitive for the championships. What the cats have assembled now not looking good. Old and lacking height. He will have his work cut out.

Nice move by the Wildcats, Rillie will at least commit to the Cats for as long as they'll have him.
I'd like to see Judd Flavell coach the Breakers.

So from what it says on Aussiehoopla, Rillie never been a head coach.

Not the greatest signing on paper. No head coaching experience and he's an assistant at a small college. Still, I guess you need to give him a chance.
Being in goorjian's boomers coaching staff is a good sign

A little surprised JR applied for this gig, one of the highest scrutinised jobs in any sport in Oz.

Huge hoop head though and I genuinely hope he succeeds and has a long coaching career in the NBL.

Gleeson coached at a much lower tier in the US in semi-pro leagues and look how he turned out so it is hard to gauge.

Any candidate right now is superior compared to ScoMo who only focused on offence due to his G-League/NBA experience plus packaged up with a terrible attitude.

In Rillie's favour is the fact in college they actually teach fundamentals and defence without the showtime BS found in the pros and was promoted to lead technical coach.

Huge hoop head though

If true, good luck to him. I'm interested in where Weaver goes.

"Gleeson coached at a much lower tier in the US in semi-pro leagues and look how he turned out so it is hard to gauge."

Gleeson had nbl success at Townsville before Perth so it was less risky I think.

It doesn't mean rillie isn't good but there's nothing clear to indicate he is good besides goorjian putting him on his boomers staff.

College coaches generally fail at the professional level

Reader, PW was referencing 'head coaching at ANBL level' rather than 'coaching the Purf team'.

Gleeson did a stellar job in Townsville.

Rillie won't fail the side. They're only a year removed from tip-top culture. Not too hard to get it back.

Vic Law is petulant as shit, and Perth recruitment will have understood that signing was a bad one for culture. They'll know to get back to culture-centric signings this offseason.

Reader, PW was referencing 'head coaching at ANBL level' rather than 'coaching the Purf team'.

Gleeson did a stellar job in Townsville.

"Vic Law is petulant as shit, and Perth recruitment will have understood that signing was a bad one for culture. They'll know to get back to culture-centric signings this offseason."

Too many knuckleheads in Perth last season - including the coach.

If Law and Hodgson don't return, it's addition by subtraction.

Aye Perthworld bru, nah ebsolutely not a typo!
The ANBL is a great league.

Which lets us know you not talking about the NZNBL an up and comin league

Manu chur bro.

The West Australian are reporting this now as well.

Anyone who thinks a John Rillie team will play tough def is crazy, but they will run plenty of screens on offence

AssistantsPen - is that because Rillie wasnt known for being a good defender? Does that mean a team coached by CJ Bruton would be a bad shot blocking / rebounding team?

It's official. re NBL article John Rillie is HC of Perth.

Towards the end of his playing career, do I remember a story about him almost joining the Wildcats as a player??

Happy for Rillie. I think it's a smart decision from Perth, I was expecting the Cats to go with Weaver based on the front office's recent form re: decision making. A bit of a gamble with no HC experience but I think he'll do well if the Cats are able to put a balanced roster together, so it's a good gamble.

3 year contract seems risky for a Rookie NBL coach. I hope there is some "no-finals" clause for early termination.

3 year contracts for a first year HC are standard it's only in recent times that a few have taken 2 year deals like Forde & Duncan but they're usually 3 year deals like CJ, Roth, Mitchell even Morrison.

And no there obviously isn't going to be a 'no finals' early termination in the contract either as Perth would never have gotten a single applicant if there was.

It's good news, some stability finally and now to fill the roster. The drama has been fun so far wonder whats coming up next...

Good luck to him, he wanted be my choice but then again I would not have gone with Roth at JJs so it sort proves i I'm not good on coaches. Unless Perth gets quality imports to go with cotton, I don’t see much changing.

Interesting the cats chose to use a photo that exhibits Thon Maker in it as well for the announcement? Surely they knew what they were doing with that. Easter egg or mistake by the comms team?

Let's hope not.

Personality wise he has sold me as being a good replacement culturally from Morrison.

In the interview released today he was asked around the 12:05 mark a question about what he did differently when applying for the head coach position from the previous failed attempt. His response was quite different to maybe what we would have seen from ScoMo, seems a humble person.


https://youtu.be/MbOxkYpdY88?t=724

I am optimistic about the coming season, he seems switched on and well aware of the importance of rebounding and the cats lack thereof last season. Great that the coach is sorted but realistically if Steve Kerr took up the head coach role at the cats but we end up with another Majok and Hodgson level front court we are in the same situation as last year.

That would be ok if they played the whole season, but that centre combo with Hodgy missing a lot of games is a worry.

Rillie played in the NBL for nearly two decades but I'm getting a vibe from this thread that people aren't really familiar with him? He is a Razorbacks legend who should have won more rings, losing two Grand Finals, including being part of that iconic team which nearly won it all with no imports (yes, you read that right kids). Later on he was captain of the Crocs under two different coaches including Gleeson.

Rillie has always had a good head on his shoulders. When Townsville absolutely shocked the Cats in the playoffs due to his double-digit three-point shooting barrage it was after the game where Homicide had his peak infamous moment of being a massive cock by taking all of the credit. Meanwhile there was barely a peep from the real hero Rillie. His character isn't in question and coaching acumen we will wait and see but he is definitely a polar opposite to ScoMo in the first department.

Okay well wow this got me all nostalgic over 2000s NBL, something that all of LK's money can never recreate with the only constant being that Homicide is still a dickhead but at least back then he was doing his thing on the court and not inside of a commentary booth.

Re-reading the thread and I do notice now old school posters/fans like Ben, Manu and Angus amongst others getting it. Keep the flame alive guys because every season it feels like more and more are disappearing and we lose the memories and knowledge of the league.

Towards the end of his playing career, do I remember a story about him almost joining the Wildcats as a player??

The introduction of the NBL Classics section when they launched the new NBL TV was great. NBL Rewind was a great way to fill time in the off-season a year or two ago. They've completely buried all that now and we're back to the league's history being a total unknown again.

I remember when I first came across the tape-trading community, and had a lengthy list of NBA games I wanted and NBA players I wanted to see, and almost no clue what NBL content would be worth asking after, just because there's such a lack of information out there.

I found it funny when he laughed at the question around the 12:05 mark, "last year for better a use of a term a failed attempt at the head coaching job". Probably something that he learnt much more about in the last 2 or 3 weeks

John Rillie was one of the most entertaining players to have ever played in the league. As a kid I have fond memories of watching the Razorbacks backcourt of Derek Rucker and Rillie! so much fun.

Please lets stop using a person's playing career as an indicator of a person's coaching future career.

Examples include :

- Mark Price.
- Andrew Gaze.
- Moose Robbiliard.

None of those guys had put in the amount of work close to what Rillie has on being an actual career coach.

Something I find very interesting in all of this is how much easier it is for the average Aussie basketball fan to relate to Rillie and his typical Aussie self deprecating attitutde. He has no issue taking the pi$$ out of himself and having a laugh. Make no mistake, it can be really difficult for someone from another country to adapt to that sort of thing and some never do (my American wife has been here for 16 years and is still adapting). I think Morrison had his issues with that and it really made it hard for people to both relate to him and like him. Sometimes things just don't work. Best of luck Mr Rillie, I have every confidence he will do well. I think his time on the Boomers bench will also servce him well.

LB, Rillie even when he was playing in college before coming to the NBL was said to be an absolute basketball junkie he just lived for it got the absolute most out himself during his 15 year NBL career and then immediately went back to the US immersing himself in the college atmosphere as an assistant coach where he's been for the last decade.

He's likely got a lot more chance of making a successful transition to coaching than those three guys.

The last three posts have been so spot on.

I followed the NBL during Rillie's playing days and he did have a great career. People keep referring to the 10 3s in a play-off game against Perth but the truth was he was close to washed up at that point and the performance was a bit of a surprise. Earlier in this career he had some seasons where he would've been in the top handful of players in the league (and in an entertaining fashion too).

Having said that, I couldn't give a rats about his playing career when it comes to coaching. Gaze had a better NBL career than anyone and his coaching career was mediocre.

I am pleased to hear him bring up the importance of defence and rebounding when the journos try to ask him if he'll "play a style similar to his career". I am interested to see how he takes command of the team and whether he will have the respect required of a strong head coach or whether he'll be considered "one of the boys that used to play".

Definitely Rillie's peak was with the Razorbacks, which even included a stint with a Euroleague team in between.

What we are trying to say is that his character and devotion to the game is an indicator he will be a good coach, not that it is a guarantee. Time will tell.

Never 4get 10 threes in the playoffs

10 threes in the playoffs!

Happy with the signing, as ppl have said he was star and amazing sharpshooter, also had an extra soft spot for him because he reminded me of Jason "White Chocolate" Williams who I loved.

Law gone, punt Hodgson and rebuild that Wildcats brand culture.

The strangest thing in the wikipedia piece on Rillie is that he won a scoring title averaging 23.6ppg in 2003

That's a woefully low scoring average for the 48 minute era

The early 00's was an era where superstar talent was few and far between

That's a weird post even by your standards LV! He tied for the scoring title with Chris Williams with 23.6ppg. Fair to say he was a superstar talent.

In 2018, Bryce Cotton won the scoring title with 19.8ppg, which translates to 23.7ppg per 48 minutes. He is a superstar talent.