“We’re not going to quit”: Rillie backs Perth’s direction

For the third straight season, the Perth Wildcats’ season ended at the Playoff stage of the Hungry Jack’s NBL competition.

But instead of panicking that they’ve fallen just short of the ultimate prize, the Wildcats are concentrating on the positives and staying the course.

“There’s a level of disappointment because you start the season wanting to achieve the championship,” Perth coach John Rillie said to Wildcats Media.

“But when we get a minute to reflect, there’s a lot of good stuff that came out of this year for our franchise.

“Sometimes people get close to something and think they need to reinvent everything.

“You get antsy and worried when people quit when they’re right there. But it’s about sticking with what you do and just keep growing.

“You can never be satisfied in this industry. You’ve got to keep building.

“We’re not going to quit. We’re going to keep working, and good things will happen.”

>> Finals schedule, tickets & how to watch

Helping Rillie’s case to stay the course and bank on internal growth is the fact that Kristian Doolittle, Jo-Lual Acuil Jr., Dylan Windler, Ben Henshall, Jaron Rillie, Sunday Dech, Noa Kouakou-Heugue, Cameron Huefner and Lat Mayen (club option) are all on the books for NBL27.

Apart from trying to re-sign the likes of Elijah Pepper and David Okwera, the only priority left to help the Wildcats make that jump is recruiting a high-level import point guard to the club.

“If you get most of this crew back, they’re in a strong basketball position,” 1990 MVP Derek Rucker said on Monday’s episode of NBL Overtime.

“All they need is to hit on that other import spot.”

Perth Wildcats skipper Jesse Wagstaff, who is off contract, has recently postponed talks about his future.

The highly anticipated Hungry Jack's NBL26 Championship Series, between Sydney and Adelaide, tips off at Qudos Bank Arena on Saturday at 7pm AEDT, live on ESPN and 10 Drama.