Wildcats Focused on Finals Return

Perth Wildcats’ import Brady Manek says the ‘Cats are working hard to ensure their season doesn’t end next weekend and the club returns to the finals.

The Wildcats have four games remaining for the season and are sitting at sixth with a 13-11 record.

Manek spoke on behalf of the squad emphasising their priority of securing victories and making sure the club doesn’t miss the finals again, after their 35 year postseason streak came to an end last year.

“We’re at the end, we want to keep playing, we’ve got to lock in everyday we’ve got to play hard every day,” Manek said.

“There’s not many opportunities left and for us to get into that post-season we’ve got to win these. We put ourselves in this position but we’re still hopeful and we’re still playing hard.”

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'Cats coach John Rillie added: “Our games are getting less and less to qualify for the playoffs, it’s virtually one game at a time otherwise we will not be playing in the playoffs.

“The Perth Wildcats worry about every game, that’s what our goal is.”

Rillie said the steps they've taken to improve their rebounding will hopefully turn into a five man effort instead of individual players.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Ahead of Friday night’s Pride Round game, we were honoured to sit down with two-time Wildcats champion Trevor Torrance and hear about his personal journey and what Pride Round means to him. ?? <a href="https://t.co/hmuCgRuakQ">pic.twitter.com/hmuCgRuakQ</a></p>&mdash; Perth Wildcats (@PerthWildcats) <a href="https://twitter.com/PerthWildcats/status/1618473837284261888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 26, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“A lot, our rebounding when we’re poor, we just rely on two or three guys and it’s not just two or three guys, we need five guys in the fight every time to rebound," Rillie said. 

“We can talk about it and we can watch film but the best way to address it is by actioning."

After a slow start to the season, Manek has found his feet in creating space and producing a scoring punch for the Wildcats.

“It started off a little slow this season but I’ve picked it up,” Manek said.

“It’s what I’m here for I’m here to make shots, I’m here to play as good as defence as I can and I’m here to rebound.”

The ‘Cats next play the bottom on the ladder Illawarra Hawks on Friday night at 9:30pm AEDT.