Ryan Petrik says Fire were 'better when it mattered'

• Perth fell 2–0 to Townsville in WNBL26 Grand Final Series.
• Petrik called Game 2 a classic that “could have gone either way.”
• Atwell admitted watching Fire celebrate “stings a little more.”
• Lynx vow to regroup and chase again next season.

Head coach Ryan Petrik and captain Amy Atwell faced the brutal reality of Perth’s championship drought extending another season after losing to the Townsville Fire 2-0 in the WNBL26 Grand Final Series on Sunday, March 1, 2026.

Petrik and Atwell stood tall in the aftermath of one of the greatest WNBL championship games in the league’s history.

Related: MVP Courtney Woods reveals Fire’s clutch secret

Ryan Petrik – Opening Statement

Ryan Petrik: “First and foremost, massive congratulations to Townsville. To Shannon, to Sam as GM – they’ve been the class organisation certainly in my six years. Everyone else has bobbed up here and there, but for a sustained six-year run, I think they’ve been in four Grand Finals and won two of them. They’ve been the team everyone’s chasing.

“So massive congratulations to Shannon, to Sam and obviously the playing group – to Alicia Forling and to Courtney Woods. They’ve been elite. They dominated pre-season, they won the regular season, and they won the finals as well. So massive shout-out to Townsville Fire and just how good they were.

“From my perspective, I thought it was a hell of a game of basketball. Again, you want to watch it back as we always say, but 20 minutes post-game, half an hour post-game, whatever it is, it feels like a game that generally could have gone either way. We had a chance to grab it, and unfortunately, Townsville did.

“That’s the price you pay sometimes.”

Ryan Petrik on the emotional toll of another Grand Final loss

Ryan Petrik: “I’ll be fine. It’s not enjoyable, but as we alluded to the girls' post-game, if you like greatness, it courts failure. If you’re going to be chasing this time of year and chasing championship games and championship rings, you either get our locker room post-game or you get Townsville’s locker room post-game.

“You only really become a loser if you stop fighting and quit. It’s the same thing we’ve done the last two years. You can roll over and curl into a ball and suck your thumb and cry, ‘Why me?’, or you can dig your heels in and try again. At this point in time, I’d prefer option B.

Amy Atwell on handling the heartbreak as captain

Amy Atwell: “I mean, I kind of echo everything Ryan said. We had a hell of a year. Credit to Townsville – they’ve been the benchmark. We came up short, but I’m super proud of all our girls. We fought to the last possession.

“You feel the emotions tonight and then deal with it tomorrow. I don’t really know how to process it, to be honest. We were in a similar position two years ago, but this one stings a little more. Being that close and watching them celebrate on our home court definitely stings a little bit.

“But credit to Townsville. We get up and go again.”

Ryan Petrik on the physical toll of competing for a championship

Ryan Petrik: “I would like to talk about that, but I don’t want to take any shine off Townsville at all. In fairness, any of the teams playing finals – whether it’s Southside and Bendigo as well – all four of us would have been dealing with injuries, sore bodies and illness behind the scenes.

“We’re taping our girls up the best we can and throwing them out on the court. I’m positive Townsville, Southside and Bendigo are doing the same things. So again, today is Townsville’s day.

Ryan Petrik: on Anneli Maley’s 27-point and 19-rebound performance

Ryan Petrik: “Elite. In Game 2 they didn’t guard her a lot, which helped gunk up our offence. She clearly said, ‘OK, I’m going to become a rebounder, I’m going to become a screener, I’m going to make shots that they give me’. And today she did all that.

“I thought she was unbelievable. But in fairness, I thought there were 10 players combined who all had blinders on the same day. That just shows the class of the players who were on the court.”

Amy Atwell and Ryan Petrik on the final seconds and key moments

Amy Atwell: “It’s hard to focus on four seconds of the game. I couldn’t even tell you exactly what happened. It’s a whole 45 minutes. We had our moments, they had theirs. There were a lot of players making big shots. That just shows the level of this league and the talent on the court tonight.

Ryan Petrik: “My mind is nowhere near the last four seconds. My mind is on the two offensive rebounds we couldn’t get.

“We were up three, it was their ball, they advanced and drew up a play. We went small to try to deal with the three-point line and couldn’t get a rebound. I thought they had two cracks at it, and they hit the second one.

“In overtime, a similar situation. They advanced, we got a stop and couldn’t get a rebound. Again, I’m sure there are a million moments like that, but those are the two plays I can really remember.

“As a coach, you feel helpless sometimes. I’m sure Shannon feels helpless when he’s got Courtney Woods and others on the bench. In the end, they were better when it mattered.”

Ryan Petrik on his early bench rotations

Ryan Petrik: “A bit of both planned and reactive. We were trying to find defensive stops. Tegan (Graham) and Steph Gorman are two of our premier defenders, so we tried to get them more minutes to slow down (Alex) Fowler and Woods. It helped a little bit, but we weren’t able to find enough offence. There were tired legs from the night before, so that was the juggling act.”

Amy Atwell on competing for a championship

Amy Atwell: “The league is in an unreal spot. The sold-out crowd here – a record crowd for us – is unreal. Obviously, we didn’t get the result we wanted, but where women’s basketball is heading and where this league is heading is exciting for years to come.”

Amy Atwell on Perth Lynx’s WNBL26 campaign

Amy Atwell: “Super proud. It was definitely a unique situation. At the start of the season, having Bree (Turner) here for the first eight games and then Han (Xu) coming in mid-season – that transition – the way the girls, the club and the staff handled that was incredible.

“It’s hard sitting here trying to debrief it all, but we’ve worked our backsides off to get here, from management down. I’m just really proud of the group.

Amy Atwell on Perth’s resilience in the third quarter of Game 2 after Game 1’s Q3 struggle

Amy Atwell: “Nothing in particular was said. We did touch quickly on the third quarter in Townsville and said the first five minutes of the second half were going to be super important to set the tone. We came out firing, and we knew they would too. We just had to try to throw the bigger punch.”

Ryan Petrik and Amy Atwell on the 41 lead changes, 12 in the fourth quarter and overtime

Ryan Petrik: “A little bit helpless. Every ATO we called seemed to work, and I’m sure Townsville would say the same. We’d change a play, and it would work. They’d counter, and it would work. The players on both sides were just elite.

“It feels like it could have gone either way, but it didn’t break in our favour.

Amy Atwell: “The energy in here has been elite all year. The venue has been amazing. We could feel the crowd at every momentum change, every shift, every big shot. They’ve been unreal all year, and it’s been a great experience playing here.”

Ryan Petrik on Perth’s recruiting and impact on growth

Ryan Petrik: “It certainly didn’t hurt. It gave everything a boost. But in fairness, the club was already on an upward trajectory. We sold out two years ago against Southside and could have sold it out four times over.

“When Han arrived, it opened up a new market and gave everything a boost for the whole league. But she wasn’t the only reason. We were already trending in that direction.”

Amy Atwell on the growth of women’s basketball

Amy Atwell: “Oh yeah, all of that and more. We’ve seen over the last few years what women’s basketball can become. It’s finally getting the eyes and spotlight it deserves. I think it’s going to continue to trend upwards.

“Games like that and crowds like this just show we have the talent and everything we need.”