Wildcats' finals run success story or harsh reality?

• ‍Andrew Gaze backs BryceCotton to chase NBL MVP history‍
• Nothin' but Cotton: 36ers hold home court in semis
• Josh King's Game 2 halftime spray: 'Get your head out of your ass'

It’s complicated.

Sydney swept Perth out of the NBL26 Semi-Finals 2-0 after the Wildcats lost the cornerstone of their franchise before the start of the season.

Is it a positive or a negative for the winningest club in NBL history to make it as far as it did without now six-time NBL MVP Bryce Cotton in a season they went 21-12 while searching for a replacement star, including Americans Mason Jones and David Duke Jr?

Mason lasted just five games, while Duke Jr appeared to be a key piece but was injured and missed a big chunk of the back end of the season.

“Anytime you end the season like this, you’re always disappointed,” head coach John Rillie said.

“We gave it a crack. They’ve got a lot of experience on their roster, played basketball at a high level, and probably just wore us down in the end.

“But as I addressed this group afterwards, it was a great group to coach. Very proud of what we achieved this year and the growth of everyone. You can go down the list. Our experienced guys grew in who they are as players, people and leaders, and then our young guys – you could see the growth in our core group of young guys.

“We’re certainly disappointed right now, but when we all get a minute to reflect, I think there’s a lot of good stuff that’s come out of this year for our franchise.”

The Wildcats were just a bucket away from snatching Game 1 against the Kings at Qudos Bank Arena, but lost import Dylan Windler on the last play of the game to an ankle injury.

Game 2 was a grind and Rillie conceded: “It was looking promising, but it doesn’t matter – we’re not at Game 3.

“You guys ask how do we cover for Windler – Henny’s (Ben Henshall) first half brought some of what we lost with Windler not playing.

“You talk about Henny in the playoffs – just his maturity in the way he goes about it. He’s an everyday process guy, and that’s what we forget with young players.

“Everyone has their own barometer of how they should be improving. For me, as long as you’re improving and moving in the right direction, you’re giving yourself a chance.

“It’s like anything in life – you’re always jumping to where you think someone else should be.

Him, Pep (Elijah Pepper), Okwera (David Okwera), (Dontae) Russo-Nance, Cam Huefner – our young guys – that group has certainly moved forward in their own professional development this year.

“On most nights when you hold a team to 75, you’d think you could score enough. But they’re the No. 1 defensive team for a reason, and we knew we were in for a battle.

“It’s a game of inches at this time of the year.”

Rewind back to March 25, 2025 and the bombshell revelation that Cotton was leaving the club, which he had delivered three championships (2017, 2019 and 2020) and fast forward to May 22, 2025, when the Adelaide 36ers announced they had signed Cotton as a free agent.

The 58 days between those two days shaped the Wildcats' future, not just NBL26, as speculation, criticism, commentary, and justification engulfed the 10-time NBL champions.

What happened?

Perth Wildcats chief executive Mark Arena and then five-time NBL MVP Bryce Cotton ultimately parted ways after failing to align on timing around a contract extension at the end of NBL25. Cotton wanted to test free agency for the first time after a historic season, while Arena faced pressure to quickly rebuild a roster with more than two-thirds of the squad out of contract.

With the Wildcats unwilling to wait indefinitely and Cotton unwilling to rush a decision, the club moved on and began re-signing key pieces, prompting Cotton to announce his departure publicly. Both sides acknowledged the split as a business decision made in pursuit of their respective championship ambitions, with Arena praising Cotton’s legacy and Cotton expressing gratitude to Perth fans for their support.

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

“There’s 10 teams that do that. For the last three years, we’ve given ourselves a chance – we haven’t climbed that mountain, but there’s a lot to be taken out of that.

“We’re the only team to have played in the last three finals series. I talk to my players about this all the time – people get antsy and quit when they’re right there.

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

“So many people get so close and think they need to reinvent the wheel, versus sticking with what you do and keep growing.

“Our veterans did a hell of a job growing as players but also in their leadership – keeping those young guys in check every day and making sure they understand the dedication and work ethic required to succeed at this level.

“No team is ever the same, but I think we’ve done a good job establishing and developing players in our time here. You saw it this year with our young core – they’re maturing nicely.”

Six-time NBL champion and 540-game Perth Wildcats veteran Jesse Wagstaff, 39, was a little more blunt in his assessment after the Game 2 loss.

“We weren’t good enough,” Wagstaff declared.

“You start the season – 10 teams are going to have that championship goal, and obviously, there’s about three teams left now, so we’re out of the race. But I’m proud of the growth and how we went about it.

“It’s frustrating for the playing group not to be able to take on the top side of the elimination at full strength. Of course, you want full strength, but at the end of the day, it’s professional sport. Every team deals with injuries throughout the year.

“If you sum it up, there are teams that copped it a hell of a lot worse than us. We’ve got a great performance staff. You try to limit it, but guys get knocked, banged up and injured.

“It provides opportunity for other guys to step in and step up.

"From a team point of view, it’s tough to think about right now. But with the youth we blooded this season, the future does look bright.

“Ten teams start the year wanting a championship, and technically, we didn’t achieve our goal. But if you look at it only in black and white, you fail to see the growth, the experiences and enjoying your teammates and the battle.

“Some guys have really shown growth. You don’t realise how young some of them are because I’ve been around a while. Even the older guys have had different roles and shown growth.

“We didn’t achieve our goal, but looking at it only that way probably does a disservice to the season we’ve had.

“When you present it as how young we are, it makes me nervous because you can’t be satisfied. In the off-season, you’ve got to keep building.

“A great example on the other team is Matthew Dellavedova – the ultimate professional. To take the next leap and taste ultimate success, you have to be dedicated to the cause.

“You can never be satisfied in this industry.”

Perth Wildcats — NBL26 Player Statistics

+----------------------+-----+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| Name                 | POS | GP | PPG | FGA | FGM | FG% | 3PA | 3PM | 3P% | FTA | FTM | FT% | APG | BPG | SPG | TPG |  F  |
+----------------------+-----+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| Kristian Doolittle   |  F  | 37 | 17.3| 12.7| 5.7 | 45  | 5.3 | 1.8 | 34  | 4.9 | 4.1 | 83  | 3.6 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 2.1 | 1.5 |
| Jo Lual-Acuil Jr     |  C  | 37 | 17.1| 12.3| 6.8 | 55  | 0.5 | 0.0 |  6  | 6.1 | 3.4 | 56  | 1.3 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 1.5 | 3.0 |
| Dylan Windler        |  G  | 32 | 13.2|  9.6| 4.7 | 49  | 4.6 | 1.8 | 39  | 2.6 | 2.0 | 76  | 2.3 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 1.7 | 2.2 |
| David Duke Jnr       |  G  | 19 | 12.2|  9.8| 3.8 | 39  | 4.2 | 1.2 | 28  | 4.2 | 3.5 | 82  | 3.3 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 1.9 | 2.8 |
| Mason Jones          |  -  |  5 | 11.4|  9.8| 3.4 | 35  | 5.8 | 1.6 | 28  | 3.8 | 3.0 | 79  | 2.8 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 2.0 | 3.2 |
| Elijah Pepper        |  G  | 37 | 10.5|  9.1| 3.6 | 40  | 5.7 | 1.8 | 32  | 1.6 | 1.4 | 88  | 1.6 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 1.0 |
| Ben Henshall         |  G  | 34 |  8.9|  7.6| 3.2 | 43  | 3.5 | 1.0 | 28  | 1.6 | 1.4 | 84  | 2.9 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 1.6 | 1.7 |
| Jaron Rillie         |  G  | 14 |  8.1|  5.7| 2.6 | 46  | 3.0 | 1.1 | 36  | 1.9 | 1.8 | 96  | 2.6 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 1.9 |
| David Okwera         |  F  | 34 |  5.1|  3.4| 2.0 | 57  | 0.9 | 0.3 | 34  | 1.3 | 0.9 | 70  | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 1.1 |
| Jesse Wagstaff       |  F  | 35 |  3.3|  2.2| 0.9 | 43  | 0.8 | 0.3 | 34  | 1.2 | 1.1 | 93  | 0.8 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.6 |
| Sunday Dech          |  G  | 30 |  3.2|  3.1| 1.1 | 36  | 1.8 | 0.6 | 34  | 0.5 | 0.4 | 80  | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.6 |
| Dontae Russo-Nance   |  G  | 28 |  2.8|  2.9| 1.1 | 39  | 1.5 | 0.4 | 27  | 0.2 | 0.1 | 50  | 1.4 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 1.4 |
| Lat Mayen            |  F  | 29 |  2.3|  2.3| 0.8 | 35  | 1.3 | 0.4 | 32  | 0.6 | 0.3 | 56  | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.7 |
| Cameron Huefner      |  F  | 11 |  1.6|  1.2| 0.5 | 46  | 0.6 | 0.3 | 43  | 0.4 | 0.3 | 75  | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.6 |
| Noa Kouakou-Heugue   |  G  | 17 |  1.6|  1.1| 0.6 | 61  | 0.1 | 0.0 |  -  | 0.6 | 0.3 | 50  | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Thomas Gerovich      |  F  |  5 |  0.0|  0.2| 0.0 |  -  | 0.0 | 0.0 |  -  | 0.0 | 0.0 |  -  | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.8 |
+----------------------+-----+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+

‍

So what does NBL27 hold for Wagstaff?

“Right now, I just want to think about this season,” he said.

“Next season is a discussion for later. Physically, I feel pretty average – kind of standard. I don’t feel any different from the past. My role has changed, and we’ve got great staff who are much smarter than I am. You listen to them, take little bits and hope for the best.”

Negative: Perth’s offseason started earlier than it wanted.

Positive: Perth’s search for stability in the backcourt in NBL27 starts early.