Wagstaff to captain the club in his 14th season

Six-time Perth Wildcats champion and 416-gamer Jesse Wagstaff will lead the club as captain for a second consecutive year.

Following the retirement of long-standing captain Damian Martin, Wagstaff took the leadership reigns for the 2021/22 season and will continue in the role as he enters his 14^th season at the club.

In addition to the captaincy, Mitch Norton will remain vice-captain, with Bryce Cotton and new inclusion Kyle Zunic rounding out the leadership group for the upcoming season.

Wagstaff said he’s excited to captain the side for another year.

“It’s exciting, I think we’ve got a great group this year,” he said.

“We’ve got a lot of older guys now with a lot of experience, but it’s like a young veteran group."

Wagstaff said Kyle Zunic is a great addition to the leadership group.

“Zu came in really early last year and showed leadership qualities, he plays the right way, he’s defensive minded and he deserves it and hopefully he will grab the opportunity with two hands.”

In a club first, the leadership group was not voted by the players, but decided by head coach John Rillie and General Manager of basketball operations, Danny Mills.

Rillie said he and Wagstaff have very similar values.

“One of the reasons behind Jesse being named captain is consistency,” he said.

“Throughout his career, Jesse has demonstrated what I value in that role and in my time as coach of the Perth Wildcats he’s been very vocal, and he has the respect of the players.

“With the greater leadership group of Norton, Cotton and Zunic, it felt like it was very imperative for us to start grooming some of the younger players as we look to future of the organisation.”

The Perth Wildcats face Brisbane Bullets in their season opener on October 2 at RAC Arena.