Wildcats to draw on 2016 Grand Final experience

The Perth Wildcats will draw on its 2016 Championship experience as it heads into Sunday’s clash with the Illawarra Hawks.

It will be their third game in five days – a schedule reminiscent of their best-of-three games Grand Final series against New Zealand, which happened to culminate five years ago to this day.

Trevor Gleeson said while it’s a different group of players, it’s an experience he and his team’s leaders can use to their advantage.

“I was telling the guys, we had this same three games in five days and we had to travel to New Zealand, with 12 hours travelling and time zone change, and it really brought the group together, and we showed resilience,” he said.

“We ended up winning the championship in that period of time.

“We talked about that, but now, we’re not travelling, we’ve got the luxury of getting back here to rest up. Ice baths, massage, all the normal recovery protocols and then we get ready for Sunday’s game.”

The Illawarra Hawks have been impressive this season, led by legend coach Brian Goorjian.

They sit in third position on the ladder, just one spot behind the Perth Wildcats with one more loss to their record.

“Their three imports are really good,” said Gleeson.

“Harvey can catch fire, and Jessup is a second round NBA draft pick. We had exposure to them in the pre-season. Then they’ve got Ogilvy and Frolling in there and some really good guys off the bench.

“They’ve done a great job recruiting... They’re super talented and it’s going to be a great test for us.”

Tip-off on Sunday afternoon is at 1.30pm on VICELAND and SBS On Demand.