2022 �23 PERTH WILDCATS SEASON

2022–23 Perth Wildcats season
2022–23 Perth Wildcats season
Head coach	John Rillie
Captain	Jesse Wagstaff
Arena	Perth Arena
NBL results
Record	15–13 (53.6%)
Ladder	6th
Finals finish	Play-in finalist; (lost to Taipans 78–91)
	Stats at NBL.com.au
Player records
Points	Cotton 23.5
Rebounds	Thomas 6.1
Assists	Cotton 4.8
	All statistics correct as of 12 February 2023.
	← 2021–22 2023–24 →

The 2022–23 Perth Wildcats season was the 42nd season of the franchise in the National Basketball League (NBL), and their first under the leadership of their new head coach John Rillie.^[1]

After having qualified for the NBL finals for the 35 consecutive years preceding 2022, the Wildcats' play-in tournament loss to the Cairns Taipans on 12 February 2023 meant that the Wildcats failed to qualify for the NBL finals for a second consecutive season.

Roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

2022–23 Perth Wildcats roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Age
G	0	Webster, Tai	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)	89 kg (196 lb)	29 – (1995-05-29)29 May 1995
F	3	Thomas, TaShawn (I)	2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)	109 kg (240 lb)	31 – (1993-02-27)27 February 1993
F/C	5	Hayes-Brown, Oliver (DP)	2.08 m (6 ft 10 in)	114 kg (251 lb)	24 – (2000-04-28)28 April 2000
G	8	Norton, Mitch	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)	90 kg (198 lb)	31 – (1993-04-01)1 April 1993
G	9	Zunic, Kyle	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	90 kg (198 lb)	25 – (1999-05-04)4 May 1999
G	10	Webster, Corey	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	89 kg (196 lb)	35 – (1988-11-29)29 November 1988
G	11	Cotton, Bryce (I)	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)	75 kg (165 lb)	31 – (1992-08-11)11 August 1992
G/F	12	Blanchfield, Todd	1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)	98 kg (216 lb)	32 – (1991-11-07)7 November 1991
G	17	Harris, Michael (DP)	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)	85 kg (187 lb)	24 – (1999-10-05)5 October 1999
C	20	Andrew, Jack (DP)	2.08 m (6 ft 10 in)	110 kg (243 lb)	22 – (2001-08-10)10 August 2001
F/C	22	Majok, Majok	2.10 m (6 ft 11 in)	112 kg (247 lb)	31 – (1992-12-10)10 December 1992
G	23	Travers, Luke	2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)	94 kg (207 lb)	22 – (2001-09-03)3 September 2001
F	24	Wagstaff, Jesse (C)	2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)	103 kg (227 lb)	38 – (1986-04-30)30 April 1986
F	25	Shervill, Corey (TP)	2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)	100 kg (220 lb)	26 – (1998-03-19)19 March 1998
F	45	Manek, Brady (I)	2.06 m (6 ft 9 in)	104 kg (229 lb)	25 – (1998-09-04)4 September 1998

Head coach

John Rillie

Assistant coach(es)

Mike Kelly
Luke Brennan
Keegan Crawford

Strength & conditioning coach(es)

Josh Cavanagh

Legend

(C) Team captain
(DP) Development player
(IN) Inactive
(I) Import player
(TP) Training player
(SRP) Special restricted player
(NS) Next Star player
Injured

Roster

Updated: 12 February 2023

Standings

Ladder

Pos	2022–23 NBL season v t e
Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PCT	Last 5	Streak	Home	Away	PF	PA	PP
1	Sydney Kings	28	19	9	67.86%	2–3	L2	10–4	9–5	2679	2468	108.55%
2	New Zealand Breakers	28	18	10	64.29%	5–0	W5	7–7	11–3	2423	2246	107.88%

3	Cairns Taipans	28	18	10	64.29%	2–3	W1	8–6	10–4	2455	2376	103.32%
4	Tasmania JackJumpers	28	16	12	57.14%	3–2	W2	7–7	9–5	2385	2305	103.47%
5	S.E. Melbourne Phoenix	28	15	13	53.57%	3–2	L1	11–3	4–10	2553	2512	101.63%
6	Perth Wildcats	28	15	13	53.57%	2–3	W1	9–5	6–8	2580	2568	100.47%

7	Melbourne United	28	15	13	53.57%	4–1	W1	8–6	7–7	2434	2424	100.41%
8	Adelaide 36ers	28	13	15	46.43%	2–3	L1	8–6	5–9	2546	2597	98.04%
9	Brisbane Bullets	28	8	20	28.57%	2–3	L3	4–10	4–10	2365	2600	90.96%
10	Illawarra Hawks	28	3	25	10.71%	1–4	L4	2–12	1–13	2261	2585	87.47%

Updated to match(es) played on 5 February 2023. Source: NBL.com.au

The NBL tie-breaker system as outlined in the NBL Rules and Regulations states that in the case of an identical win–loss record, the overall points percentage will determine order of seeding.

Ladder progression

	Leader and qualification to semifinals
	Qualification to semifinals
	Qualification to play-in games
	Last place

2022–23 NBL season
Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Team ╲ Round
Adelaide 36ers	—	—	7	4	8	8	7	6	6	7	7	7	7	5	8	8	8	8
Brisbane Bullets	9	9	10	9	9	9	9	9	8	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9
Cairns Taipans	1	3	4	3	4	3	3	3	3	4	3	4	3	3	2	2	2	3
Illawarra Hawks	7	6	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10
Melbourne United	5	5	6	8	6	6	8	8	9	8	8	8	8	8	6	7	7	7
New Zealand Breakers	6	4	3	2	1	2	2	1	2	2	1	2	2	2	3	3	3	2
Perth Wildcats	2	1	2	5	7	7	5	7	7	6	5	6	5	7	5	5	5	6
S.E. Melbourne Phoenix	4	7	8	7	3	4	4	4	4	3	4	3	4	6	7	6	6	5
Sydney Kings	3	2	1	1	2	1	1	2	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Tasmania JackJumpers	8	8	5	6	5	5	6	5	5	5	6	5	6	4	4	4	4	4

Updated to match(es) played on 5 February 2023. Source: NBL.com.au

Game log

Pre-season

2022 pre-season game log
Total: 2–0 (home: 2–0; road: 0–0)

September: 2–0 (Home: 2–0; Road: 0–0)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
1	9 September	Adelaide	W 98–87	Bryce Cotton (20)	Luke Travers (9)	Mitch Norton (6)	Eaton Recreration Centre 300	1–0
2	11 September	Adelaide	W 97–91	Brady Manek (15)	Corey Webster (6)	Bryce Cotton (5)	HBF Arena 500	2–0

NBL Blitz

2022 NBL Blitz game log
Total: 2–1 (home: 2–0; road: 0–1)

September: 2–1 (Home: 2–0; Road: 0–1)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
1	17 September	Cairns	W 98–80	Bryce Cotton (36)	Blanchfield, Travers (7)	Bryce Cotton (4)	Darwin Basketball Facility 916	1–0
2	19 September	S.E. Melbourne	W 87–71	Corey Webster (16)	Brady Manek (9)	Bryce Cotton (5)	Darwin Basketball Facility 838	2–0
3	21 September	@ Melbourne	L 90–63	Thomas, Webster (10)	Bryce Cotton (7)	Luke Travers (4)	Darwin Basketball Facility 917	2–1

Regular season

2022–23 game log
Total: 15–13 (home: 9–5; road: 6–8)

October: 3–4 (Home: 2–2; Road: 1–2)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
1	2 October	Brisbane	W 87–73	Bryce Cotton (23)	Bryce Cotton (12)	Luke Travers (7)	RAC Arena 11,083	1–0
2	8 October	Illawarra	W 77–71	Norton, Travers (14)	Manek, Travers (7)	Cotton, Travers (4)	RAC Arena 10,816	2–0
3	10 October	@ Cairns	W 76–105	Bryce Cotton (24)	Luke Travers (9)	Mitch Norton (9)	Cairns Convention Centre 3,608	3–0
4	14 October	Melbourne	L 81–84	Bryce Cotton (32)	Jesse Wagstaff (8)	Luke Travers (8)	RAC Arena 10,441	3–1
5	22 October	@ Tasmania	L 103–72	Bryce Cotton (14)	Luke Travers (8)	Bryce Cotton (4)	MyState Bank Arena 4,231	3–2
6	28 October	S.E. Melbourne	L 90–91	Bryce Cotton (27)	Blanchfield, Thomas (6)	Bryce Cotton (8)	RAC Arena 11,103	3–3
7	31 October	@ Melbourne	L 94–77	Bryce Cotton (19)	TaShawn Thomas (7)	TaShawn Thomas (5)	John Cain Arena 6,610	3–4

November: 2–2 (Home: 1–2; Road: 1–0)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
8	3 November	Tasmania	L 77–85	Bryce Cotton (26)	Cotton, Majok, Norton, Thomas (5)	Bryce Cotton (6)	RAC Arena 9,805	3–5
9	5 November	@ Adelaide	W 89–94	Brady Manek (25)	TaShawn Thomas (9)	Bryce Cotton (5)	Adelaide Entertainment Centre 9,071	4–5
10	17 November	S.E. Melbourne	W 103–96	Bryce Cotton (32)	Jesse Wagstaff (6)	TaShawn Thomas (6)	RAC Arena 9,988	5–5
11	24 November	Adelaide	L 82–96	Bryce Cotton (17)	TaShawn Thomas (6)	Bryce Cotton (5)	RAC Arena 10,329	5–6

December: 5–2 (Home: 1–0; Road: 4–2)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
12	1 December	@ Brisbane	L 106–94 (OT)	Bryce Cotton (30)	Luke Travers (8)	Luke Travers (4)	Nissan Arena 2,427	5–7
13	3 December	@ New Zealand	W 84–92	Corey Webster (26)	Cotton, Manek, Thomas (6)	Bryce Cotton (7)	Spark Arena 4,884	6–7
14	9 December	@ Adelaide	W 90–98	Bryce Cotton (32)	TaShawn Thomas (8)	Bryce Cotton (6)	Adelaide Entertainment Centre 5,436	7–7
15	12 December	Melbourne	W 90–89	Bryce Cotton (29)	TaShawn Thomas (7)	Luke Travers (5)	RAC Arena 10,459	8–7
–	16 December	New Zealand	Postponed (COVID-19)^[2] (Makeup date: 10 January)^[3]
16	20 December	@ Cairns	W 83–105	Bryce Cotton (24)	TaShawn Thomas (12)	TaShawn Thomas (6)	Cairns Convention Centre 3,752	9–7
17	27 December	@ Brisbane	L 97–93 (OT)	Bryce Cotton (30)	Luke Travers (10)	Bryce Cotton (6)	Nissan Arena 3,737	9–8
18	31 December	@ Illawarra	W 97–107	Corey Webster (25)	Brady Manek (10)	Bryce Cotton (6)	WIN Entertainment Centre 3,776	10–8

January: 4–4 (Home: 4–0; Road: 0–4)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
19	4 January	@ New Zealand	L 97–94	Bryce Cotton (32)	Brady Manek (7)	Bryce Cotton (5)	TSB Stadium 2,200	10–9
20	7 January	@ Sydney	L 108–87	Cotton, C.Webster (22)	TaShawn Thomas (8)	Bryce Cotton (5)	Qudos Bank Arena 11,073	10–10
21	10 January	New Zealand	W 93–90	TaShawn Thomas (23)	TaShawn Thomas (10)	Cotton, Manek, Thomas, C.Webster (3)	RAC Arena 11,668	11–10
22	14 January	Adelaide	W 112–97	Cotton, Manek (23)	Brady Manek (10)	Tai Webster (7)	RAC Arena 13,087	12–10
23	20 January	Sydney	W 111–104	Cotton, Manek (21)	Corey Webster (10)	Bryce Cotton (11)	RAC Arena 13,038	13–10
24	22 January	@ S.E. Melbourne	L 112–91	Bryce Cotton (25)	Cotton, Travers (5)	Luke Travers (5)	State Basketball Centre 3,300	13–11
25	27 January	Illawarra	W 106–86	Bryce Cotton (40)	Cotton, Manek, Travers, C.Webster (7)	Cotton, Wagstaff (4)	RAC Arena 12,251	14–11
26	29 January	@ Tasmania	L 102–94	TaShawn Thomas (19)	TaShawn Thomas (10)	Thomas, Travers, C.Webster (4)	MyState Bank Arena 4,293	14–12

February: 1–1 (Home: 1–1; Road: 0–0)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
27	3 February	Cairns	L 71–84	Bryce Cotton (28)	Bryce Cotton (13)	Bryce Cotton (7)	RAC Arena 11,668	14–13
28	5 February	Sydney	W 96–84	Corey Webster (26)	Luke Travers (11)	Luke Travers (6)	RAC Arena 12,712	15–13

2022–23 season schedule

Postseason

2023 finals game log
Total: 1–1 (home: 0–0; road: 1–1)

Play-in qualifier: 1–0 (Home: 0–0; Road: 1–0)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
1	9 February	@ S.E. Melbourne	W 99–106	Bryce Cotton (26)	Luke Travers (9)	TaShawn Thomas (8)	John Cain Arena 5,176	1–0

Play-in game: 0–1 (Home: 0–0; Road: 0–1)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
2	12 February	@ Cairns	L 91–78	Bryce Cotton (19)	Brady Manek (10)	Bryce Cotton (10)	Cairns Convention Centre 3,020	1–1

2022–23 season schedule

Transactions

Re-signed

Player	Signed
Bryce Cotton^[4]	4 May
Ollie Hayes-Brown^[5]	17 May
Majok Majok^[5]^[6]	17 May
Kyle Zunic^[7]	24 May
Todd Blanchfield^[8]	27 May
Jesse Wagstaff^[9]	11 June

Additions

Player	Signed	Former team
Corey Webster^[10]	15 June	Franklin Bulls
TaShawn Thomas^[11]	26 July	Le Mans
Brady Manek^[12]	1 August	North Carolina Tar Heels
Michael Harris^[13]	12 August	Mount Gambier Pioneers
Jack Andrew^[14]	1 September	Otago Nuggets
Tai Webster^[15]	2 January	Petkim Spor

Subtractions

Player	Reason left	New team
Jack Purchase^[5]	Released	Forestville Eagles
Kevin White^[16]	Free agent	Illawarra Hawks
Matt Hodgson^[17]	Free agent	TaiwanBeer HeroBears
Corey Shervill^[18]	Released	N/A

Awards

Club awards

Coaches’ Award: Kyle Zunic
Most Improved Player: Michael Harris
Best Defensive Player: Luke Travers
Players’ Player: Bryce Cotton
Members MVP: Bryce Cotton
Club MVP: Bryce Cotton^[19]

References

^ "John Rillie Named Wildcats Coach". NBL.com.au | NBL. 11 July 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
^ "Wildcats vs Breakers Game Postponed". NBL.com.au | NBL. 16 December 2022. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
^ "NBL Announces Schedule Changes". NBL.com.au | NBL. 20 December 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
^ "Cotton Re-Signs with Cats on a 3-Year Deal". NBL.com.au | NBL. 4 May 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Wildcats take options on big man duo". Wildcats.com.au | Wildcats. 17 May 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
^ @nbl (17 May 2022). "The @PerthWildcats have taken Club Options on the contracts of Majok Majok and Ollie Hayes-Brown for #NBL23". Retrieved 17 May 2022 – via Instagram.
^ "Wildcats Elevate Zunic". NBL.com.au | NBL. 24 May 2022. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
^ "Todd Blanchfield Staying in Perth". NBL.com.au | NBL. 27 May 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
^ "Jesse Wagstaff returns for 14th season". Wildcats.com.au | Wildcats. 11 June 2022. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
^ "Perth Wildcats sign sharp-shooter Corey Webster". Wildcats.com.au. 15 June 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
^ "Wildcats sign American forward TaShawn Thomas". Wildcats.com.au. July 26, 2022. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
^ "Perth Wildcats sign Brady Manek as third import". Wildcats.com.au. 1 August 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
^ "Perth Wildcats Sign NBL1 Sharp-Shooter Michael Harris". Wildcats.com.au. 12 August 2022. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
^ "Perth Add Third Development Player". NBL.com.au | NBL. 1 September 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
^ "Wildcats sign sharp-shooting Tai Webster". wildcats.com.au. 2 January 2023. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
^ "Hawks Gain Valuable Experience". NBL.com.au. 17 September 2022. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
^ "台啤英熊找來澳洲國家隊中鋒取名哈吉勝有原因". Liberty Times Net. 2 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
^ @perthwildcats (2 January 2023). "Thank you, Sherv. ❤️". Retrieved 2 January 2023 – via Instagram.
^ "Cotton takes out fifth Wildcats MVP". Wildcats.com.au. 1 April 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2023.

External links

Official Website

[1] "John Rillie Named Wildcats Coach". NBL.com.au | NBL. 11 July 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2022.

[Wildcats_vs_Breakers-2] "Wildcats vs Breakers Game Postponed". NBL.com.au | NBL. 16 December 2022. Retrieved 17 December 2022.

[Wildcats_vs_Breakers_10/1/23-3] "NBL Announces Schedule Changes". NBL.com.au | NBL. 20 December 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2022.

[4] "Cotton Re-Signs with Cats on a 3-Year Deal". NBL.com.au | NBL. 4 May 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2022.

[Wildcatstakeduo-5] "Wildcats take options on big man duo". Wildcats.com.au | Wildcats. 17 May 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2022.

[6] @nbl (17 May 2022). "The @PerthWildcats have taken Club Options on the contracts of Majok Majok and Ollie Hayes-Brown for #NBL23". Retrieved 17 May 2022 – via Instagram.

[7] "Wildcats Elevate Zunic". NBL.com.au | NBL. 24 May 2022. Retrieved 24 May 2022.

[8] "Todd Blanchfield Staying in Perth". NBL.com.au | NBL. 27 May 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2022.

[9] "Jesse Wagstaff returns for 14th season". Wildcats.com.au | Wildcats. 11 June 2022. Retrieved 11 June 2022.

[10] "Perth Wildcats sign sharp-shooter Corey Webster". Wildcats.com.au. 15 June 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2022.

[11] "Wildcats sign American forward TaShawn Thomas". Wildcats.com.au. July 26, 2022. Retrieved July 26, 2022.

[12] "Perth Wildcats sign Brady Manek as third import". Wildcats.com.au. 1 August 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022.

[13] "Perth Wildcats Sign NBL1 Sharp-Shooter Michael Harris". Wildcats.com.au. 12 August 2022. Retrieved 13 August 2022.

[14] "Perth Add Third Development Player". NBL.com.au | NBL. 1 September 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2022.

[15] "Wildcats sign sharp-shooting Tai Webster". wildcats.com.au. 2 January 2023. Retrieved 2 January 2023.

[16] "Hawks Gain Valuable Experience". NBL.com.au. 17 September 2022. Retrieved 18 September 2022.

[17] "台啤英熊找來澳洲國家隊中鋒取名哈吉勝有原因". Liberty Times Net. 2 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.

[18] @perthwildcats (2 January 2023). "Thank you, Sherv. ❤️". Retrieved 2 January 2023 – via Instagram.

[19] "Cotton takes out fifth Wildcats MVP". Wildcats.com.au. 1 April 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2023.

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Roster

Standings

Ladder

Ladder progression

Game log

Pre-season

NBL Blitz

Regular season

Postseason

Transactions

Re-signed

Additions

Subtractions

Awards

Club awards

See also

References

External links

Roster

Standings

Ladder

Ladder progression

Game log

Pre-season

NBL Blitz

Regular season

Postseason

Transactions

Re-signed

Additions

Subtractions

Awards

Club awards

See also

References

External links

Videos

Websites

Encyclopedia

Facebook

v t e 2022–23 National Basketball League season
2022 NBL pre-season 2023 NBL Finals
Adelaide 36ers Brisbane Bullets Cairns Taipans Illawarra Hawks Melbourne United New Zealand Breakers Perth Wildcats S.E. Melbourne Phoenix Sydney Kings Tasmania JackJumpers