All Gavin Field wanted to do was play basketball his way and go out on his terms, and after a career that has seen him become a Cockburn Cougars legend he is excited to hit Wally Hagan Stadium one last time on Friday night.
Field grew up at Wally Hagan Stadium and was always destined to continue his family's legacy at the Cougars. Fast forward to now, and he has joined both his parents, Garry and Darlene, along with his grandfather as life members at Cockburn.
What makes Field most proud as he now prepares for the 339th and final game of his career with the Cougars is that he has done it his way the whole way through.
He was never picked out as a standout junior, wasn’t part of state teams but through that will and desire to get the best out of himself, he went on to have a standout college career at West Georgia, and has built his own Cougars legacy ever since.
Field is a championship winner at Cockburn, he is a seven-time club MVP and to top it off has built a career as a teacher along the way, and more importantly a family with wife Audrey and now their two children Iris and Wesley.
Across his glittering career, Field has been an unstoppable force with the Cougars delivering match-winning performance after match-winning performance and when his shooting has been going, there has been nobody like him in the SBL or NBL1 West competition.
Above everything else, he is proud to have done it his way and that is how he plans on doing things one last time for his final game on Friday night at Wally Hagan Stadium for the Cougars against the Perry Lakes Hawks.
Reflecting on life and basketball journey
What an occasion like playing your last game does provide is the chance for some reflection on the journey for Field that started from when he could walk and first took his steps on Wally Hagan Stadium with Rod Baker lifting him so he could put the ball in the basket.
To think about the support his parents provided along the way, sharing it with his sister Lauren, and now wife Audrey and children Iris and Wesley, and Field feels blessed with the close support to have always had around him.
But then there's also his teammates along the way, even some long-time opponents who have become friends, and everyone that comes to mind ahead of his final game.
"It's one of those things you don't really think about too much, but for me it just goes back to the friendships and the people that have been around along the way," Field said.
"Yes, I'm playing basketball and it's a competition and all of that, and I've had some success, but it's nothing without the people around you and the people who put you in the right positions.
"That starts from my parents all the way back to those early days to now and meeting my wife and her allowing me to still drive out on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday or Saturday nights while she's at home looking after the kids.
"I'm proud of what I have been able to accomplish and for a guy who didn’t make any state teams or anything else when I was younger, I can be proud of what I achieved by doing it my way.
"I still haven’t put any weight but have been able to keep doing what I do and influence a game of basketball in other ways."
Thoughts ahead of last game
As much as he can, Field has always wanted to keep things within his control and to be prepared for any scenario, but one thing he has no idea how to prepare for on Friday night is how he will be feeling once the game is over and his 339-game career is done.
At the same time, he is excited for the next phase of his life and has no question that the timing is right to call time on a lifetime of basketball with Cockburn.
"I'm feeling pretty good about it I think. Obviously there are thoughts running through my mind more about how I'm going to feel on Friday when it's all done, but in terms of me right now, I'm happy, excited and just looking forward to it," Field said.
"I know the club is doing a few things for me and it will be interesting to see how that goes. I think they have organised for a whole bunch of people to come to see my last game both ex-teammates and that I played against who I'm friends with.
"I'm just looking forward to it and to be honest I am looking forward to it being over. I'm ready to move on to the next phase after Friday night."
Right decision to retire
Field will forever be proud and thankful of the remarkable career he has had with Cockburn that started all the way back when he made his SBL debut as a 17-year-old in 2007 up until his final game this Friday as a 34-year-old.
Physically he is still feeling good and probably feels he could play on if he wanted to, but it's the mental commitment to dedicate so much of your time, thoughts and energy to playing and preparing to play that he is ready to leave behind after Friday night.
"Mentally I'm definitely ready to move on from basketball. I'm mentally drained of playing basketball and not so much playing basketball, but trying to do that now with my other commitments now with family, work and all that kind of stuff," Field said.
"Physically I still feel like I can go but one thing that's stuck with me for a long time is that I wanted to finish on my terms and when I know I can finish, and am not getting pushed out or on my last legs.
"So I know I can still contribute physically and that's how I wanted to feel when I finished, but mentally I'm ready to call it a day."
Being able to do other things
When you find yourself excited for all the things you will be able to do with your life and to do physically once you are not dedicating yourself to playing basketball, then it's a good sign the time is right to retire.
That's exactly how Field is feeling and he already has started making a list of the things he wants to start doing.
"There's other things I want to be able to do as well physically outside of basketball and I want to go on and try to run a marathon," Field said.
"That's the sort of thing you can't do while playing basketball but that's one thing I do want to do. I like to go running but I can't just go and do a 5km run whenever I want during the week because I have to think about how my legs will feel on the court.
"But now I can just go and do whatever I want and it will kinda feel like how I do at the start of an off-season, except it will be all year round now.
"It will allow me to go and run whenever I feel like it, can do extra stuff with my kids or on the weekends we can actually do more physical stuff and I don’t have to worry about how I feel once we get to game time. So I can't wait for all of that."
Still playing at a high level to finish
While Field will always feel he can do more, the reality is he has proven in his last season that he remains one of the more lethal players in the competition even in what has been a challenging season for the Cougars.
He sent a reminder of what he can do going back to his 35-point outburst in a win against the Rockingham Flames where he hit eight three-pointers, but the thing he might have noticed slip later in his career was his consistency.
"I feel like I haven’t been as consistent this season as I would like especially with my shot, but that's going back to thinking about what I was once capable of," he said.
"But over the last few weeks they've been a lot better for me and we've got a few wins again too, and I wanted to finish on my own terms and knowing that I've gone out playing the way I want to.
"That's what I have been doing and over the last few weeks I've shown that I can still do it, maybe just not on the consistent basis that I used to be able to do."
How this season has panned out
It was a 2024 season that promised so much for Field's farewell year with the Cougars as well with Mark Clayden taking over as coach, and with Rhys Vague returning, Kyle Armour on board along with Hunter Clarke.
However, it's a year that has never quite got going and while that has been frustrating for Field, there's also that feeling that there's nothing you can do about it when it's largely down to injuries.
With Josh Hunt limited to 13 games after a brilliant first half of the season and then Seva Chan playing just seven matches, Demetris Morant 11 and Clarke seven, the best Cougars team just hasn’t been out on the court.
Even last week against the Eastern Suns and sitting in street clothes were Hunt, Vague, Chan and Clarke with the Cougars without an import too over the last eight games.
So while frustrating, Field also knows a lot of how this season has gone has been beyond his, or anyone's, control.
"It's been quite frustrating obviously especially because a lot of it is stuff out of your control," Field said.
"I can't do anything about people getting injured or being unavailable and just last week, you look over at the people we have not suiting up and that would be a decent starting five along with an import.
"It's been pleasing at the same time with some of the young guys getting an opportunity and someone like Austin Crowe-St Jack and Charlie Dimmock have taken the bull by the horns.
"So it has been pleasing to see a glimpse at the future of the club but it's a frustrating way of going out and not having the season we hoped, but there's always silver linings to anything."
Dream scenario for last game
A lot about what happens in Field's final game against Perry Lakes at Wally Hagan Stadium is out of his control too, but he has allowed himself to think of a dream scenario he'd like to finish off with a win at the top of the list.
"Obviously a win would be the most important thing and it's not very often you get to win your last game," Field said.
"You want to be in the finals so unless you win the whole thing, you lost the last game of the season so winning the last game even after a low season will be the biggest thing for Friday.
"Then aside from that, I just want to be able to enjoy it and embrace it, have some fun and I wouldn’t mind going off the court before the end of the siren and being able to soak it in a little bit for however long is left if we happen to be up enough and we can do that.
"That would be just about soaking it in and having friends, family and ex-teammates, work mates and everyone else there along with my current teammates so I can enjoy it with those people."
