Recharged and refreshed from a six-month stint in Sweden with partner Robbi Ryan, Emma Gandini has thrived in her first season at the Rockingham Flames with a combination of former teammates and long-time NBL1 West rivals.
It had been quite the hectic past two years for Gandini who on the back of another Grand Final appearance with the Willetton Tigers when she won another Defensive Player of the Year award in 2022, she was a full roster member of the Perth Lynx.
She more than held her own in the WNBL too and showed she belongs at that level as a defensively minded guard who can also be a playmaker and knockdown shooter.
That led straight into her first season in the NBL1 North were Gandini joined the North Gold Coast Seahawks. The whole time she was still working as a bookkeeper with an accountancy firm both while still in Perth and doing it remotely from Queensland.
What Gandini found was that she pushed herself too far and came down with a bout of glandular fever before heading to Sweden where partner Ryan was going to be playing with Lulea Basket.
Gandini ended up training with that team throughout the season, but overall the break did her the world of good upon signing to return to the NBL1 West in 2024 – although it wouldn't be a return to Willetton.
Both Gandini and Ryan signed up at Rockingham for 2024 along with former teammates for at least one of them including Alex Sharp, Sophie Doran, Shani Amos and Nes'eya Parker-Williams.
The result was the Flames finishing the regular season in top spot, then beating the Perry Lakes Hawks and Lakeside Lightning in two tough finals. Now Gandini will be part of Saturday's Grand Final against the Cockburn Cougars having picked up another Defensive Player of the Year award.
Feeling reaching another Grand Final
Gandini is no stranger to the Grand Final stage having been part of them with Willetton in 2015, 2016, 2021 and 2022, for championship triumphs in 2016 and 2021.
To get back there again in 2024 is always exciting and what Gandini has learned is trying to keep things as normal in the lead up as possible.
"I think it's sort of good to at least have had one before behind you so you know how to deal with everything that's going on when you get to Grand Final week," Gandini said.
"It's good to just stay in the moment and try to treat the week as any other week, and rock up to trainings locking in and not getting too distracted from any of the events around Saturday."
Playing at RAC Arena
While familiar with reaching Grand Finals, the bonus previously of getting there for Gandini was that playing at Bendat Basketball Centre meant it was a venue Gandini knew well both from previous deciders, games in the season against Perry Lakes and her WNBL home games with the Lynx.
So what's now totally foreign to her is the Grand Final being held at RAC Arena where she's only ever been a spectator previously, but it's exciting at the same time as she prepares to play in front of the biggest attendance of her career.
"Bendat holds around 2000 and the fact we will be playing in front of so many more people is going to be the biggest difference," Gandini said.
"It's definitely going to be the biggest crowd I've played in front of and I think it will be the same for a lot of the other girls. That's probably the main difference from playing the game there and it's also a whole new court that none of us have played on before.
"I've been there to watch the Wildcats and stuff like that, but have never actually been on the court itself so it will be an interesting experience. It's just very exciting that we even get the opportunity to play on that court."
Thrilling preliminary final win
While Rockingham did start the regular season in dominant form winning the opening 13 games, the Flames then lost a couple before four huge wins to close the campaign either side of a thrilling one-point win over Grand Final opponents Cockburn.
Rockingham then had to dig deep to overcome both Perry Lakes and Lakeside in two hotly contested finals match ups to lock away a Grand Final spot.
Gandini feels the preparation will have them ready for what's to come against the Cougars.
"We always knew Lakeside were going to be a really tough match up for us because they match up pretty well against us so knocking that one off was almost a bit of relief on Saturday," Gandini said.
"Now it's exciting to say that we're playing in the first Grand Final at RAC and just being in Grand Final week and everything that goes with that is always exciting.
"But that game definitely had so many different emotions throughout it, and there were times where I started looking too far ahead and planning what my week would be like if we lost.
"It was like a rollercoaster that's for sure and honestly the game could have gone either way, but it was such a relief to secure the win in the end."
Feeling within this Flames group
While there are some superstar players within the Rockingham team including two-time MVP Alex Sharp and either current or former WNBL players including Gandini, Robbi Ryan, Nes'eya Parker-Williams, Shani Amos and Georgia Pineau, their chemistry is impressive.
Marcus Wong is also a well experienced coach combining coaching in the NBL1 with being a WNBL assistant at the Townsville Fire, and Gandini can't fault whatsoever how well it's all come together.
"Marcus did a really good job obviously of recruiting good players, but everyone he recruited are also good people and everyone on the team gets along, and are on the same page," Gandini said.
"There's no drama involved and we definitely have had different people stepping up, and we don't have egos getting involved. We also have good experience between me, Shani and JJ, and we've been able to manage the season pretty well.
"We did have a bit of a rough patch there for a while but we got everyone through that and now we're feeling good heading into the Grand Final."
How everyone came together
What is a big factor according to Gandini as to why this Rockingham team has such great chemistry despite being such a new group together is the way they are all connected in some away, and that they all wanted to play together.
Gandini and Ryan obviously wanted to play together when they returned to WA from Sweden, and then Gandini wanted to team up again with former Willetton teammates Doran and Sharp. And in turn, Sharp and Doran wanted to keep playing with Jess Jakens from 2023.
Then there was Ryan who wanted to team up again with her former Wolves coach Wong and teammates there Parker-Williams and Amos.
All in all, everyone was connected in one way or another and were excited by the prospect of coming together one team to try and get to where they are now, which is a Grand Final.
"It's interesting how it worked because I've known JJ since I was 12 but hadn’t actually played with her at this level. I had played with Dora, Sharpey and Robbi, and then Nes'eya, Robbi and Shani had all played together," Gandini said.
"Then obviously I have played against Shani for a lot of my career as well so it just worked out well. To be fair, Marcus didn’t have to so much actively recruit us because a lot of us contacted him because we all wanted to play together.
"That was our biggest thing and then it just all worked out really well that we were able to join the one team. It's just a great bunch of girls to be part of and with our younger girls as well, we focused on helping them develop and making sure they are still involved and part of it too.
"We genuinely care about their development and have kept them included, and have never just wanted to come in and take over their club."
Decision to start fresh at the Flames
The chance to play with familiar faces was a big reason why Gandini did decide to join Rockingham as she returned home this year rather than go back to Willetton.
She'll always cherish those memories at Willetton where she played 201 games up to the end of 2022 and won those two championships, but it just made so much sense in so many ways to go to the Flames.
Firstly it offered her the chance to play alongside Ryan and not against her, but then to team up again with Doran and Sharp was a key factor, as was the opportunity to call Parker-Williams, Opal Mader, Amos and Jakens teammates for the first time.
"Obviously I went to the Gold Coast last season so I just wanted to come back to play with friends, and really enjoy my basketball," Gandini said.
"So when Dora and Sharpey mentioned they were thinking of going to Rocko, I thought I might as well join the bandwagon.
"It was really hard not coming back to Willo because they have been such a big part of my career, and I had known Marcus through Robbi as well and I got to know him so it wasn’t like I was playing under a coach I didn’t know.
"It just sort of worked out really well that he was happy to sign me, Dora and Sharpey, and he'd already planned to see if some of those Wolves girls wanted to come with him.
"I haven’t played with any of them, but have played against Nes'eya, JJ, Shani and even Opal (Mader) so we all sort of knew each other already."
Calling long-time rivals teammates now
Across her 201 games up to the end of 2022 at Willetton, Gandini had spent her career directly going up against Amos at the Joondalup Wolves with the pair the point guard, defensive menaces and the main playmakers for their respective teams.
There naturally was that respect there too so Gandini was excited to call her a teammate for the first time in 2024 along with Jakens who had played over 200 games at the Perth Redbacks up to the end of 2022 before a season with Willetton and now coming to Rockingham.
"It's been amazing to call her a teammate now. She's honestly one of the nicest people but also so knowledgeable on the basketball court," she said.
"As a point guard, she can just read the game so well so it's been amazing to get under her wing a little bit and get some of her point guard inspiration, and learn a lot from her. It's much better playing with her than against her that's for sure."
Rollercoaster ride the last two years
Gandini's last season at Willetton in 2022 saw her part of another Grand Final team that just came up short to the Warwick Senators before she had a season in the WNBL with the Lynx.
Directly from that she went to the Seahawks for a first season in the NBL1 North to experience something new, and she did have her moments there with some standout performances.
However, she was also still continuing to work remotely and found that the hectic schedule she was trying to keep ending up catching up with her.
"When I was at Lynx I was still working at an accounting firm as a bookkeeper," she said.
"It was pretty hectic to be honest because we would train during the day at Lynx and I had to fit that in with working there in West Perth, but my company at that stage were really supportive and good with that.
"They also actually allowed me to work remotely from the Gold Coast last year, which was amazing, but towards the end of that season I was starting to get a bit burnt out and rundown because I'd been trying to do too much.
"I ended up with glandular fever, which wasn’t ideal, and to be honest by the end of that season I just felt like I needed a break and I learned that trying to juggle everything at once isn't always the best thing."
That meant that doing something different and spending some time away from playing basketball on a weekly basis and trying to train, recover, prepare and continue working all at the same time was what the doctor ordered.
Initially she planned on working while in Sweden where Ryan would be playing, but in the end the way it all panned out allowed her to return home for this season with Rockingham with her batteries recharged.
"After Gold Coast, I went to Sweden for six months to be there while she was playing her season. So I had quit my job before that and I was planning on finding work in Sweden, but my visa didn’t come through in time so I couldn’t work," Gandini said.
"I ended up just walking dogs and I did end up being able to train with Robbi's team which was a cool experience for me. Also having that six months off over there really gave me that love back for basketball and I think I needed that break.
"It turned out to be the best thing for me at that stage and then I came back home in March with a lot more passion and love for the game again, and now I'm looking forward to heading over to play in the UK once this season is done."
