The Willetton Tigers have been banging on the door of a men's Grand Final appearance for a decade and now coach Adam Nener can't wait for Saturday night having got there with two stunning wins over the past two NBL1 West champions.
If you go back to Alan Black returning to coach Willetton a decade ago, then his son Stephen taking over and now Nener having been in charge since 2021, and the Tigers have perennially put themselves in the mix to be a contender in the men's competition.
Things didn’t quite go to plan come finals time, though, and it was at the point where the monkey was growing on Nener's back after a qualifying final loss two weeks ago to the Joondalup Wolves and then falling 19 points down in the semi finals last Thursday at home to the Rockingham Flames.
The next seven quarters of basketball that Willetton delivered were nothing short of remarkable with Marshall Nelson putting up 48 points to beat Rockingham, and then to go 31 points up early in the second half on the road to the Geraldton Buccaneers on Saturday night.
Nobody knows better than Nener how tough winning in Geraldton is having never done it as a coach and only rarely doing it during his own 246-game playing career. To close the deal and earn a Grand Final spot with wins over Rockingham and Geraldton was a feeling hard to beat.
The reward for Nener and his Willetton team is to take on the Mandurah Magic in Saturday night's Grand Final at RAC Arena.
Getting to coach at RAC Arena
Nener had a 246-game playing career between Willetton and Cockburn, and his coaching journey started at the Cougars for three seasons and he is now in his fourth year back with the Tigers.
Along the way, he was part of history playing in Willetton's lone men's championship in 2010 which also happened to be the first Grand Final at Bendat Basketball Centre.
Now he can't wait to be part of more history at RAC Arena.
"It was only back on Tuesday that it really hit me that we had reached the Grand Final and I spoke to my partner about how surreal it was feeling," Nener said.
"There's naturally a bit of nerves and butterflies you get, but I've been to Wildcats games and all that kind of stuff, so to be able to walk onto that court and coach will be pretty exciting and something you'll remember for the rest of your life."
Remaining confident as a group
After starting the season winning 14 of the first 16 games, Willetton hit a rough patch to close the regular season losing five of the last six and then lost the qualifying final away to Joondalup by 18 points.
Despite that and even when 19 points down in the semi-final to Rockingham, Nener's faith in his group remained strong and he saw the same belief in the playing group. What they delivered was the most remarkable seven quarters of basketball to reach a Grand Final.
"We felt that going into that Joondalup game pretty confident but for whatever reason, we just laid an egg," Nener said.
"Even losing that game I knew we had made it hard for ourselves, but the grit, determination and character the boys showed came to fruition and now we're playing in a Grand Final on Saturday night and we're excited.
"I think it means everything to get to this point. It's a testament to all the past players, coaches, volunteers and administrators.
"We've only won one Grand Final in our club's history and played in a couple of others, but it's that building and momentum with all those things that add up to get to this point. Hopefully now we can get it done on Saturday night."
Last weekend's double to reach Grand Final
Speaking of that weekend, Nener just felt that everyone involved in the men's program at Willetton decided to take a stand and decide that what had happened to break their hearts in so many finals match ups over the last decade wasn’t about to happen again.
Sometimes it takes heroic individual performances and Marshall Nelson's 48 points against Rockingham was that. There were so many other players who had key roles to play too both in that win over the Flames and two nights later in Geraldton against the Buccs.
"It has been building for us for quite a while now and a lot of people before us have put in a lot of hard work, and it's a real testament to all those people but in those last two games, to get the monkey off the back is a great feeling," Nener said.
"I hadn’t won a final yet in the previous three years with Willetton and we had a few hurdles to get over in the back end of the season for whatever reason. But it turned out to be great for us to go through that and show some character, and the boys were always working hard at training.
"Our sessions were always good and I felt like it was a matter of time for us to breakthrough, and then Marshall having that amazing game against Rockingham obviously helped.
"You can't just place it all on one player, though, and everyone played their role to perfection and the belief was there. We're on a bit of a roll now and that belief from that Rockingham game certainly helped us going to Geraldton."
Beating last two champions to make it
It was only natural for Nener to have some nervous energy before last Thursday's semi-final against Rockingham considering his last two finals appearances coaching the Tigers had led to losing in straight sets.
Then to be 17 points down in the first quarter and with Devondrick Walker looming large, the Tigers needed something special and Marshall Nelson's 48 points was exactly that, but he couldn’t have done it without the whole team jumping on board too.
The next challenge was for Nener to then try and score a first win coaching in Geraldton. In seven games with Cockburn and Willetton, he had lost seven times in Geraldton by an average of 18 points including a heartbreaking one-point loss last year in the qualifying final.
Even as a player, wins were rare against the Buccs but there was just something about the belief Willetton had last weekend that they wouldn’t be denied.
"Every team has to deal with its challenges throughout the year and it's always tough to play against a team like Rockingham," Nener said.
"They are well coached, have great players and have been there for the majority of the last three or four years, and were NBL1 National champions.
"So to come from 17 points down to beat them was great, and then to go up to Geraldton where I've never won too many times as a player as a coach was incredible.
"We beat them back in 2010 on the way to making the Grand Final and we did beat them up there, but I can't remember too many other times beating them there.
"I've definitely never beaten them there since I've been coaching so that's pretty crazy when you think about it like that for us to do it to make a Grand Final."
Belief you get from winning in Geraldton
Not only did Willetton beat a Geraldton team who had finished the regular season four games clear in top spot and were the defending champions, but to beat them on their home floor gives Nener and his Tigers great belief of what they are capable of.
"It does give the boys a big sense of belief having done that and a part of that was jumping out of the blocks early on, and not getting too carried away and being able to build on that lead," he said.
"Then in that second quarter, we really opened up a big gap and were able to start the second half well when you knew they'd be throwing everything at us.
"(Johny) Narkle then obviously comes out and gives us 20-something points in that third quarter and he's an unbelievable talent, but we weathered that storm and here we are."
Reward for years of loyalty for Scott, Black
While the Tigers have done well to bring together a standout back court with Marshall Nelson and Michael Dupree this season and then having Deng Gak up front, the majority of the group have either been together for a long time or are Willetton products.
With a captain like Andrew Black and then Damien Scott having been at the Tigers since 2015 and Michael Vigor since 2021, and the young Tigers brigade and Nener is proud of the group he's reached a Grand Final with.
"Blacky has been phenomenal for Willetton and his role has changed a little bit over the last couple of years, but as a captain you can't ask for anything more from than guy," Nener said.
"He bleeds blue-and-white and he has been phenomenal for us. The same with Scotty and it means so much to guys like that, and Vigs has been with us for four years now as well and then you also have our junior guys.
"They've been coming through the ranks and they are part of it as well, and hopefully in years to come they are the ones to take over from guys like Blacky, Scotty and Vigs, and to keep passing on things at Willetton to the next generation as well."
Doing things the Willetton way
Whether it's the women's program at Willetton who have won nine championships and reached 15 Grand Finals, or men's team who might have just made a fourth decider with the lone title, the Tigers are always proud of doing things their way.
That has always had a philosophy of providing a clear pathway for what is one of the best breeding grounds of basketball talent in the country, and providing them with NBL1 opportunities while just recruiting to top up and not get in their way.
Nener played 178 of 246 games in his career at Willetton, was then an assistant coach before taking on the Cougars head coaching role in 2017, and now has been back at the Tigers since 2021, and is proud of the way the club goes about things.
"We are proud of the way we do things at Willetton and there are different ways of measuring success, and obviously winning championships is the ultimate goal," Nener said.
"But there's also more to it and you have to provide a platform for these junior players to play at, and develop them the right way.
"Coming in when I first started coaching at Willetton four years ago in the first year of NBL1, we had a goal as a club to maintain success and our goal was to make top four every year. We've now down that three out of the four years and that's a good thing.
"The club does a great job of providing support and we have Craig Friday there as coaching and talent manager and Mark Winnett is running the club, and Jackie Keepa does great things and it's an unreal environment. The club is excited now for Saturday night and so are our spectators, and we can't wait to get there."
