Images courtesy of Sports Imagery
Marcus Wong wanted his Rockingham Flames of 2024 to be known for their defence and ultimately that is what led them to the NBL1 West championship, but it's the closeness of the group that in the end is what he felt was even more important.
Wong took over as coach at Rockingham for the 2024 season after two years of knocking on the door at the Joondalup Wolves alongside continuing his work in the WNBL at the Townsville Fire having previously honed his craft in Adelaide including time at the Lightning.
He was able to pull together a strong roster including previous championship winners Alex Sharp, Emma Gandini and Sophie Doran, veterans Jess Jakens and Georgia Pineau, and then players he coached at the Wolves Shani Amos, Nes'eya Parker-Williams and Robbi Ryan.
Having quality players is one thing, but only high-quality and switched on coaches are then able to turn that into a championship winning team and that's exactly what Wong was able to do on Saturday evening at RAC Arena.
Championships are never meant to be easy but Rockingham went on a 21-2 run in the last five minutes of the Grand Final to overrun the Cockburn Cougars to bring the NBL1 West women's championship back to Rockingham.
What it means to you personally
Whether it's tall poppy syndrome or whatever it is, but Wong has done his best to block out the outside noise that has come his team's way throughout the 2024 season although at the same it can be tough to ignore all of it.
What has comforted him is knowing that the team he was coaching had great chemistry and had all come together to play with one another for the right reasons, and that the development of the junior talent at Rockingham was always a key focus of the association.
Still, to come out and win a championship is satisfying on a number of fronts, but more than anything he is just happy for the playing group to get to enjoy that experience of the ultimate high together and on the big stage of RAC Arena.
"I'm just really happy for all of the girls within the group, that's where my enjoyment from it comes from," Wong said.
"As much as we try to block out all that external noise, it has been that year where we have felt like we've been unfairly criticised a lot as a group.
"So I think the championship for us was reward for what we know we are doing internally at the club, and a reward for the positive feedback we've been getting through the club.
"For us to get that reward, winning a championship is always amazing and they are very hard to come by, and I'm just really happy for the whole group.
"To have what people have been thinking about us externally this year meant that this was a good end to the season to show that we are doing a lot of positive things."
Reflecting on Grand Final game
Looking back on Saturday's Grand Final at RAC Arena against the Cougars and there were times when Wong naturally had some nervous moments especially when falling down double figures against the defending champions having given up 29 first quarter points.
Cockburn were still leading 79-76 with five minutes of the Grand Final to play, but what the Flames did from there was remarkable including scoring 19 consecutive points.
However, what was most pleasing for Wong was holding Cockburn to two points in that five minutes because he's wanted his team to be a standout defensive team all season long.
"I think full credit has to go to the girls. We spoke about the fact that some tough games along the way will help get us over the line and I think that definitely came through," Wong said.
"Everything we've done through the year and the situations, training and the culture that we've built, all of that comes into play in big moments. From a coaching point of view, we didn’t change a lot in those five minutes.
"We changed one thing really and it was to the girls' credit that they managed to lock in defensively for five minutes and hold Cockburn to two points. That was really the difference in the end.
"We said throughout the whole year and through that game that defence would be the difference, and we locked in really well for that five minutes and executed our defensive game plan better than the rest of the game."
Building a team to be strong defensively
Wong always had faith that the Rockingham defence would end up coming to the fore when it mattered although conceding 29 points in the first quarter to Cockburn and with Alex Ciabattoni on fire did cause some concerns.
However, he had confidence in what the Flames could do with the fight they had shown in the preliminary final to pull one out of the fire against the Lakeside Lightning and then their last five minutes of the Grand Final was outstanding.
"We sort of said that all game that as soon as we could get the defensive end right then we'd be alright," Wong said.
"We thought our first quarter defence was pretty poor and we gave up 29 points, but then we only gave up 50 really for the rest of the game.
"It kind of showed that we clicked a bit better, we got out of that first quarter and were much better defensively after that. We managed to get back into the game, kept it tight and then were able to lock them down for five minutes.
"We knew it would always come down to defence and us wearing teams down, and championships always take a bit of luck and I think we got that going our way too in that last five minutes.
"They also missed some shots that on other days they would make but the pressure we faced after being pretty much being down and out against Lakeside but fighting back was important for us.
"It's those little bits about your culture that come from going through fighting through those things and I think that fight, and sticking together was a big part of what our team has built."
Bigs all combining to stand tall
While Ciabattoni did get more off the chain in the Grand Final for Cockburn than Wong would have liked with 30 points, what he was impressed with was the way Nes'eya Parker-Williams, Georgia Pineau and Jess Jakens combined to make life tough for Daniel Raber and force her to shoot 4/17.
"We knew that Raber had been a really big influence for them over the back end of the season in particular and we identified that she provided quite a lot of their energy along with Chibba," Wong said.
"We had a big focus on trying to limit her and I think all of our bigs did a great job with that. It's tough for her when we were rotating three decent defenders onto her throughout the whole game, but I think we did a really good job defensively with Jjay, Nes'eya and Georgia. We had identified how big of a factor she was and we were happy with the job we did."
Parker-Williams continues to thrive
Speaking of Parker-Williams, the Grand Final performance that saw her deliver 18 points and 12 rebounds was a culmination of what could well be the best season of her 139-game career in the league.
While she was unlucky to miss a spot in an All-NBL1 West team, Wong knows what matters most is winning that championship at the end of the day.
"Nes'eya has had a great season and the team has never focused on any individual rewards or anything, the only big issue for us was the discussion about the criticism we kept on facing," Wong said.
"So I don’t think she's too worried about the individual rewards either and she's just happy to get to walk away with the championship at the end of the season. You look at the game and we had five players scoring in double-figures and we had such strong contributions right across the board.
"Shani in her 11 minutes came in and made a huge impact, I thought Opal and Dora had some really good minutes as well, and then Jjay was our top-scorer off the bench. So our whole contributions from everybody that hit the floor was significant in us getting that win."
Breakthrough championship for Jakens
Then there is Jess Jakens. She had grown up at the Perth Redbacks, became captain of the club and dedicated her life to it for 233 games before making the big decision to move on at the end of 2022.
She then got her first taste of a Grand Final in 2023 at Willetton and now is a championship winner with Rockingham in 2024, and not only that she was outstanding on Saturday with 21 points in her 23 minutes of court time.
"It is a great story and I'm really, really happy for her. It's one of the really good stories to come out of the Grand Final for us and for her to have played so many games to now win a championship I know it means a lot to her," Wong added.
"I'm just happy that we were able to be a part of that with her and she's got to do it with a lot of her good friends. It's something she will remember forever and we're really happy that she's now got at least one before she stops playing, whenever that is."
Focus now on National Finals
After putting so much effort, energy and focus into winning the NBL1 West championship, a few days of celebration and enjoying that, all of a sudden Wong and the Flames will be jumping on a plane to the Sunshine Coast for the National Finals.
Rockingham will be up first on Friday afternoon against the defending champion Bendigo Braves and even without championship captain and Grand Final MVP Alex Sharp, Wong expects the Flames to perform well.
"It can be a tough one because all of your mental approach and focus is on getting that NBL1 West championship, and then to get that game done, after all of that you do feel some relief that you won and are wanting a bit of time to enjoy it," Wong said.
"Then to turn our focus on the next task less than a week later can be tough, but we are going over there focused on performing well. We'll be without Sharpey, but this season we've shown that we can play and win games without her."
Preparing to play at the National Finals is a little more challenging than the usual NBL1 West game, but Wong will just be keen to let his team enjoy themselves first up against Bendigo and then knowing they are playing for a spot in the championship game on Saturday.
"We go in ranked No. 1 so that means we get through to the semis regardless of our first result with the way the system works, I think that's how it is set up, so we'll have a chance to play a game that could get us through to another Grand Final over there," he added.
"But you're playing all the best teams around Australia so you understand that it will be tough and you won't get any easy games.
"We won't even know who we're playing on Saturday until Friday night so with short turnaround times and the preparation, you won't have your usual scout and it's going to be a bit different to usual."
What Wong is also happy about for him team is that the trip to the Sunshine Coast gives the Flames team the chance to enjoy one more weekend together.
"It's also a time that the girls can go away together and enjoy this last weekend together because after this everyone will be going their own way for a while," Wong said.
"It's more so a reward for them to get to enjoy a weekend together, spend some time and play these last two or three games. Obviously we also go in trying to win and put our best foot forward."
