Eagles Elimination Finals Preview | Women v Magic, Men v Wolves

Image credit: Mark Filpo (@codexdesignstudio)

The East Perth Eagles are one of just five NBL1 West clubs to have both teams qualify for finals in 2025 with the women to now take on the Mandurah Magic and the men facing the Joondalup Wolves in road elimination finals.

Both East Perth teams finished the regular season in eighth position in the NBL1 West standings meaning they are on the road in elimination finals on Saturday evening, and they couldn’t be further apart aside from if they headed to a regional venue.

The women will be playing the Mandurah Magic at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre from 5pm before the men's clash tips off at 7:30pm at Arena Joondalup with the Eagles taking on the Joondalup Wolves.

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WOMEN

The Eagles women started off the season on fire to set themselves to return to finals in 2025 and now they have a chance to make it to second week when taking on the Magic in Mandurah on Saturday evening.

It has been a season of great change for the East Perth women in 2025 starting with former club president Tim Symons stepping into the role coach and then making some high-calibre signings.

That included two-time WNBL champion Abby Cubillo as point guard, former WNBA champion Sasha Goodlett as centre, and the addition of tenacious Kiwi Awatea Leach with that trio all coming to play in the NBL1 West for the first time.

Madi Torresin also returned as an import forward with the retention of leaders Tessa Morrison and Taylor Roberts, and on the back of that the Eagles started the season on fire.

East Perth opened up the season winning their first four matches and six of the first seven with that start ultimately setting them up for the eventual playoff position as things became a bit trickier through the second half of the season.

An on-going back injury to Torresin that she has done her best to play through, the recruitment of Emma Clarke not paying off and then some inconsistent form saw the Eagles finish the regular season with a 10-10 record.

It was still enough to secure a playoff berth, though, with the eighth placed finish in the standings to now set up an elimination final clash with Mandurah who only finished one game ahead at 11-9 but ended up in fifth place.

The winner of the elimination final will advance to a semi-final against the Perth Redbacks who lost a thrilling qualifying final on Friday night on the road to the Warwick Senators while the season will be over for the loser.

The two teams did play one another twice during the regular season but both of those were inside the opening six weeks and plenty of things have changed since.

The first meeting was in Mandurah back on April 12 where the Eagles scored the 87-79 with the return encounter taking place on May 17 at Morley Sport and Recreation with East Perth also claiming the 103-96 victory.

The Eagles will now be attempting to make it three wins against the Magic for 2025 and to keep their season alive in the clash at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre on Saturday night.

East Perth gun point guard Abby Cubillo was named to the All-Second Team last Saturday night and now can't wait for the clash with the Magic to try and extend the season for the Eagles.

"Mandurah are definitely a team that has gotten better throughout the season," Cubillo said.

"Having versed them twice already, we are pretty familiar with how they play. Despite the long drive, I think we are all excited for the game on Saturday and it’s going to come down to who wants it more."

MEN

The Eagles men have locked away finals appearances in consecutive years and now will be looking to advance to next week with the elimination final match up on the road to the Joondalup Wolves.

After East Perth's men returned to the finals last year for the first time since the championship triumph of 2014, they have ended up back there again in 2025 but it wasn’t an easy ride along the way.

The Eagles started the season losing four of the first five matches with captain Taylor Young suffering a hamstring injury during the third game and not ending up returning to East Perth again in 2025.

The Eagles did start to build some momentum with Jonah Antonio coming into the line-up and they won four of six matches including becoming the only team to beat the Buccaneers in Geraldton in 2025, and the only team aside from the Buccs to beat the Senators at Warwick Stadium.

But the second half of the season turned out to be quite the rollercoaster ride but in the end late wins over the Kalamunda Eastern Suns and Perry Lakes Hawks were enough to lock in the playoff spot.

The Eagles finished the regular season with a 9-13 record to be in eighth position and to now book in an elimination final battle with the fifth placed Wolves at Arena Joondalup on Saturday night.

The two teams did play one another twice this season with the first encounter back on April 26 at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre where it was an overtime thriller which ended up seeing the Wolves beating the Eagles 108-98.

The return encounter at Arena Joondalup was only last Friday night with the Wolves winning again in a tight contest 86-79.

As it turns out, that was a dress rehearsal now for the elimination final with the Wolves sitting fifth going into that game and the Eagles eighth, and that's where they both remained by the end of the regular season setting up the cut-throat contest this Saturday night.

Eagles sharpshooter Max Rice is leading the scoring for East Perth this season at 19 points a game and in his first NBL1 season, can't wait to embrace the atmosphere of a packed Arena Joondalup against the Wolfpack on Saturday night.

"First of all, I thought the atmosphere was really cool and the way they run everything up there is very professional," Rice said.

"It's just a cool set up there and I'm happy that we get to go back there where there's going to be a good crowd there with good energy.

"It's what you want if you make the playoffs, you want to play in front of people and you want there to be energy in the arena and all those kind of things.

"We're all looking forward to it and we know it's going to be a battle no matter what. They're going to come with their best and we're going to come with ours, and everyone is looking forward to it. We definitely have a big opportunity in front of us come Saturday."