Eagles Rd 18 Preview | Away v Wolves, Home v Buccs

Image credit: Mark Filpo (@codexdesignstudio)

The East Perth Eagles women have the chance to go into the finals in winning momentum while the men can book their place there too in two crucial last round NBL1 West match ups.

It's the last round of the regular season in the NBL1 West and for both Eagles teams, that means an away trip to Arena Joondalup to take on the Joondalup Wolves on Friday night with the women's clash starting at 6:30pm and the men's to follow at 8:30pm.

That will be the last game for the women ahead of the finals while the men will back up on Saturday at 11am at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre to play host to the Geraldton Buccaneers.

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The Eagles women are already guaranteed of playing finals in 2025 but they can go into the playoffs in winning form and potentially higher than from eighth place with a win on Friday night.

East Perth head to Arena Joondalup on Friday to take on the Joondalup Wolves currently sitting in eighth position in the NBL1 west standings with a 10-9 record.

The Eagles will take on a Wolves team that can't make the finals and currently sit in ninth position where they will likely finish the regular season no matter the result on Friday, but who are in their best patch of form for the season.

That's good news for East Perth because it will be a good tune up contest ahead of the finals starting next weekend with Joondalup holding a 7-12 record but having won four of their past five matches including a one-point loss on the buzzer to Warwick last week thanks to Stacey Barr.

With East Perth currently sitting on a 10-9 record coming into the last round, there's still a chance to finish above the Willetton Tigers (11-8), Perry Lakes Hawks (10-9) and Mandurah Magic (10-9) depending on how the other results go.

Willetton are playing the South West Slammers but if they are once again without imposing centre Zitina Aokuso then they might not be guarantee of holding on their fifth position.

Perry Lakes are coming off an impressive win against East Perth last Saturday night and are taking on the Goldfields Giants on Saturday at 11am at Bendat Basketball Centre where they have a chance to secure a home final.

Then there's the Magic who are playing host to the Eastern Suns in Mandurah on Friday night where a win would keep them ahead of East Perth in the standings.

So there are plenty of reasons for the Eagles to want to finish the regular season on a winning note not only to take that momentum into the finals next week, but also to potentially finish higher up than their current eighth spot.

MEN

The Eagles men currently sit in eighth position after winning their past two matches but with two games to go in the last round there is still a lot to play out to see if they stay there or not.

East Perth returned to finals action last year for the first time since the championship winning season of 2014 and now the positive into the two games this weekend to finish the regular season is that destiny is in their own hands as to whether they make it back-to-back playoff appearances or not.

East Perth are just one of two teams with two games left in their season and the first encounter this weekend comes against the fifth placed Joondalup Wolves at Arena Joondalup on Friday night with tip-off set for 8:30pm.

It's then an almighty quick turnaround for the Eagles to host the Geraldton Buccaneers at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre starting at 11am on Saturday morning.

The only positive to take from such an early start and the 12-hour turnaround from the game on Friday night is the fact that the Buccs will be in the same situation having also played the Perth Redbacks at Belmont Oasis on Friday night.

So coming into the last round of the season and after the last two wins against the Kalamunda Eastern Suns and the Perry Lakes Hawks, East Perth are sitting in eighth position with a 9-11 record.

That has them just behind the Goldfields Giants (11-10) and Mandurah Magic (10-11) and ahead of the Eastern Suns (9-12) with those four teams still locked in the battle over the last three playoff positions.

A lot will be decided on Friday night with who ends up finishing where and then what the games on Saturday will mean.

With Mandurah playing Kalamunda, a win there for the Magic will guarantee their playoff position and make things difficult for the Suns who would then need East Perth to lose both games to be any chance of making it.

Should East Perth beat Joondalup on Friday night with the Wolves locked into fifth position no matter the result, and if Mandurah beats Kalamunda, then the Eagles will be guaranteed of playing finals no matter what happens on Saturday.

If the Eagles beat the Wolves and the Suns beat the Magic, then East Perth will have to beat Geraldton on Saturday to play finals.

If East Perth lose to Joondalup on Friday, then they will have to beat Geraldton on Saturday no matter who wins on Friday between the Magic and Suns.

There's plenty more scenarios too including if East Perth win both games they could finish as high as sixth to earn a home final if the Giants lose to Perry Lakes on Saturday at Bendat Basketball Centre.

If the Eagles lose both games, they are unlikely to make finals with the chances high that either Kalamunda or even potentially the Lakeside Lightning will replace them in eighth position.