Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard and Devondrick Walker are stars for the defending NBL1 National Champions Warwick Senators and Rockingham Flames, and would love nothing more than repeating the dose much closer to home in 2023.
The Senators won the women's National Championship last year and the Flames claimed the men's title, but they did it in Melbourne a week after winning their respective NBL1 West championships.
This time around, they have a chance to do it much closer to home to have their supporters, friends and family there to cheer them on following the announcement that the 2023 NBL1 National Finals will be held at HBF Arena Joondalup over the weekend from August 18-20.
As the defending champions, the Senators women and Flames men automatically qualify meaning that Warwick star forward Clinch Hoycard and reigning NBL1 West MVP Walker will be guaranteed of being there for the National Finals for 2023.
Those two teams will be joined by the highest finishing teams from the NBL1 West that isn’t Warwick's women or Rockingham's men this season along with the championship winners from the NBL1 North, NBL1 East, NBL1 South and NBL1 Central.
It's going to be a basketball spectacular coming to the redeveloped HBF Arena basketball stadium in Joondalup in the northern corridor of Perth.
For Walker, he led Rockingham to the breakthrough NBL1 West championship last year but then missed the National Finals in Melbourne due to being with the Brisbane Bullets who were playing their first pre-season NBL games that same weekend.
The fact the Flames won without him speaks volumes to what coach Ryan Petrik and the playing group had built.
But also when Walker had Bullets teammates Jason Cadee and Tanner Krebs (Gold Coast Rollers), and Harry Froling (Hobart Chargers) talking about how their teams would have gone with them available, he is looking forward to the teams being fully stocked this time around.
"I'm looking forward to it especially after all the talk from other teams saying they didn’t have their NBL players so it will be fun to compete against full squads this year and whoever is able to come over," Walker said.
"Last year I had teammates saying this and that about how they didn’t play and it might have been different if they did.
"Some of them would talk about it being like a LeBron Bubble championship and all of that type of talk so it will be fun to get these guys out here competing at full strength this year."
Meanwhile, Clinch Hoycard was there to play in the National Championship win for the Warwick Senators last year but would love the chance to repeat the dose in 2023 just 15 minutes down the road from Warwick Stadium.
"It was a little bit different winning the national one just because we didn’t have our fans and everyone there," Clinch Hoycard said.
"I think we had maybe five people in the crowd that were going for us so it really just us girls and coaching group getting together. It was still amazing but winning here in front of family and friends is the best feeling in the world.
"That's what is really exciting about coming back here is that we get to play in front of family and friends again. Not only them, but our fans and crowd. They are like a family to us and they come to all our home and away games so it's going to be really cool playing in front of them."
Looking back on what Rockingham achieved last year, Walker was proud to see that his team could back up their inaugural NBL1 West championship winning the national title a week later.
While he was proud of them, he did wish he was there and part of it, and hopes he can be this year for the weekend action in Joondalup.
"It just kind of goes to show how good the team actually was that we had and how great the coach and fan base, and everything is that we have in Rockingham," Walker said.
"Putting myself outside of it just goes to show the type of culture that we have and intensity that we do bring."
After things didn’t go to plan this past NBL season for Walker at the Bullets, he never hesitated to return to Rockingham and attempt to win back-to-back championships at the Flames.
They started the season on fire too and Walker would have to be leading the MVP race once again averaging 27.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists a game.
However, Rockingham did suffer a first loss since July 8 last year this past Saturday night when the Perth Redbacks stunned them 79-52.
That means Walker might not be as upbeat about this team right now as he would have been a week ago, but he rightfully still thinks they are well on track.
"I wanted to come back just because of that family atmosphere and the culture that we have at Rockingham, and the style of play that coach has us playing," Walker said.
"Then even just the city and just the combination everything outside of basketball mean this is a place I really want to be.
"If you'd asked me last week I would have had a way better response but we're a little bit shaky now after that loss. So we've got to tighten up but I'm kind of happy overall with where we're at right now but obviously we've got things to get better at."
For Clinch Hoycard, it was quite the hectic nine days last year from winning an NBL1 West championship on Friday night and then heading to Melbourne the following Friday morning to begin the National Finals.
While it was exhausting, to come away and be the first National Championship winners made it all worth it.
"It was really tiring to be completely honest. We flew out at 6am that morning and that played that night so the three days were a complete blur," Clinch Hoycard said.
"Our bodies were breaking down left, right and centre, but at the end of it, it was all worth it. As soon as we won and we got to hold the trophy, then you feel like you could go through it all over again if this is the reward. It was amazing to be part of."
The Senators went all the way to winning the National Championship having won 18 straight matches and were in dominant form, but it's been a bit of a rocky start to the 2023 season in the NBL1 West.
They lost their first two matches before winning four straight and then losing virtually on the buzzer last week thanks to Ash Isenbarger for the Perry Lakes Hawks.
Much of Warwick not quite hitting their straps is simply just down to personnel, but now that reigning MVP Stacey Barr is back, new import Karly Murphy is on deck and they still have Nat Burton, Nicole Jorre de St Jorre, Chloe Forster and company, Clinch Hoycard is confident of what they can do.
"We had a bit of a rough start but we are figuring things out and we've still got lots to learn," Clinch Hoycard added.
"But I'm looking forward to the rest of the season and we're obviously wanting to go back-to-back so we'll see what happens."
