Senators captain can't wait to lock horns with Wortho once more

While Warwick Senators captain Cody Ellis is happy with how his team is coming together for the upcoming NBL1 West season, he also can't wait to lock horns with an old rival with Mark Worthington's return with the Willetton Tigers.

The 2023 NBL1 West season is now less than two weeks away from beginning. For Ellis and his Senators their preparations are finishing up with the arrival of new import Hussayn Ford and with coach Luke Brennan not having the same interruptions he had in 2022.

Ellis is also fully fit and ready to lead his team into battle after a knee injury forced him to miss the back end of the 2022 season as he now focuses on trying to experience the same success he had with his dad, Mike, as coach when they won the West Coast Classic championship in 2020.

Warwick again made it to the preliminary final last year even with Ellis sidelined before losing to eventual National Champions the Rockingham Flames with the Senators loading up once again for another crack at the NBL1 West title.

However, there's also plenty of excitement ahead of the season beginning on Friday March 31 with what's happening across the rest of the competition.

That includes Devondrick Walker, Marshall Nelson and Tom Jervis being back with Rockingham, Brian Voelkel being among the new faces under Charles Nix at the Perth Redbacks, and the Joondalup Wolves adding Bryan Michaels to Jonathan Wade and CJ Turnage.

There's also the new imports Courtney Alexander II and Taj Benning joining the likes of Gavin Field at the Cockburn Cougars, Jerami Grace on board with Justin King and Lee Roberts at the East Perth Eagles, but then there's what is happening with the Willetton Tigers.

Willetton already made a significant move by adding Gorjok Gak for the 2023 season on the back of his impressive season at the Brisbane Bullets, when he was given enough time to show what he was capable of.

Now, the Tigers have made another significant move with the announcement that Australian basketball legend Mark Worthington will be playing in the league for the first time since 2008.

Following his 335-game NBL career ended, he did return home to Bunbury and coached the South West Slammers for two years before stepping down at the end of 2021, but that urge to play again at a high level was there.

The 39-year-old dual Olympian and NBL champion will now be part of a vaunted Willetton frontcourt alongside Gak and Michael Vigor under coach Adam Nener.

While that's going to give Ellis and his Senators a significant challenge to come up against, he's excited by it at the same time.

"They will be big, big and smart. Gorjok's going to be a monster in this league," Ellis said on Hoops Heaven's Basketball Hustle podcast.

"He really kind of found his own in the NBL and we saw him improve, improve and improve and then all of a sudden wasn’t playing. I'm not sure what went on there but I'm sure he'll come out and really start wanting to prove a point. Willo's going to be tough, really tough.

"I wasn’t shocked (about Worthington's comeback), but I was a little bit at the same time. I've had a couple of conversations with Wortho and played against him a couple of times in domestic and he's said that he feels really good and wants to get back into it. 

"I'm happy he's back into the league and to have a player of his calibre in the league is awesome. I think he'll do wonders for the Tigers and all the young boys because they still do have a fairly young squad there. 

"It's exciting and it's going to be really cool to play against him again. Neither of us can probably play 40 minutes against one another, but it's definitely going to be fun trying to play against him for as long as possible."

Closer to home and Ellis likes the squad that the Senators have put together for the 2023 season despite the losses of Kyle Zunic, Bryan Michaels and Majok Majok.

They have added new import Hussayn Ford who had a strong 2022 season with the Goldfields Giants while exiting young combo guard Ethan Elliott is back from the Centre of Excellence and another emerging guard Connor Mincherton is also on board after playing 59 games at Willetton.

"We're looking good. It's at that point now where pre-season is becoming that grind and we can't wait for that first game," Ellis said. 

"Everyone's starting to get on everyone's nerves at training and it gets that little bit more physical, which I think is really good. 

"We've started playing some scratch matches and it might not be great basketball, but it's always good to play against someone different and blow those cobwebs away a little bit. I think we're looking good."

Ellis saw what Ford was capable of when playing against him at Goldfields last season, but now can't wait to call him a teammate on the back of his 2022 campaign where he delivered 12.3 points and 9.6 rebounds a game.

"Hussayn Ford has now arrived so our import is here which is good to start introducing him to the stuff and get him up to speed," Ellis said. 

"I think he'll be a good addition for us. It makes a big difference with your import if he knows the league and I think that certainly has a hand in choosing them. 

"If they've been around the league and have been successful, I think that's huge because each league around the world is reffed so differently. 

"It plays such a big factor and for a high energy like Hussayn, to understand how the league is whistled I think is huge. I think he'll slot in perfectly for us and give us that extra little boost."

Ellis is also looking forward to a full season playing under coach Luke Brennan. He was appointed coach last year replacing Cody's father Mike but it was a little disjointed with the NBL season still going when the NBL1 West got underway and Brennan an assistant coach with the Perth Wildcats.

Further 'Cats commitments saw Brennan miss a host of games throughout the season and now he will be joined with two-time Joondalup Wolves coach Ben Ettridge as his assistant with the Senators this season.

Unfortunately for Brennan he has parted company with the Wildcats and while Ellis has no doubt another job in the NBL won't be far away for his coach, he can't wait to have him at the Senators for a full season.

"He knows his stuff. I really think that teams that are in need of an assistant or someone who be a video guy who knows the league, he would be one of the first guys you reach out to," Ellis added. 

"He understands the league, he's been in it for a while now and he's just a really smart basketball mind. It really does suck for Trig and feel for him, but I think he'll certainly find his feet somewhere else in the NBL. 

"He certainly knows his stuff and he's a hard worker on the video and all that sort of gear. From our point of view it's great because he's not going to miss a whole lot. I don't think he's even going to the MVP Ball so he'll be able to coach us in the first game. 

"We did miss him for a couple of weeks last year when he went to the Summer League midway through the season and the 'Cats were still playing when our season started. All that stuff now falls by the wayside so we'll have him for the season and that's all good."