Spotlight | Ultimate team man 'Boof' wants to do it for Rockingham

It wouldn’t have felt right for the Rockingham Flames to reach the NBL1 West Grand Final without their inspirational captain Ryan Godfrey and while history tells us fairytales are possible, the last thing the ultimate team man is thinking of is personal glory.

If anyone lives and breathes Rockingham Basketball, it's captain Ryan Godfrey who is now preparing to make history this Saturday night by leading the Flames into a first ever Men's Grand Final up against the Perry Lakes Hawks at Bendat Basketball Centre.

Not only has Godfrey been a star in the Rockingham SBL/West Coast Classic/NBL1 West teams ever since he made his debut in 2007 and before, during and after attending University of West Georgia, but he grew up in Rockingham, went to his first Flames camp at four years of age and it's where his basketball heart and soul is.

It's simply not possible for anyone to have given more of themselves to a basketball club than what Godfrey has given to the Flames across his remarkable 272-game career as he now prepares for Saturday night's historic occasion.

Given Godfrey is the heart and soul of the Flames, it would be a fairytale story should he be able to lead Rockingham to the championship to catch up to what their women have done, and if recent history tells us anything, it's that such stories are possible.

Look at last year and Mike and Cody Ellis achieved that with the Warwick Senators, Aaron Ralph and Mat Wundenberg did with the Geraldton Buccaneers in 2019, Ben Purser did as Grand Final MVP at the Perry Lakes Hawks, Joel Wagner did with the Perth Redbacks 2017 and even Rhett Della got the most incredible reward in 2016 at the Cockburn Cougars.

While that fairytale story for Godfrey might be something for others to think about this week, it's the furthest thing from his mind.

"Not for me personally, I haven’t thought about what winning would mean for me specifically and nor do I allow myself to think about what others think of that particular situation either," Godfrey said.

"But for me it's certainly just about being present in the moment and going out there and competing, and giving our team the best opportunity to be victorious at the end. then what comes after that, comes after that. 

"Obviously now for the last four or five years we aspire to win championships since Warren has become president of our club, and that's no different to this situation. 

"It's nice to win and get to the Grand Final, but we have to focus on being in the present and aspiring to win, but making sure we do all the right things to give us the best chance of actually achieving that. 

"We can't get too far ahead of ourselves because we have 40 important minutes to play on Saturday and that is what our focus has to remain solely on."

What stands out to Godfrey more than anything when he thinks about being part of a Grand Final with Rockingham is because of what it means to so many people that have been involved in the club in its history.

In terms of past players, he'll be going out to play for the likes of Travis Moore (463 games), Jarryd Griffin (333), Peter Moore (251), Darren Russell (231), Luke Roberts (185), Andrew Bowman (176), Ryan Jeffrey (147), Dave Hartnett (143), Matt Park (131), Aaron Colley (125), Matt Honey (123), Trent Gerovich (114), Cooper Land (106), Todd Bucktin (106), Carlin Hughes (106) as much as himself on Saturday night.

There's also the late, great Anthony Exeter (229) on everyone's mind but it's not just the players, it's the coaches, the volunteers, the support staff and everyone in between that Godfrey is so happy for that they get to see their club in a men's Grand Final for the first time.

"I haven’t had too much time to reflect this week but I guess it has been in the pipe works for a few years now," he said.

"We have had moments where we've been pretty close and a couple of things haven’t quite gone our way, but i think about the 27 years that we haven’t made and there's a lot of people who have played for the club, volunteered for the club and to now be part of the first men's team to get to a Grand Final is something really special. 

"I feel like it's a representation of all those people who have played a part in creating the Rockingham Flames to being the club that it is today. We are essentially trying to do it for the club, the community and all those individuals. It's a massive thing and I can't wait to represent the club on Grand Final night and see what we can do."

Looking back to last weekend and the Flames had to bounce back from losing the qualifying final to the Perry Lakes Hawks just to get to the Grand Final by winning twice.

They made a statement with a big win at home over the Mandurah Magic on Friday and then overcame the Lakeside Lightning on Saturday at Lakeside Recreation Centre to book their place in history.

There might not have been a lot of Rockingham fans in the venue, but they sure made their presence felt and then to see what it meant to them all post-game just meant the world to Godfrey.

"We probably only had 40 or 50 people out of that whole entire stadium that were Rockingham, but you could hear them like there were 2000 Rockingham supporters there so it was fantastic," Godfrey said.

"We then obviously had our chat post-game and you bring up some of the history and what it means to reach a Grand Final. Then to walk back out of the rooms and I don’t think any of the Rockingham people there to support us had actually left. 

"I'm normally the last one out of the changerooms too but to then go out and see all those people out there, and to see the excitement in their faces and to see the tears and emotion too for what we've achieved, that's when it really sunk in. 

"You can see how much it means and it was just a fantastic experience and a fantastic thing to be a part of not only for us current players, but also for all those people that our success means so much to. I don’t know if words can even describe that type of feeling."

There's no question Godfrey could have gone and played elsewhere than Rockingham especially when he returned from college. 

He could have played somewhere else to try and chase his dream of playing professionally or for some more instant success, but the loyalty to the Flames meant it was never really an option. 

He will never forget it was Mark Utley who gave him the start to his career but also Ryan Petrik was his assistant then, and it means the world to Godfrey now that his head coach for the Grand Final is Petrik – the same man who took the women's team to history too.

"I'm a very loyal person and at the start of the juniors, I think back to when I was four or five and I went to my first Flames camp and the first guy I met there was an American import at the time, Peter Stewart," Godfrey said.

"From there, I could never see myself going anywhere else and the coaches I've had along the way have just been absolutely fantastic and it started with the first chance given to me before I went to college with Mark Utley and Ryan Petrik. 

"It's amazing and just so special that the journey has come full circle now and Ryan is the coach and I'm the captain of a team that has got to the Grand Final. 

"I feel like I'm indebted to the club so much and to so many people, and if I think back to when I came back from college, playing professionally didn’t quite work out for me, but the Rockingham Flames were always there for me and were supportive of whatever I wanted to do. 

"Having grown up at the club, being a loyal person and trying to aim to put the club in a position that we've never been in before all meant that I just wouldn’t ever play anywhere else. I wanted to make sure I gave back to the club and gave them the best of my abilities for as long as I can."

There were times that the Flames were threatening some success including the peak years under Mark Utley with Taylor and Cooper Land on board, but something just wasn’t quite clicking in terms of the entire club until Warren Boucaut took over as president.

The women had achieved success, but the entire organisation needed an overhaul and that has happened in remarkable fashion in recent years with the Flames becoming one of the best run, and most successful overall clubs in the state.

The last piece of the puzzle was success for their senior men's team and that started to turn with the recruitment of four-time Perth Wildcats NBL champion Greg Hire back in 2018. 

They were one game within the Grand Final that season on the back of his arrival and some other astute recruiting including Kevin White. But when Petrik wanted to come across to coach the men, it was the last piece of this puzzle to get to a Grand Final that Godfrey is so proud to be part of.

"Even the other guys who have come in, they've come from similar backgrounds to us as well and the Rockingham way is that we know nothing will ever be given to us, and we have to work for everything we've got," Godfrey said.

"That's on the basketball court but those things happen outside of basketball as well and flow into our lives, and that's why we have got such a bond together. 

"I know that Greg and Robbo talked about helping to change the culture of the club when they arrived a few years back, but for Rockingham players to be able to look up and see that we can now provide a genuine pathway because of all the younger kids that are on our roster right now from the WABL. 

"So we have that clear that pathway for all the kids in Rockingham can aspire to be in this position and to end up playing with guys who have won NBL championship or play basketball for a living and have been all round the world, there's so much to learn. 

"That's for our current group but also our younger generation that can be inspired and also they can see the opportunity and pathway for them to be part of something like this in the future. 

"That's where the whole thing becomes bigger than just the basketball and it's fantastic to be part of a club that has such an impact on the community. We all come from similar places and the Rockingham way brings together such a great group of guys, and all we want to do is be there for one another on and off the basketball court."

If the Flames are to make their first Grand Final, then why not have to come up against the team who has been the standouts of 2021, the Perry Lakes Hawks. 

That's the same Hawks team that broke the Flames hearts in 2018 and 2019 as well in two of the best three-game series' you are likely to see, and Godfrey is glad to know that if Rockingham are to be champions, they will have beaten the best.

"They definitely have been the class act for this entire season and if you are going to win, you want to beat the best team to do that regardless of what they think of us," Godfrey said.

"There's a reason why they finished on top and you think back to the previous years with the couple of series that we lost to them in, and they were some fantastic games. 

"They were real gritty playoff games that we were be part off and unfortunately we finished up on the other end of the stick though. It certainly is nice to be playing the top team and that we get a crack at them in the Grand Final. 

"We are 1-1 this season so if you bring it down to Game 3 and it's the most important one. It's more exciting right now than anything."