Stewart leads firing Giants back to Geraldton

Image credit: Travis Anderson | @andmediaphoto

Shaun Stewart will first see the NBL1 West championship banner he helped Geraldton Buccaneers win when he tries to end their season as part of a Goldfields Giants clicking at the right time of 2025.

Stewart is now in his fifth season in the league having previously spent two years with the Mandurah Magic and then two with the Buccaneers including playing a key role in their 2023 championship triumph.

The dynamic and creative point guard powered through the rest of that 2023 season to be instrumental in the title win, but his body was banged up and he had to sit out 2024 to try and get himself right to get back to his explosive best.

It's worked a treat with the 31-year-old joining the Giants in 2025 and having a tremendous season averaging 21.9 points, 6.6 rebounds and 5.7 assists a game while taking on the captaincy role with Goldfields.

He played a huge role then in the Giants beating his former team and the defending champion Magic at the redeveloped Niels Hansen Basketball Stadium last Saturday night in an elimination final where he had a triple-double made up of 17 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.

It's now only fitting that the Giants take on the Buccaneers in a semi-final this Friday night in Geraldton which will be the first time that Stewart has been back to Active West Stadium since helping them win the 2023 championship.

"It's definitely going to be different because I'm going to be on the opposite side of course and I haven’t even seen the banner yet so this will be the first time I've actually seen it," Stewart said.

"It will be something that I can take in for a couple of minutes and then I'll be right back into business, and will be trying to win for my team and do what I can to help my team get the win.

"So I can soak that in for a couple of minutes before the game and then get back to work."

GIANTS CLICKING WHEN IT MATTERS

With the addition of Stewart, Michael Jok and Joshua Duach to the Giants in 2025 and with All-First Team member De'Sean Parsons returning and a handy bench led by former captain Jerome Reid, the Giants appeared capable of good things in 2025.

Goldfields were coming off reaching the semi finals last year too before a loss in eventual champions Mandurah, but it was a rollercoaster ride along including losing six of seven games through the midpoint.

That included Stewart missing a couple of games with a hamstring injury with their depth tested, but they closed the regular season with three big wins to lock away the home elimination final.

Now with Parsons showing his dominance inside, Stewart running the point, Duach and Jok proving lethal shooters, and Reid finding some of the best shooting touch of his 231-game career, and Stewart is glad they are reaching the potential coach Lennon Smart saw in them.

"Coach Lennon has been talking about wanting us to peak when it matters the most which is the last part of the season, and towards the finals, and that's exactly what we've been doing," Stewart said.

"Our chemistry is really good right now and everyone knows what they are supposed to do for the team, and everyone is sacrificing for the team.

"Everybody is healthy now too and we went through so much throughout the season especially in the middle part with sickness and injuries and all these things.

"Now we're on the back end of it and everything is working out in our favour right when we need it to so it's been going really well the last few weeks now."

OVERCOMING MAGIC AFTER SLOW START

The elimination final last Saturday night was always going to be an eventful affair when the Giants hosted the Magic in a rematch from the semi finals last year, and with neither team willing to give up on their 2025 aspirations.

The Magic came out on fire and put up 33 points in the first quarter to open up a 19-point lead, but the Giants ended up working on top and went on their own 16-0 run in the second half to secure the eventual 109-95 victory.

Stewart always knew Mandurah would put up with a good fight, but he was proud of how his team responded and also the way the Kalgoorlie locals got into the contest.

"Mandurah came out very hot and they were shooting the ball really well in the first quarter, and we pretty much just had to lock in defensively and try to just take it possession by possession," Stewart said.

"We had to try and lockdown on Warden and Lachy Bertram, and that's how we tried to slow them down and in the end we were able to get on top and come away with the win.

"It got heated at times during the game too and our crowd and even our guy on the microphone really got into it.

"I enjoy that and I'm kinda used to it from when I was at Geraldton and it's something that I do like being part, and it brought back memories for me but in a bit of a different way in our big, new stadium.

"That brings a whole new atmosphere to the game when you can pack that stadium out."

WINNING HOME FINAL AT NEW STADIUM

The 2025 season will always be remembered for the opening of the brand new Niels Hansen Basketball Stadium in Kalgoorlie and it was only fitting it got to host a home final to finish the year at home for the Giants.

It was also the biggest and loudest crowd that has turned out to support the Giants for the season and Stewart loved being part of the atmosphere they created.

"It was a great atmosphere for sure," he said.

"The first few home games we had it wasn’t quite as much of a home advantage as it could be, but especially later in the season when we've started winning the community in Kalgoorlie has been coming out to the game.

"They've been helping us create that home court advantage and it was rocking last Saturday and everything. That's what we want and we need when we play at home so it was really good."

CHALLENGE OF RETURNING TO GERALDTON

Having had a hostile crowd support him and the Giants last Saturday night, Stewart is fully aware of how different that is going to be on Friday night in Geraldton in the cut-throat semi-final.

The winner will come to Perth to take on the Willetton Tigers in a preliminary final on Sunday while the season will be over for the loser, and Stewart is looking forward to the challenge.

"It's going to be very hostile and they will make sure they get behind their Buccs especially when they get on runs," Stewart said.

"We've gotta make sure we stay even keel and don’t get too high or low, and stay the course throughout the game.

"It's easy to get caught up in what's going on there with the fans and all those things, but really it's about us staying focused on our team and what we have to do to win the game. If we do that, I think we'll be fine."

GETTING BACK TO EXPLOSIVE BEST

While Stewart still made a strong contribution to Geraldton winning that 2023 championship, his body was banged up in the back end of that season.

It wasn’t an easy decision for someone who plays basketball for a living, but he knew the only way to get back to his strong and explosive best was to take a year off playing to get his body back to where he wanted it to be.

It's certainly worked with the way he has played at the Giants this season not only with the numbers he is producing, but his scoring, passing, rebounding, defending and all-round leadership has been clearly evident.

"I put a lot of time into getting my body right last year to get myself ready for this season because I want to be able to play at my best, and I'm doing that when I can use my athleticism, quickness and explosiveness," Stewart said.

"That's what has been going on throughout this season and even after I got hurt, I got right back healthy pretty quickly and for the back end of the season I have been feeling really well.

"I've been feeling like I am at my prime playing basketball-wise and it's been good to get back to that this season. I'm feeling the best I have in a long time now and it's good to be feeling like that at the end of the season."

FINDING HOME AWAY FROM HOME

Having grown up in Monroe, North Carolina, and then finishing his college career at Limestone College in South Carolina, Stewart started his professional career with that first stint in the then SBL competition with Mandurah.

He was back in 2019 with the Magic too and then played in Portugal before returning to the NBL1 West for the 2022 and 2023 seasons with the Buccs, and then when his body was right, there was no better place he could think of to return.

It all turned out that the destination turned out to be the Giants and whether it's in Kalgoorlie, Geraldton or Mandurah, Stewart has never felt more comfortable playing than what he's found in Western Australia.

"I love that Australians have such a stress free mindset and it's very calm, and sometime that's what I need," Stewart said.

"I love where I'm from back home, but sometimes we stress about everything way too much and there are times I just need that break from it.

"Of course I get to play the game I love on top of that, but it's just such a different atmosphere with life over here at times and that's the reason I love coming back to Australia.

"It's like a second home to me at this point with it being my fifth season and I know wo many people throughout the league.

"It seems like every time I go to a different stadium I bump into people I know and it really is like a second home to me now, and there are a lot of good people around all of Western Australia that I'm pretty close with."

NOT LOOKING PAST GETTING MARRIED

Stewart isn’t sure what is next in his basketball journey and while there certainly is every chance he returns to the NBL1 West and possibly the Giants, it's not a decision he makes until another significant life milestone.

Once Stewart gets back home to North Carolina, he will get married to long-time sweetheart Dee who has been with him all along this journey and come to Australia with him while he's been playing in Geraldton and now Kalgoorlie.

That's going to be his sole focus once this current Giants season is done and then as a family, they'll decide what comes next in his career.

"I don’t know what the future holds but once this season is done all our focus will be on our wedding," Stewart said.

"We're getting married in November and things can kinda change once you're married, and you have to start that new life. But she has been travelling with me too and she loves Australia also so you never know, we might end up coming back.

"I've been here five years now so I might want to keep coming back but it just all depends on how everything goes with my personal life after we are married."