Wagner to retire after career he never could have dreamed of

To be a championship winning captain, to be his club's games records holder, the league's all-time assists leader and to have played in the NBL is more than Joel Wagner could have ever dreamt to achieve in basketball when just one game for the Perth Redbacks would have fulfilled him.

Wagner grew up admiring the likes of Matthew Earp and Jamie Baker at the Perth Redbacks, and indeed even his future championship winning coach Nik Lackovic, and as a relatively small and modestly athletically gifted left-handed point guard, playing in the SBL seemed a faraway dream.

The competition might now be called the NBL1 West, but as he prepares to play his last ever home game on Saturday for the Redbacks at Belmont Oasis, he has a lot to reflect back on what he's achieved but right now the focus is on this weekend.

"I probably didn’t even dream a lot of things that people point out that I've ended up achieving," Wagner said.

"I think for me going to those SBL games as a youngster I always thought playing at that level was out of reach, so to get picked for 390-something games in the senior team for our club is pretty remarkable up to this point. It's strange to think that I've been picked that many times."

The ultimate team man as evidenced by the fact that amongst his array of accomplishments over his career that will end at least on 395 games, he's a championship winning captain at the Redbacks and the league's all-time assists leader, but is solely focused on the team despite the emotional retirement decision.

The Redbacks come into the last round of the 2022 NBL1 West season still a chance to reach the finals should they beat the Warwick Senators on the road on Friday and then the Giants at home on Saturday in what will be Wagner's last game at Belmont Oasis no matter what.

They also need some luck with the Kalamunda Eastern Suns to beat the Perry Lakes Hawks on Friday so it's a delicate balancing act this week for Wagner knowing his career could end Saturday if things don't fall the Redbacks' way.

"It is a tricky balance going into this weekend juggling the thoughts it might be the end but knowing we could still make the finals if things go our way," Wagner said.

"I think we'll know a lot after Friday night and we'll know if we're still a chance. We need to get a win and we need the stars to align for us around the league, but I spoke to some people at the club about what I should do knowing we're still trying to focus on playoffs. 

"Everyone I spoke to just said that I needed to let everyone know this would be my last home game no matter what and the club wanted to do it that way. I felt pretty comfortable announcing it to the group, but I did make it clear that we are trying to win two games this weekend most importantly."

The first box to tick for the Redbacks to keep their hopes of reaching the finals is to take care of business at Warwick Stadium against the Senators on Friday night.

It's a venue where the Redbacks won on their last visit to advance to the preliminary final last year and it's a venue that holds no fears for Wagner and his team despite their respect for the Senators, and memories of past battles especially with Mike Ellis and Nik Lackovic the respective coaches.

"Coming into Friday night, I know they are getting ready for finals too but they probably aren’t quite fighting for their lives like we are," Wagner said.

"We've had great battles with them over the years including three or four finals series and I think we've split them pretty evenly. They got us in 2018 and we got them back in an elimination game last year, and nobody will forget those clashes with Mike and Lacko. 

"I think we're up for it and we've played well in that building, I don’t know what it is about it, and I think we're definitely up for it and excited for the challenge."

No matter what happens on Friday night and whether the Redbacks are still a chance to reach the playoffs should they beat Goldfields on Saturday, it's going to be Wagner's last ever game at Belmont Oasis.

Just thinking about it gets the emotions flowing.

"It's going to be an emotional day for sure. Just thinking about the last time I'll get to play at Belmont in a Redbacks jersey because we know we won't get a home final is definitely very emotional," he said.

"There will be a lot of people there and I think my mindset will be determined on Friday night a little bit whether or not I can just enjoy Saturday or if we are still in the race for the playoffs. 

"We're going to try and win the game regardless but if we're playing for a playoff spot then I'm going to have the blinkers on and completely focused on the game."

Growing up with his heroes those who were running around in Redbacks jerseys, one of Wagner's great thrills was to call the likes of Matt Earp and Jamie Baker teammates early in his career.

In fact, the first of 2988 assists he has dished out in his career was to Baker on a back cut and along the way he's formed some lifelong bonds with teammates at the Redbacks.

He came through the ranks with Jarrad Prior and ended up sharing a development player spot on a championship team at the Perth Wildcats in 2010, and he had a long point guard-big man bond with Michael Vigor.

He would go on to share a championship when he was captain in 2017 of a team including Shawn Redhage, Lee Roberts, Kyle Bowen, Zac Gattorna, Marshall Nelson and Ben Smith, and since has played outstanding basketball alongside Tevin Jackson and Louis Timms, among others.

It's thinking of the memories of those teammates and others, and of the countless others he has a lifelong bond with at the Redbacks that has him emotional thinking of Saturday even though he's comfortable with the decision.

"I still feel a little bit weird putting myself alongside the likes of Matty Earp and Jamie Baker, those two in particular are the guys I looked up to and I just never imagined being anywhere close to their level," Wagner said.

"They've been super supportive and Jamie is going to be at the game on Saturday and the way he speaks about me really is among the most humbling things to happen to me. I think I'm pretty comfortable with it now, everyone's been pretty positive since hearing the news.

"I've been thinking about it this year quite a bit and a lot of reasons are pointing towards it being a good time to walk away. It's a tough one and I am sad, but I think it's the right time to step away. 

"I think I feel a bit relieved in a way that I'm getting to walk away on my terms. It's going to be awesome to be able to celebrate it with the club on Saturday and I do feel that sense of relief now that I've made the decision official."

The fact that relief is one of the emotions Wagner is feeling this week since making the decision to retire official is a sign it's likely the right one, but that doesn't mean it still wasn’t a hard call to make.

However, once he said the words out loud to wife Katie who he shares three young children with, he knew he was making the right decision.

"I said it to Katie first and we always joke around about me retiring, but I called her as soon as I made the decision and told her that same night that I'd tell the boys that I'm done," he said.

"She hasn’t been pushing me, but she's not unhappy about it and we've got three kids now and we've got a fair bit going on at home it's fair to say. So she was the first person I spoke to about it.

"Telling my teammates was tough but I kept it together and I kept it pretty short as I like to do. We're still trying to focus on getting two wins on the weekend so I was pretty clear on it being my last home game, but hopefully we have finals to play the week after. 

"The toughest part was probably just having the courage to say it to the first person I said it to and call some people from the club, and tell them I'm done and ready to call the quits."

You would never find a more humble basketballer than Wagner nor one more self-effacing, but you can't deny his competitive drive and remarkable professionalism either which is why he's been able to get the absolute most out of himself – and more than he ever imagined.

Right now, Wagner is the runaway leader in both games played at the Perth Redbacks with 393 while also likely has a lead in the league's all-time assists category that'll never be beaten with 2988 – an average of a simply phenomenal 7.6 a game.

He's also scored 4235 points in his career, collected 1512 rebounds, pulled off 490 steals and doing it while shooting 47.4 per cent from the field, 33.3 per cent from beyond the arc and 64.3 per cent from the foul line.

However, what caps it all was being the championship captain in 2017 and the whole package of what he's achieved is more than he could have ever imagined.

"It's wild to think that I've got some of those records and I do feel like a bit of an imposter at times because I just sort of go about my business and do my job to the best of my ability," he said.

"I think it will be hard to beat those records because we don't play 48-minute games anymore which I did for a lot of my career and we also play less games in a season now as well. It's still pretty strange to think about me having those records."

As a younger man, it was former Willetton Tigers, Goldfields Giants and Geraldton Buccaneers 367-game championship winning guard Shamus Ballantyne who Wagner first admired from an opposition team once he entered the league.

And it's been a remarkable era throughout his career where most clubs have had incredible warriors to commit to their clubs like Wagner has to the Redbacks including Mat Wundenberg and Aaron Ralph to Geraldton, Gavin Field to Cockburn, Seb Salinas to Joondalup, Ben Purser to Perry Lakes, and Jarrad Prue to Lakeside.

However, the two point guard rivals that standout to Wagner now are Rockingham's Ryan Godfrey and current Mandurah star Kyle Armour who's had previous stints at Willetton and Lakeside, and helped spark a championship with East Perth.

"When I was younger the person I looked up to the most from an opposition team was Shamus Ballantyne," Wagner reflected. 

"I watched him drag his Goldfields team over the line especially once in a Grand Final when he literally put his team on his shoulders in the fourth quarter and took them to a win. I admired the way that he played and carried himself. 

"Then over the years I've had some great battles with different point guards like Ryan Godfrey and Kyle Armour perhaps more than anybody. We are great mates off the floor but have always had great battles, and we're always chipping each other. Those are the two guys that first come to mind."

What Wagner has done in the SBL/NBL1 West with the Redbacks is more than enough to leave him content to reflect back on the rest of his life, but he'll always treasure the chance he had in the NBL.

It started with his hometown Wildcats and he was on the team in the 2009/10 championship before he received a call up to the Sydney Kings as an injury replacement throughout the 2010/11 season.

He will always be thankful to former Wildcats and Adelaide 36ers head coach Conner Henry who was then with the Kings at the time as an assistant for opening that door to live out a dream.

He made 15 appearances for the Kings and while he only took part in one win, he lived out a dream in the NBL by averaging over 11 minutes a game and showing he belonged out there as a professional basketballer.

"I'm extremely proud to be able to say I played in the NBL. I never really dreamt that I could play at that national level and I never thought about it too much because I felt it was so out of reach," Wagner said.

"So to find myself in Sydney at Darling Harbour in front of 8 or 9000 people was surreal. It was like an out of body experience that first game I played for the Kings and I'll never forget it, and it's something I'll always remember and cherish."

Everything Wagner has achieved in his basketball career is remarkable, but what makes it all the more special to him is that he now gets to share it with wife Katie and their three children.

"Building our family obviously means a lot. Katie has been an absolute rock throughout and she's been a bit of a basketball widow, as we say, for many years now," he said.

"I really am looking forward to being at home for every night of the week, having my weekends back and doing a bit of travel even with the kids on weekends, and starting to focus more on what they want to do instead of being selfish and doing what I want to do all the time."

For all of Wagner's adult life at least two nights a week and most of his weekends have been consumed by playing at the Redbacks. 

That's not to factor in his time in the NBL, individual work outs and shooting, extra training, gym and fitness work and everything else that goes into being the player he has been. 

He is quite excited for what might lie ahead in 2023 now, though, without those commitments.

"I've always enjoyed riding my bike so I'll probably do more of that, but more so it will be about being home for dinners every night of the week and not having that stress of the routine of a game day," he said. 

"Even if you're home, you're not completely present because you are focused on doing all the right things to get ready to play. I'm just looking forward to not having to be so stressed on game days and just enjoy weekends with my family."

It's hard to imagine a player who appears to be more naturally suited to coaching than Wagner either. That might indeed be in his future too, but at least not immediately.

"I love the thought of coaching in whatever capacity that might be, especially for the Redbacks, but I certainly think I'll at least be stepping away for a little while," Wagner said.

"It's more the time factor than anything, it's a lot of time to give up and it might be more time even than as a player. It becomes your whole life and I'm just not in that space right now."