Cal's mission to build up the Giants again

Cal Bruton's passion to take on a coaching job with the task of building a former power back into a force has never diminished and that's what excites him about taking over at the Goldfields Giants with a vision to leave them once again an NBL1 West powerhouse.

Bruton has lost count over the past 20 years of the coaching jobs around the country that he has put his hand up for, been excited about and not been given the opportunity.

Given his remarkable legacy and resume, he admits that it has hurt him that no one has been willing to back him in, but he has continued to make basketball his life based out of Canberra, has seen his children and now grandchildren thrive, and now is excited for the challenge in Kalgoorlie.

Bruton was a groundbreaker back in the 1980s when he first came to Australia and played a huge role turning the Perth Wildcats into the force they became, he became a megastar with the Brisbane Bullets and quite simply, was a huge reason the NBL became so popular.

As a player, he was a two-time All-First Team member, he starred in the 1985 championship with the Bullets and then was a championship coach back in Perth in 1990.

He would also go on to coach the Hobart Devils, Canberra Cannons and West Sydney Razorbacks, but the last of those head coaching roles was in 2007 but his coaching passion has never waned.

Now, Bruton has been appointed coach of the Giants for the next two seasons to mark his return to Western Australia where he has such a legacy with the Wildcats with the 72-year-old as passionate and energetic as ever with the job ahead.

How the Giants job came about

It all fell into place for Cal to take on the job with the Giants when the opportunity presented through his son Austin who has started working now as an agent.

He himself was a fine SBL/NBL1 West player amassing 373 games across the East Perth Eagles, Perth Redbacks, Cockburn Cougars, Lakeside Lightning, Kalamunda Eastern Suns, and then for his last seven seasons, the Warwick Senators up to the end of 2018.

Austin put his dad forward for the job with Goldfields and now the rest is history.

"It was a huge opportunity and my son Austin is involved with an agency now called Alliance Athletic Management, and they've allowed him to take over the basketball component of it," Bruton said.

"He called me up and said he wanted me to be his client so I was only too happy to be involved. He said he was reaching out to some people, some coaches and teams, and next thing you know, the Kalgoorlie opportunity came up.

"We were amongst 60 other applicants and they said I was the unanimous choice. Next thing you know, I'm packing bags."

Wanting another coaching chance

There's precious few NBL championship winning coaches and Coach of the Year award winners who are either willing or able to coach in the NBL1, which is both why Bruton is surprised he hasn’t had a chance previously but is now so excited to get to do it at the Giants.

While Cal never got the chance to coach sons Elliott, Austin and CJ as much as he would have liked, but now there's a chance to make up for that at least in the NBL1 with Dane along with some of his grandchildren which was a big reason he wanted to still give coaching one last crack.

"I have applied for that many jobs over the past 20 years, but I never got a look in other than I was assistant coach for the state under-20s one year to Jerry Lee and then I got a head coaching position for the girls last year," Bruton said.

"Other than that, I've been knocked back time after time so this opportunity to get back in and mainly because I wanted the chance to coach my sons originally, but now by grandkids too.

"We've been doing the local thing, coaching domestic and Division 1 in Canberra, but having the chance to coach them in NBL1, that was kind of exciting.

"We get a chance to have a clean slate and bring in who we want to bring in and build a program, which is something that I really enjoy doing having done it over a number of years previously."

Bruton family affair

It's no surprise that it's going to be a family affair from the Brutons as they look to build the men's program at the Giants back into being a force, and given the history and potential they all have in the game, it shouldn’t be any other way.

Obviously Cal will be the head coach, but Austin is going to be a key part of building the roster too while there will be at least one Bruton out on the court too with Cal's son Dante locked in to be the point guard.

There's a chance for CJ's sons Brooklyn and Rio to be on deck as well, at least in small stints, and CJ himself will be helping out his dad, brother and kids wherever he can too.

"My son Dante is looking at being our No. 1 choice and he's going to be the point guard, and we also have obviously Austin being involved but Brooklyn is overseas at the moment," Bruton said.

"He's playing in Macedonia, so he finishes up in April or May so we'll just see how that rolls out. I can't get my other grandson Rio to commit because he's going to university but I'll say if you're gonna play two games, let's establish the legacy and then he can sack his coach and take off.

"CJ will also be a consultant to the whole program and he's actually very good with everything technical, and obviously his basketball expertise is second to none so we'll really draw on his experiences and recruiting.

"We're looking at the players that he actually tried to bring into the NBL and also internationally, so we've got a list and Austin's in charge of that. He's the head lead for the recruitment, so it is somewhat of a family affair that we get to work together."

Making Kalgoorlie a new home

Bruton is no stranger to Western Australia having become one of the kings of Perth back in the 1980s, but heading out to Kalgoorlie now for this new venture is a whole different thing.

But he's no stranger to the Goldfields region having been part of the formation of the SBL back in 1989 and has plenty to be excited about to now get down to business.

"I'm gonna put myself through the time tunnel and I'm gonna go get me some cowboy boots and a cowboy hat and get stuck right in," Bruton said.

"My wife will be coming in and out, I call her FIFO because she's gonna be fly in, fly out but I'm looking forward to it.

"I had a bit to do with Kalgoorlie when they started up in 89 and I was amongst the executive panel that helped put together the expanded state league there. With Alan Marshall, Bob Williams, Derek Conway and Ann Jones, we went out to five places and Kalgoorlie was the first one.

"So I've got my friends there like Jeff Williamson, who was a former coach there and he coached his son Brad, so I'm just trying to do a repeat on his thing too."

All about the big picture

While ultimately Cal is still as competitive as ever and his goal is to win a championship for the Giants and to get them back to being a contending team again, having not had the ultimate success since back-to-back SBL championships in 2007-08, it's about more than that.

Cal wants to make sure that the Giants are the pride of the Goldfields region, he wants to see their still new stadium packed out and for the men's team to have the momentum that the women did in 2026, and he also wants the club to be a big part of the whole community.

"I'm really excited about it because it's away from everything, there's no distractions and I'm using it as a marketing vehicle for young players who are looking to elevate their game and also get to the next level," Bruton said.

"The Giants can be like a launching program for them but what excites me is the potential sponsors that we can grab around that area, and the pathway programs that we can put in place that these sponsors can support.

"Then we can start working in the communities and I want to find some Indigenous pathways as well for young fellas because we don't have enough of them in our competition at the moment. This is like more of a calling than just a coaching program.

"I'm more excited about the whole, big picture and bringing Kalgoorlie back into the fold and having them competing at the highest level.

"The goal is to win a championship and I know that we're going to be having people come watch us play and I definitely plan on our stadium being packed out so everything that we can merchandise, we will.

"And then when we go to Perth to play, I'm sure no stadiums will miss out on getting their full crowds."

One condition on the travel

Cal has never been afraid of doing the hard yards and doing a lot of driving over almost 50 years now since he first came to Australia, but doing those trips in the bus from Kalgoorlie to Perth throughout the season might have been too much for him.

So the Giants of 2027 will be using the plane and not only just for his own comfort, he believes it will actually help them perform better on the floor, and with their overall professionalism.

"In the past, I think the team struggled because it is something like eight hours to get to Perth when you get on that bus, but we'll be flying," Bruton said.

"That was attractive too because I couldn't see myself pushing my (Audi) Q7 that this one got 260,000k's on it after I already worn out the one that had 560,000. So that was a very attractive thing and it will help with the whole professionalism.

"When we first played in Perth, that was the thing too. We obviously had to fly everywhere, but everyone looked the part and we had a real a real strong sense of team so that was pretty cool as well."

Support to have the best chance to succeed

Everyone in the Giants organisation, from President Peter Tagliaferri down, will help ensure Cal has the best chance to succeed in the vision he has of what he wants to build at Goldfields too, and he can't wait to get to work.

"We've got a lot of support there with the executive board led by Tags name along with Michael and we've got an excellent crew of guys that's really keen to take it to the next level so that's the exciting part," Bruton said.

"The expanded management team and the president, they can't wait to get started and I'm flying over in early November to go meet everyone and talk to the present players and go in with a clean slate.

"We've got an open slate to hire coaches, players, support staff and I'll be looking to my team, which I could get CJ to help with, but it'll mainly be Austin to help me find these players and then my job is to roll up the sleeves and get them to be a cohesive unit, and then we rock and roll from there."