Culture already shining in new Eagles group

Featured image: Mark Filpo (@codexdesignstudio)

East Perth Eagles coach Jonelle Morley recruited players she felt could all come together to be part of a strong culture which is already on show and was never more evident than bouncing back to beat the Warwick Senators last Friday night in overtime.

It's almost an entirely new group for the Eagles under coach Morley in 2026 and especially the starting five are all new to the club, and they have also been rocked by losing Jasmin Fejo for the season with a knee injury after she made a spectacular start.

But what Morley made a focus of in building the team was that they would be the right with one another on a cultural sense. However things pan out from here on a wins and loss perspective, she can be happy that she appears to have got that spot on.

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The group have clearly already come together both on and off the court in a short amount of time to have developed great chemistry, and a strong bond with one another and Morley felt that was all on show on Friday night.

The Eagles did lead the Senators by 18 points in the third quarter at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre and were still up 14 early in the fourth, but Warwick then hit back and the game ended up going to overtime.

Going into the extra period and momentum was with the Senators, but what pleased Morley the most was how the Eagles dug deep to turn things back their way for the 100-94 win to improve to a 6-1 record.

"There's definitely good feels after a game like that and it was an incredible game of basketball," Morley said.

"There was a lot of heat in it, it was a tough game and there was going to be a lot of sore bodies after it on both sides of the court.

"There was just some really quality basketball too and I thought we had them, but I should have known better and we know that a team like that is always going to come back.

"And they did and we shouldn’t have let them back in, but to be quite frank, Jayda just came out and blasted away on court and we need to be better at recognising that.

"But I was incredibly proud of the girls to fight their way through in that overtime, I think we regrouped really well and we went back to what was working for us.

"Considering how tired they were as a group, I think that just shows a whole lot of character and connection within the team."

Plenty of spirit in the game

It was already the second time the two teams had met this season and there was plenty of spice and heat in both contests.

Just because Morley and Stacey Barr were against a team they won a national championship doesn’t mean it came from a sense of ill will, though, it's just naturally what happens when two high-quality and fiercely competitive teams go to battle.

While it might be stressful to be a coach in a game like that in the heat of the moment, when the dust settles it's what really gets Morley's blood flowing in a coaching sense.

"I'm certain that I feel good coming out of a game like that with a win as a coach, but that's quality basketball and that's why we want to coach," Morley said.

"We want to be able to see how our teams react in that environment. That was an awesome game to be a part of and it was even better obviously that we were here on our home court.

"I think we had a really great crowd and there was a lot of energy for the women's game and then to follow on for the men's game as well.

"That's what you want to be a part of and as a coaching group we did a huge amount of reflection on that for ourselves about what we do in that environment, what we could have done better and how could we engage as a coaching team to ensure that we're best placed in future games like that.

"I certainly hope there's more games like that in this league."

New group is clicking so well

Any time you are building a new team at a new club like Morley had to do with East Perth for 2026, with the best of intentions you never quite know how that vision you have in your mind will turn out in reality.

Morley always thought the group of players she signed for the Eagles this season would click on a basketball sense and personality wise, so from that perspective she's not surprised how well they have come together.

But at the same time, you never quite know until you see it in reality and in that sense she's pleasantly well surprised how well the group has clicked.

"In a way I'd say it's pleasantly surprising, but also not surprising because we recruited a group of girls that we felt we could put out on court that would click," Morley said.

"You don't always get that right and I'm incredibly pleased that we've done so well with that this season and we recruited good humans that wanted to do well, and wanted to improve in basketball and to succeed and help each other.

"I think if you put a group of those girls together, hopefully they're going to click. The impact of Jas is that she's still a part of the group and she's still engaging with us on a daily basis, and the team felt that hard.

"And it's no excuses, but it rocked the team to the core when we found it out and we only found out pretty much two hours before the Joondalup game.

"No excuses about that game, but you could see the impact that had on the team but now they want to get out there and fight for her. We want to see her come back and be a part of this squad after she has her operation in the next couple of weeks too.

"It's a surprise but also not a surprise for me because they're all quality humans and they want to work hard, and get better, and they're putting in the work so that's really cool."

Dealing with loss of Fejo

While things have gone well on a win-loss front for East Perth so far this season with five wins from six games, the loss of Fejo was a cruel blow both from what she provides on the floor and from an emotional side.

The confirmation that her season was over with the ruptured ACL only came through on the Friday afternoon before the game later that night at Arena Joondalup which went on to be the lone loss so far for the season against the Joondalup Wolves.

While Fejo won't be back on the court this season with the Eagles, Morley knows she will remain an important member of the group.

"I think Jas has left a huge hole in the team both culturally and from a skills perspective, but I guess we were pretty fortunate that Sarah Mortensen came in at that time," Morley said.

"I'm just said that we didn’t get to see that whole group on the court together because I can only fathom how sensational that group would have looked as one. But having Sarah come in has helped a lot, but a lot of the other girls have stepped up to in different ways.

"Brooke Malone played a defensive role this week and played quite a lot of the game on Chloe, and that's the role that Jas had in the first game. Brooke did an amazing job and provided some length and speed, and she can play on a big or a guard, and proved that.

"So for us it's just allowed girls to step into different roles and that's part of my coaching where I want them to know their roles and being able to play in that.

"By not having Jas, we've just had to shift that a little bit and talk about a bit of a shift in what our roles and responsibilities are on the court. Everybody has stepped into that and been open to those changing roles within the team."