Depth on show first up for Eagles

Image credit: Mark Filpo (@codexdesignstudio)

It was the depth of contributors the East Perth Eagles had in their first up NBL1 West win that was most pleasing for new coach Jonelle Morley including the efforts of Zaya Black who showed what she can do at both ends.

It was the start of a new era for the Eagles back on Saturday night under coach Morley when they opened the new season on the road to the Willetton Tigers.

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It was a little bit of a shaky start with the 15 first half turnovers, but the Eagles had kept scores level by half-time and then took control through the second half and ended up outscoring Willetton 47 points to 31 on the way to the 16-point road victory.

They had just the seven extra turnovers in the second half on the way to putting up those 47 points but what Morley also saw was plenty of areas to improve including on the 34 per cent shooting from the field which included just 7/31 three-point shooting.

They were rewarded for attacking the basket with 37 free-throw attempts, though, including a combined 22 between Jasmin Fejo and Stacey Barr who also ended up contributing 43 points between them among the new Eagles faces in 2026.

Once the Eagles did start to deal with the pressure defence of Willetton better that was led by three-time Best Defensive Player Emma Gandini, they got on top in the game and Morley did like a lot of the first up effort.

"I think for us I was really pleased with the effort and the way that we built throughout the game," Morley said.

"We knew that Willetton were going to come hard and we've got a few new players to this league that probably didn’t understand the pressure they were going to put us under early.

"I think we took a little while to adjust to that, but I was really proud that we built, we adjusted and the effort that the girls put in.

"There's a lot to clean up and to work on, and we've worked pretty hard at training on that, but I'm really pleased with the outcome."

While there is still two-time championship winning gun Sarah Mortensen to come into the East Perth team for 2026, what Morley was most impressed with in the first up win was the number of strong contributors they had.

Two-time MVP Barr delivered 24 points and 12 rebounds in her first game for East Perth since 2018 while Fejo ended up with 19 points, eight boards and five assists, and Brooke Malone 13 points and six rebounds.

Then there was Zaya Black with 13 points while Sydney Wright ended up with nine points and four assists, Jo Odude four points and eight rebounds, and Jade Williams four points and five boards.

Those number of contributors is just what Morley was hoping to see.

"I think the depth of our bench this year is going to be a real asset for us and even Jade Williams, that was her first game back after 13 months away after injury," Morley said.

"It took her a little while to adjust to the game too and Jo came off the bench and gave us a real punch in the game, but every girl that came on had a role to play and came out and played it really hard.

"I must admit I was literally just having a conversation with Jasmin Fejo after watching the film and I didn’t quite see on the night how hard she actually worked during the game. Watching back, she just goes effort after effort after effort, and I love that.

"It's so easy to coach when they put the effort in and we just have to tweak here and there, so I was really impressed with the girls that came off the bench and each of them came in and impacted the game. Then in particular Zaya, did an especially good job for us."

Speaking of Black, having previously played in the league with both the South West Slammers and Cockburn Cougars, and having battled back from some serious injuries, she was a player that Morley was excited to recruit to the Eagles.

That was because of how many ways she can contribute and she likely surpassed what Morley was even hoping in the first game playing 21:29 for 13 points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals while shooting 6/10 and being a +19 while out there.

"I call Zaya my Mrs Dependable and you really can depend on her," Morley said.

"You give her a role defensively and she's going to play a shut down role and work really hard.

"She knows where to stand on-court and she talks really well, but offensively she looks after the ball, she gets to the right spots and she can knock down the three.

"She's got the speed to get to the basket and she can also carry the ball for us too. That type of player coming off the bench is just unreal as a coach to know that you've got someone who can come in and play those various roles for you for sure."