Eagles Rd 7 Preview | Away v Eastern Suns, Home v Buccs

Featured image: Mark Filpo (@codexdesignstudio)

Both East Perth Eagles teams will look to keep their momentum going on Saturday night on the road to the Eastern Suns before the men's team backs up on Sunday at midday to host the defending champion Geraldton Buccaneers.

First up on Saturday night will be the women's clash between the Eagles and Eastern Suns at Ray Owen Sports Centre with tip-off at 6:30pm.

The men's match between two teams with a combined 10-3 record on the season so far will then be up next at 8:30pm before the East Perth men follow up on Sunday at midday when they host the Buccs at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre.

>> PURCHASE SUNDAY TICKETS HERE

>> MALIE FEELING RIGHT BACK AT HOME WITH EAGLES

>> CULTURE ALREADY SHINING IN NEW EAGLES GROUP

>> EAGLES RECAP | WOMEN/MEN ROUND 6

WOMEN

The Eagles dug deep at home last Friday night to beat the Warwick Senators at home in overtime and now will look to keep their momentum going on the road on Saturday night against the Eastern Suns.

The East Perth women improved to a 5-1 record to start the season last Friday night by beating the Senators 100-94 in overtime at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre.

That kept the Eagles undefeated at home for the season and now they will look to keep the momentum going against a dangerous Suns team on the road on Saturday night.

The Eastern Suns might have lost their past two games to the Rockingham Flames and Willetton Tigers to now sit on a 2-5 record for the season, but they did score a pair of wins prior to that against the South West Slammers and Lakeside Lightning.

The Suns do possess some in-form players too with new import guard Gaby Bronson putting up 17.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.3 assists so far in 2026.

Then there's Denae Civich, Alyssa Bowen, Emma Strelein and Ella Averill among their players in good form and who will give the Eagles plenty to think about come Saturday night.

It is an East Perth team who has hit back from their lone loss of the season to the Joondalup Wolves with strong wins over the Perry Lakes Hawks and Senators who will be looking to maintain second place in the standings.

Sarah Mortensen has now fitted in nicely with three games under her belt including 22 points, nine rebounds and five assists last week against Warwick.

Stacey Barr is also delivering 23.5 points, 9.2 rebounds and 5.0 assists while Sydney Wright, Brooke Malone, Jade Williams, Jo Odude and Zaya Black are among the players all providing plenty so far this season for the Eagles.

East Perth coach Jonelle Morley is fully aware that even if the Eastern Suns have won just two of seven games so far this season, they can't be taken lightly especially on their home floor on Saturday night.

"My first thoughts are that it's going to be cold up in Kalamunda stadium but I'm really excited and one of my old coaching friends, Marcus Bardill, he coaches the Suns and we talk a lot and it's always exciting to come up against his team," Morley said.

"Every team is going to be a tough team and certainly them on their home court is always going to be tough so we really have to come ready for this game and certainly up there at 6:30 on a Saturday night, we've talked about making sure we're ready to hit the court up there at Kalamunda."

Speaking of Bardill, he was assistant coach to Morley at the Warwick Senators when they won the NBL1 West and NBL1 National championships back in 2022, and now Saturday night presents the first chance for them to go head-to-head as head coaches.

"It's going to be great and we're gong to be best friends and enemies all on the same night," Morley said.

"We chatted this week about it and we'll go into this game both looking to try and win, and then I'm sure we'll have a drink to celebrate his birthday afterwards which was this week after the game.

"He is a smart coach, there's no two ways about it, and we have to be ready for whatever they're going to throw at us and our coaching team has been working really hard together to be ready for what they will throw at us this week."

MEN

The Eagles men are in impressive form so far this NBL1 West season but the challenges keep coming this weekend firstly against the 6-1 Eastern Suns on the road and then backing up against the defending champion Geraldton Buccaneers.

It's as challenging of a double-header as you might find starting at Ray Owen Sports Centre on Saturday night at 8:30pm against a Kalamunda team who has made their best ever start to an SBL/NBL1 West season.

Then the Eagles will be quickly backing up against the Buccaneers at 12pm on Sunday at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre.

East Perth come into the weekend with a 4-2 record on the season so far on the back of last week's 22-point win at home against the grand finalists of last year, the Warwick Senators.

That was the ideal way for the Eagles to bounce back from a heart stopping loss to the Perry Lakes Hawks the week before but now the challenges keep on coming.

The Eastern Suns have made a blistering start to the season winning six of their seven games with the lone defeat coming up against the unbeaten Willetton Tigers on Anzac Day.

The Suns are fresh off beating the Rockingham Flames thanks to a buzzer-beater from Terrandus Smith last week and even without import big Jordan Simpson and star guard Joe Cook-Green, they've been able to keep winning.

Captain Lewis Thomas brings it all together inside and then there's young guns Marley Sam and Hayden Price who are delivering breakout performances each week, and former Eagle Jesse Pollock is shooting tremendously from beyond the arc.

That gives East Perth plenty to think about on the road to the Suns on Saturday night but it's also a chance to make a statement against an in-form team with NBL forward Lat Mayen also set to return after missing the past two games.

Eagles guard Jermaine Malie spent two seasons playing at the Eastern Suns and is looking forward to getting back to his old home floor to take on one of the form teams of the competition.

"Going back there, there's a little bit more of a pep in my step and it also feels like the ring is a lot bigger because I know that court so well.

"So I'm excited to go out there and it's definitely going to be a great game with the Suns 6-1 right now. They're definitely rolling and it will be a good challenge for us as well."

There'll be little time to stew over that game on Saturday night for the Eagles with them turning their attention to the Buccs quickly on Sunday with the only positive that Geraldton are also playing a tough one too the previous night against the undefeated Willetton.

"I'd say this double-header has to be the worst double-header you can play with an 8:30 game on the Saturday and then 12 o'clock on the Saturday," Malie said.

"It definitely tests the old legs but it's exciting too and any day game is different and it really forces you to gel as a team because the crowd isn't a big, it's not night time and you really have to be locked in and switched on from the beginning."

Provided his 43-year-old body allows him to play both games this weekend for the Buccaneers, three-time championship winning big man Mat Wundenberg will become just the second man to reach 550 games on Sunday too.

The only other man to do it is Seb Salinas who the Eagles faced on Saturday night too against the Suns, but Malie has nothing but admiration for Wundenberg even if he doesn’t enjoy necessarily running into him.

"I've learnt the hard the way that you don't just run in there head down if he's in there and have copped a few elbows in my day but someone like that is obviously well experienced and are champions for a reason," Malie said.

"Someone like Wundenberg knows how to play the game and understands how to play as a team, and the culture there is unreal but it will be another big test for us and it's one we're excited for. We're ready."