Malie feeling right back at home with Eagles

Featured image: Mark Filpo (@codexdesignstudio)

Considering he was part of a fairytale NBL1 West championship win at RAC Arena, Jermaine Malie will never say he regretted the years away from the East Perth Eagles, but he's sure glad to be back and it does feel like being home in a basketball sense for him.

Malie played the first 65 games of his then SBL career with the Eagles up until the end of 2019 before spending two years with the Eastern Suns, then another two at the Joondalup Wolves and then the last two with the Mandurah Magic.

While he started playing with the Eagles in 2016 not long after the 2014 SBL championship, it wasn't until joining the Magic in 2024 that he got to enjoy playing finals and he was part of a fairytale.

The Magic broke through in a remarkable Grand Final triumph at RAC Arena with Malie part of that team playing 22 minutes of that game, but by the end of 2025, he just felt like the time was right to return to where it all began with the Eagles.

It was just in time to celebrate his 150th SBL/NBL1 West game as well and he's settling right back in as part of a back court on an Eagles team now sitting on a 4-2 record following last Friday's win against the Warwick Senators.

Speaking of that game, Malie finished with six points, three assists and two rebounds in the 104-82 win with the Eagles working on top the longer the game went and after shaking off 28 points and nine rebounds in the first half from Senators centre Will Tschetter.

Malie was proud of the team's response and has enjoyed the start to the season overall.

"It was a rocky start to the night but we adjusted some things, and moved some things around, and we were able to cater to what we needed to do to get ourselves going on offence," Malie said.

"You can't complain when you win and we definitely are all still gelling and getting to know each other a bit more. There's new faces coming in and it's more just building the chemistry.

"The basketball will take care of itself and that's what the coaches are for with the X's and O's, but the chemistry on the court is really up to the boys. And the more that we're on the court together it will just flow."

It might have been six years of being away from the Eagles for Malie and plenty had changed in those years in between with no players left at the club that were at East Perth when he last played.

They now have the brand new court to train and play on at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre too, and while a lot has changed, Malie has noticed there's plenty that has stayed similar at the same time but he couldn’t be happier to be back.

"It does feel like I'm back home given I played here in the SBL so home court is the old Court 1," he said.

"Walking past there every time and being back in the red-and-blue it definitely feels like being back home.

"I wouldn’t say it feels like a new club because there's a lot of the same faces and the same culture and morals as before, but it's definitely nice having the new court.

"It's a big upgrade and definitely better lightning as most will know it was a yellow court out there. It definitely isn’t a new club, but it's improving that's for sure."

It was more though circumstance than anything that landed Malie back with the Eagles.

A passing comment to East Perth captain Lee Roberts ended up getting back to coach Carl Filpo and before Malie knew it, he was back at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre in the red-and-blue all over again.

"Lee Roberts and I are pretty good mates outside of NBL1 and we were playing in a few off-season leagues together and I made a joke that it might be time to come home," Malie said.

"Before I knew it, Carl and I were on the phone, and I came down to training and we both said that if it was a fit for both of us then we'll go from there.

"It was kind of like a day by day thing to see how we go in the pre-season and it all worked out."

While Malie will likely always feel like his basketball home is at East Perth when he reflects back on his career, he also never regrets the years away in between.

That did provide him the chance to live out a dream winning a championship and playing in a Grand Final on RAC Arena to create some lifelong memories with the Eastern Suns and Magic especially while only managing nine games in two years at the Wolves.

"I definitely don't regret the years away and everything happens for a reason and with the way it played out, I can't really complain," Malie said.

"Getting to play at RAC Arena and to win the first championship in 30 years for the Mandurah Magic. And that season, it was a fairytale season with the way that it all kinda played out so I have no complaints whatsoever."

When Malie first joined the Eastern Suns for what turned out to be the West Coast Classic season of 2020, he saw himself staying there for a long time but in the end by the end of 2021, he was on the move again.

The next two seasons were frustrating ones at Joondalup, but Malie loved the home that he found with Mandurah and what he was able to be part of in 2024 before injuries ravaged their championship defence last year.

But he always had a degree of regret that he didn’t get to stay at the Eastern Suns longer so he always looks forward to going back there including this Saturday night in an Eagles uniform on a floor he feels more than comfortable on.

"I think it does add a bit of fuel to the fire subconsciously for myself especially because I saw myself as a Sun for a while and things didn’t work out," Malie said.

"So 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."

And in the bigger picture, while the pressure is on from his partner to stop putting so much time into his basketball, now that Malie has come back to East Perth after six years away, he can't see himself playing anywhere else however much longer he has left in his basketball career at NBL1 level.

"Hopefully this is where I play the rest of my career and if you ask the missus then it will be and pretty soon," Malie said.

"But I don’t see myself moving anywhere else and I don't plan on it so hopefully everything works out and it's a full circle moment coming back where it all began so I'll look to finish it off here as well."