Occasion to treasure for Giants captain

Featured image: @hyperfocusimages | Michael Bailey

Not only are the Goldfields Giants making NBL1 West history with their first finals appearance and doing it in Kalgoorlie, but captain Rachel Pettit will also be celebrating her 250th game to mark the occasion.

The difference from when Pettit celebrated her 200th game with Mandurah back in 2024 to now reaching 250 this Saturday night in the Giants' first ever final at Evolution Mining Stadium against the Lakeside Lightning has been stark on and off the court.

Pettit did love being part of the club at Mandurah and as part of the sisterhood with her teammates, but the reality was the more the years went on where her minutes weren’t growing, her love of basketball was diminishing all the time.

That hit an all-time low in that same 2024 season she reached 200 games where she only played a 11.6 minutes on average and only managed 60 shots in an entire season so by the end of that, she knew it was time for a change.

She was also feeling stale living at home and working in the same teaching job, so once an opportunity presented to head to Kalgoorlie to play with the Giants and continue teaching, she jumped at the chance in 2025 and has never looked back.

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Now all of a sudden, Pettit is playing the best basketball of her life in 2026 averaging 10.2 points a game to go with 3.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists and shooting the three ball at 36.4 per cent on 143 attempts across the 20 regular season games.

And the reward will be now going down in history as the captain of the first ever Giants women's team to play in a final this Saturday night and to be doing it at home, and then in her 250-game milestone just to top it all off.

"It's crazy really how it's all worked out and I think the club and everyone involved from the board members down to everyone else do such an amazing job to make things happen for the women's team," Pettit said.

"It's really exciting to be a part of that and to have grown with that as well over the last two years so I'm super pumped to hopefully get a win and just see how far we can go."

Getting to 250 now means a lot more

While Pettit was proud to reach 200 games all of which had been with Mandurah back in 2024, she was finding it hard to get too excited about basketball with the limited opportunities on court she was getting.

She was still putting in all the work but not getting that reward on a weekend and while that was easier to accept early on her career having started with the Magic as a 16-year-old in 2013, 11 years later to have seen her minutes plummet from 29.4 in 2020 to 11.6 in 2024 was tough to take.

Fast forward now to her 250th game that will be on Saturday night and Pettit was thrust into a significant role in 2025 in her first season at Goldfields playing 27.2 minutes a game for 6.3 points and 3.0 rebounds.

Now as she approaches turning 30, Pettit finally feels like she's getting out of basketball what she always wanted.

"It is a bit funny you know because this is a milestone that will be special to me but when I think back to when I did get to 200 games, it was obviously a special milestone but I felt like because of the minutes I had been playing that were very few, it didn’t mean as much as I thought it would to me," Pettit said.

"I now feel like over the past two years by playing and feeling valued with what I can provide on the court means so much more.

"I feel like now I'm just getting started in a way even if I'm almost 30 and I'm not the best player in the league or anything like that, but I feel like I'm just getting going in terms of loving playing and being part of this."

Shooting/all-round game best it's ever been

While Pettit did play a big role at the Giants last season, she did walk away knowing that she could provide a lot more especially on the shooting front having gone at 27.6 per cent from the outside for the season.

She went to work on not just her shooting, but transforming herself physically and putting more time into basketball than ever before while taking a step back on the work front too.

She's living a life more akin to what an import does who plays in the NBL1 West now and she's seeing all the benefits of that.

"Last year I definitely knew that in reflection I walked away from most games trying to work out what I had to do to get the ball in the bloody hole," Pettit said.

"I did have a bit of a break from basketball before I moved out here and knew that I had to put in the work, but Jaymi trusted me and kept me out there last year which made me feel super valued, but this year it's been really nice again to not only do the basketball work, but get stronger in the gym too.

"That's been a really huge focus for me and I just think I've found a bit of a balance with work and basketball. I actually quit my job and am just doing relief teaching now so I've been able to prioritise basketball a bit more and I think that has shown in my performance.

"I guess I just had to be resilient and I didn’t perform how I wanted to last year and it's been my best season ever now this year and I think it is from the work I've put in. My confidence has grown from the work I've put in and it's nice to feel like it's been paying off."

Wanting a chance to play more

By the end of 2024, Pettit did find herself somewhat at the crossroads with feeling like she needed a freshening up in all areas of her life.

At the same time, having spent a lifetime with the Magic and being proud to play for her home town team, even thinking of leaving was far from easy although being desired by another club certainly helped.

By the time Pettit was put in touch with Goldfields coach Jaymi Worthington, they instantly hit it off and now fast forward almost two years, and they are the coach and captain of the Giants team making history this Saturday night.

"I guess to be completely honest I didn’t love basketball for a long time. I loved the girls that were there and my friendships but I wasn’t playing a whole lot and for a league like this with the work that you put in and time and commitment it takes, I wanted to play," Pettit said.

"So when you're not playing, that joy slowly kinda leaves you a little bit and the Giants had reached out to me. Tags (Rob Tagliaferri) was an old state coach of mine and he reached out or whenever we played one another he talked about how I could get the opportunities I wanted at the Giants.

"I just got to a point at Mandurah as hard as that was to leave and leave that club because they were great to me and it was a big part of my life, it was time for a change. And I am getting towards the end of my career and I wasn’t ready to give it up and I knew I had more to give.

"I wanted to prove to myself that I could get out there and have a good crack, and try to finish my career by showing myself as well as others that I can play and that I want to as well. I had that drive and fire in my belly so I just needed a chance and the Giants were willing to give me that."

Starting a new life in Kalgoorlie

It wasn’t just a basketball change that Pettit was looking for going back to 2024, she needed to get out of Mandurah in a lifestyle and work sense too.

Not because there was anything wrong with anything about her life, but she felt somewhat in a rut and like she had to experience something new and Kalgoorlie came calling on all fronts at the perfect time.

"I'd always been at home and I just really needed a change and to grow and get out of comfort zone. I had been at my same job for a while but I could still teach out here, I get housing out here so I thought why not," Pettit said.

"It was a win-win and was a bit of a change and then I get to play as well. Jaymi has been awesome and really embraced me here and so have all the girls, and the people I've met here are some of the best people I've ever met.

"I've built some beautiful friendships so it's definitely a win and I'm so glad I did it. Sometimes I do wish as much as I loved Mandurah that I did it a bit sooner and put myself first, but that's life and you never know what's going to happen until you take a bit of a chance."

Becoming the toast of Kalgoorlie

Not only is the 2026 season the best of Pettit's career, but it's the best the Giants have ever had in the NBL1 too and that's now seen them qualify for the finals for the first time.

Adding in superstar imports Sierra Moore and Delaynie Byrne has certainly helped along with recruiting Lexi Pana, Hazelle Yam and now, Ulemj Tuvshinjargal.

The Giants started the season on fire winning seven of the first 10 games with Moore proving herself to be the standout player across the NBL1 West and then Byrne joining her as they formed the best front court duo in the league.

An ankle injury to Moore did lead to a four-game losing streak and that unfortunately cost her what would have been a richly deserved MVP award, but Goldfields still held firm to finish in sixth spot and earn a home final.

Not only that, but they became the main attraction for the local community and their games were hot property to come and watch.

"We had some great players last year but still had a lot of work to do and I think our imports this year have really embraced us local girls and everyone that steps out on the court," Pettit said.

"It's been exciting to see them not only do super well this year but I think all that starting five and our bench as well, which has been small at times this year, have all been involved and we've been able to play to our strengths.

"It's been exciting because we have won this year and we've done obviously the best have, and we did kind of become that main event. People came to see us and it was even nice for people throughout the community mentioning that before us girls even noticed that.

"Then we did start to notice there were people that would come just to watch us play and it's a nice feeling having them here to see us."

Being embraced by local community

Pettit has noticed not only on game day how much the local Kalgoorlie community has got behind the Giants women, but also during the week around town with how much they are recognised and embraced.

And when she is in at school working, the students are quickly drawn to her knowing they have the captain of the Giants teaching them.

"It's pretty special and I think it's that instant connection and relationship builder too when the kids see you and ask if you play for the Giants," Pettit said.

"Then once you say that you do you have them onside and that's really good, but Lennon and the board have done a great job of keeping those partnerships with the schools and community alive as well.

"So credit to them too and it's really fun when people come and watch that I work with and my friends come down and vice versa.

"That's just a big country town thing that sport is huge and not that I'm a celebrity at all, but it is nice to get that little smile from the kids faces at work when you realise you play for the Giants. It is special."

Taking seriously the role as captain

Pettit is proud to not only be playing her best basketball now with the Giants, but to be doing so as captain and to be bring a group together a whole diverse bunch with those recruits to some older heads like Ash Sidebottom and Talisia Bourne and emerging stars led by Jemma Gatti.

That does give Pettit a chance to reflect back on the leaders she had at the Magic led by games record holder Casey Mihovilovich and new mother, and recently retired 403-game great Rachel Halleen.

"I think it's pretty special and just going back to where I started at Mandurah I had amazing leaders and captains, and learned so much about playing the game from them but also so much life and values," Pettit said.

"I've just really tried to hold onto that because that's the person I've tried to grow into and also trying to implement that into the girls that are around, and want to buy into that culture and sisterhood like I grew up with in Mandurah.

"It is pretty special and when you talk about it you kinda realise how exciting it is to be in this position."

Learning from all-time great leaders

No matter what was happening with Pettit's own playing time at Mandurah, what kept her coming back was the close connection of all the teammates and the proud sisterhood they were part of.

They also had a special bond with the Mandurah community so Pettit has taken that and tried to create something similar inside the Giants group but then more broadly with the local community too.

"It was amazing to be around them and even now I see those girls and they're still like your sisters and some of your best friends," Pettit said.

"It was a really special culture that we had there in Mandurah and I do think back to them often and think back those situations or scenarios that I remember from Mandurah and I do really try to implement what I've learnt from there with this group of girls just with my own leadership style too. It's pretty cool."