Willingness to sacrifice key to 20-0 Cougars

Image credit: Madeleine Clark | @madeleineclarkmedia

A willingness to sacrifice for the good of the team is what first-year Cockburn Cougars coach Russell Hann feels is key to their undefeated NBL1 West regular season and he continues to be blown away by their selfless nature.

On any given night, Sarah Mortensen, Daniel Raber, Steph Gorman, Jewel Williams, Ruby Porter and Jessie Edwards are capable of dominant match-winning performances with impressive depth backing them up.

But at no point this season have any of those players put their own ambitions ahead of the team. That's why they completed the 20-0 record to be five games clear in top spot heading into Friday night's qualifying final that doubles as a grand final rematch with the Rockingham Flames.

It's been a seamless transition for Hann to step in as head coach from Tyrone Thwaites who took the Cougars women to their first ever grand final appearances the past two years including the 2023 championship.

However, he gives all the credit to his playing group who all continue to put the good of the team and the Cockburn basketball community first.

"I certainly would have been surprised if I was told I'd have a 20-0 start, but it's been great obviously from the team," Hann said.

"We can't hide behind the fact that we have a very talented group and there's a willingness to sacrifice by the girls.

"I hear it all the time that we have seven or eight girls who would be the top one or two players at a lot of teams, and that's a nice place for us to be in but that also means that the sacrifices they are willing to make is really important.

"They really have been committed to making that sacrifice that this year and the good thing is when I speak to people about how people feel when they watch our games is that they love the ball movement and the way that we play.

"It's a credit to the girls and how willing they are to sacrifice their games for the greater good of the team."

History made with team first attitude

The Cougars have now become the first team in the women's competition since the Perry Lakes Hawks of 2000 to go through a regular season undefeated and just the third team in history with the Willetton Tigers of 1999 also doing it.

No men's team has done it either since the Perry Lakes team of 2002 but for Hann, he knows that doesn’t happen unless the group is willing to sacrifice for one another no matter how much individual talent they have.

They certainly have some stars and Mortensen was named to the All-First Team, Gorman to the All-Second Team, and you could make a case for Raber to have made it as well.

Gorman was also named Defensive Player of the Year while Hann himself won Coach of the Year. Mortensen could consider herself unlucky to not be MVP and you could say the same for Edwards as Sixth Woman of the Year.

Nobody on this Cougars team has worried about individual numbers or accolades though. That's why they've gone through 20-0 with an average winning margin of 33.3 points with only two of those wins being in single figures and the last 11 have come at an average of 41 points.

"It's a common thread that I hear from everyone about how do you manage this much talent and it's the beauty of the team that they consistently talk to each other," Hann said.

"That's not led by me or the coaching staff, it's them that have their moments and they speak to each other before each training session and when I finish with them about being willing to make that sacrifice, and what they want to achieve.

"The good thing about this group is that they don’t see the wins as success or think that 20-0 is what they are aiming for, but it's the joy that they have doing it along the way.

"Rewarding each other is what keeps driving them and I think that's quite visible from those outside the group too which is why it's such a pleasure to coach this group."

Continuity in playing group is key

The Cougars prior to 2023 had never played in a women's grand final and never really been in contention, but now they have played in the past two deciders including winning in 2023 and going ever so close at RAC Arena in 2024.

A big reason for now putting together a third straight standout season is how much of the playing group has stayed together with Jewel Williams, Jessie Edwards and Steph Gorman the mainstays for all three seasons.

Sarah Mortensen was then part of it in 2023 and Daniel Raber came on board in 2024 as did Regan Turnour-McCarty while the new arrival for 2025 was Ruby Porter.

Porter has been a terrific addition with 14.1 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists a game but what instantly had Hann keen to bring her on board from the now defunct Darwin Salties was how important the Cockburn community was to her.

"Keeping the group together makes a big difference and they all know how each other plays, and Ruby came in seamlessly and it's about more than just on the court," Hann said.

"When I first started recruiting and spoke to her, the first thing she wanted to talk about was what did our community look like and what our culture was like.

"Hearing that as the first question that she asked was music to my ears because that's what we've been promoting as a club for the last five or six years.

"Ty was massive on that when he was at the club and we really want to bring people in who are tied to our community, and who want to buy into the culture that we have created and continued to make that grow.

"Ruby has been a fantastic addition to our entire community and the rest of the team want to keep coming back because they feel like it's a home for them.

"We have family written everywhere on the walls, but it really does feel that way too and it's a massive advantage for us having that continuity with the playing group."

Embracing challenges of head coach role

What makes Hann extra proud to now be head coach of this Cougars team is that he has spent more than 30 years as a player or coach involved in some capacity at Cockburn.

Being a head coach wasn’t something he had ever really thought about at NBL1 level until he became an assistant to Tyrone Thwaites, but now that he is in the role he realises how all-encompassing it is thankful for the support around him.

"It's certainly been a transition that's for sure," Hann said.

"I've been around the club since I was a young kid and to be honest, the thought of being a head coach only started entering into my thoughts probably around three or four years ago when Ty first talked to me about joining the group.

"It's definitely different, there's no doubt about that, and I love doing it but the amount of time and effort that goes into it might be something you don't recognise until you're actually in that space.

"The good thing is I have great support staff around me and they are willing to help, and they can see the times when it's become a bit full on for me and they can step up a little bit more.

"The club has been fantastic as well in assisting me to make the transition into this head coaching role so I can't thank them all enough."

Last year's grand final no motivation

On the back of winning the 2023 championship, the Cougars were on track to go back-to-back before a big finish at RAC Arena in that 2024 grand final by the Rockingham Flames.

But that grand final heartache isn’t something that Hann has had any need to mention at any point this year and that won't change this week even coming into the qualifying final match up against the reigning champions.

"To be honest, I don't think we've discussed last year once. I don’t think it needs to be a driving force for this group and they aren’t a group to look back," Hann said.

"Maybe they do privately, but they certainly don’t do it as a group and I know it's not something that we feel we've had to bring up. I don’t think this group needs to be motivated by something like that and there's no benefit in bringing that up.

"They're just worried about the next thing and that makes it a lot more pleasurable to coach them because I just can focus on the job without thinking of avenging last year or anything like that."

Focus on taking on the Flames

The Cougars now will forget about that perfect regular season and turn their full attention to Friday night's grand final rematch at Wally Hagan Stadium with the Flames.

Rockingham might have lost five of their first six games and that made a change in coach after their second win of the season, but since three-time championship winner and Perth Lynx coach Ryan Petrik has taken over, things have started to come together.

The Flames come into the finals having won six straight to secure fourth position and with Sydney Erikstrup, Jess Jakens, Alex Sharp, Alex Ciabattoni, Marena Whittle and Shani Amos, there's no way Hann and the Cougars will be taking anything for granted against them.

"No way known will we be taking them lightly," Hann said.

"They are legitimately a very good basketball team and you need to look at who they are coached by, everyone knows what a very good coach Petrik is.

"They have three, four, five highly experienced and quality vets in the league who have played at a high level, and we've put a lot of time into them this week.

"We know what a great group they are and it's really exciting for us to get to play them this week and we can't wait for the game."

Cougars' amazing home court support

What the Cougars have built now especially over the past three years with the success their women's team have been having is a terrific home court advantage at Wally Hagan Stadium.

They might not be able to cram in as many people as other stadiums around the league, but the Cougars faithful are loyal and vocal, and wasted no time snapping up the available tickets for Friday's qualifying final.

"We know it's an advantage we have playing at home with the support we get from the community, and I think that's because of the connection the girls have by putting back into that community," Hann said.

"That's why our crowd love coming to watch us play and I'm really looking forward to getting out there in front of them for a final.

"It's really fun in there and it gets loud, and it's hard for the girls to hear me out on the court and I very rarely have a voice left by the end of the game.

"But we're looking forward to it and I know the girls are very excited to get in front of them, and there's been a real buzz down at Wally Hagan this week."