Wildcats keep opening round lineup under wraps

The Perth Wildcats remain tight-lipped over who will take the starting power forward position on Sunday, with Trevor Gleeson claiming his roster can put forward a variety of potent combinations in 2021.

While fans can expect to see Mitch Norton, Bryce Cotton, Todd Blanchfield and John Mooney take to the court for the opening tip, but the front court combination could come as a surprise.

“We’re rich with choices with Jesse Wagstaff, Luke Travers, Sherv (Corey Shervill) and (Jarred) Bairstow, and we can always slide John (Mooney) over to the four now with Tommy (Jervis) in the squad,” he said.

“We’ll have multiple options at that four spot. With our offence, it doesn’t necessarily affect us. We could even look at (Todd) Blanchfield in that position as well.”

After two weeks in lock down conditions, the reigning champions will be let loose in time to open their season against the South East Melbourne Phoenix

Gleeson said he has seen a lift in his team’s energy over the last couple of days.

“The guys are really locked on. The last couple of days they’re really locked on and focused on this game.”

The South East Melbourne Phoenix also trained in Perth on Friday, after defeating the Adelaide 36ers on Wednesday to take their record to one win and one loss at the early phase of this season.

Guard Keifer Sykes has gone for 18 and 24 points in those games.

“He’s a scoring point guard, like what they had last year with Roberson, obviously Mitch Creek is a handful any time he plays, plus they’ve got Gliddon shooting off the pin downs and Wetzell inside," said Gleeson.

“They’re every quick, probably a little bit quicker than last year, and obviously Creek is a franchise player, so we’re going to have to do a good job on Mitch and limit his opportunities.”

The Phoenix entered the season in 2019/20, playing the Wildcats three-times and falling on each occasion as the two sides build their rivalry.

Tip-off on Sunday is at 2pm.

Watch live on VICELAND, SBS On Demand or listen to ABC Perth.

The game is sold out, albeit with a 50 per cent capacity limit.