PP: Mark, in four months you’ve recruited six quality players: four with WNBL championship experience, one of those (Abby Bishop) an Australian Opal playing in the WNBA. How did you pull it off?
MW: The simple reason I think it came together so well is that we recruited Abby Bishop.
To give this program credibility, we had to get someone who holds some stature in the league, and Abby certainly does that.
She’s only 21 and she’s got a couple of (WNBL) championships (with Canberra) up her sleeve, she plays for the Opals, she’s playing in the WNBA (with Seattle Storm) and she’s won that many awards it’s ridiculous.
People assured me that she was mature beyond her years, and after the first phone conversation (in March) I knew they were right. I don’t understand how a young girl can have so much presence, but she does.
Within days (of signing) Abby was on the phone to me saying, ‘who else are you trying to recruit – I’ll call her’, then getting those players on the phone and saying, ‘don’t go there, come here’. When you get people on board who believe, they start to sell the program.
It’s strange to say, but I think she’s the spiritual leader of this group.
What’s the fundamental difference between what you’ve tried to create here and what Dale Waters tried to achieve by rebuilding the program through youth?
I absolutely understand what Dandenong has done with Dale, but when you develop a young team, you’ve actually got to keep them here – and it’s hard work.
What we (Wright, assistant coach Cheryl Chambers and basketball operations manager Leigh Gooding) have done is say, ‘this hasn’t worked, so let’s just get our credibility back by putting it out there in the league that you’re going to get better at Dandenong and, in the meantime, you’ll get success because it’s a successful club’.
And we’re really going to promote these great young Dandenong juniors, who we don’t want to lose. We lost the greatest Dandenong junior ever (Liz Cambage to Bulleen last year) and that can’t happen again.
The Dandenong kids who are in the AIS now have already been told that any time they’re home, we want them down here training – we want them with us.
Winning a championship is obviously the ultimate, but, from a long-term aspect, the program will stand alone as a pathway for junior kids.
Dandenong finished eighth last season, but people are already talking about this team you’ve put together as a play-off team – if not a championship team. Does that expectation weigh heavily on you?
No. I think we’ve definitely got a chance of winning a championship, and we’d be very disappointed if we didn’t go deep into the finals.
(Last season’s grand finalists) Canberra and Bulleen are the favourites, there’s no question about it. But if you look at the scoring potential of our team, it’s arguably the best in league. There’s so many game-winners; (Jess) Foley, (Kathleen) MacLeod, Bishop, (Tracy) Gahan – they’re all players who can step up and have 30-plus-point games. God help any team if they all get on fire.
We won’t have the same size and strength of Bulleen or Canberra, but they won’t have our athleticism, so it’ll be an interesting contrast.
There’s an overwhelming feeling that Canberra and Bulleen think they’re untouchable, but I’d like to show them that’s not true.
Is there a feeling that this club is a bit of a sleeping giant; that if you can start winning and playing an exciting brand of basketball, there will be a groundswell of support?
I honestly do believe that. There’s something like 18,000 people coming through these doors every week, so there’s no reason why we can’t pack this place out and bring back the glory days of those championship years (2003-2005).
** The 2010-11 WNBL season begins in October
