He's up there with Brendan Teys and Kevin white as guys who are essentially useless yet keep getting gigs. surely there are some young ballers with bright futures who could fill their very average places.

Love what he stands for on and off the court. Perth boy ect but it's a basketball team and you need to get as much as you can from each player on the roster.

For mine didn't show enough even when fit to get a roster spot. If they want him around the club give him an assistant job, think Perth arena has a few to spare to stick on the bench. Soon the bench will be wrapped around court side.

Would've preferred Jervis.
Will provide more of a locker room presence than anything else.
For 9-11 spots on the roster Steindl, Vague and Hire are on par with most in the league.

Whilst I'm sure theres plenty of critics out there - theres been a large turnover of players and I'm sure he would be the first to acknowledge he didn't have the best season last year... but it simply can't be a case of there is no one else good enough to be a recognised leader. He's been voted as a Vice-Captain by his peers for a number of seasons, his effort and hustle are always consistent and while he isn't a volume shooter he has been around that 37% - 40% percentage mark as a 3 point shooter. There's no doubt the calf injury was a setback, especially to reinjure it. He's a massive part of the culture, all this talk about Teys and White, speak to any of there team mates and they will vouch for the importance they play in the team, just look at Damo's IG post.

As a vice captain he might see that it is in the best interests of the club if he did retire .

@Mark

If the club saw no value in him why would they offer him a contract?

Perth look to be going with an import centre.
Hopefully they get it right this year

"Greg is still in our plans for the future," Gleeson said.

Can only hope and pray those plans don't include a playing spot.
Otherwise this is the worst possible outcome for that final local spot.

he certainly brings a long of enthusiasm and intensity, which is wasted when he can't get on the court because his production sucks. he used to be quite handy, but has gone backwards every year for a while.

Unfortunately this seems to indicate that the Cats will indeed comply with the 5 man cap. That means their import Centre is going to be another spud.
Also mean that the only option for backup SG is Steindl. God help us.

I suspect Steindl may be on slightly above minimum, and Hire too. But even if not, I dodn't think you get Wagstaff and Brandt for $300k.
I think it still leaves them looking at a cheaper import.
I'm sure there are plenty of guys available for $100~150k. They're just not as good as the ones for $300k.

Pure assumptions but Hire might be on or close to minimum.
Vague and Steindl also with those three sitting at around $180K.
Leaves $300K for two more players of which Wagstaff is likely one.

Would hope the Wildcats could find a decent import 5 cheaply otherwise it would be good to go with Jervis and start season with 2 imports.
Allows insurance for any serious injury to Martin or any other key Aussie.

"For your 10th man, sometimes the off the court intangibles are more important than on court, because that position won't play much anyway. "

What people often forget is that it is also about development, and also about depth.
I don't expect Vague to play huge minutes, but you'd hope he improves. Even Steindl has a few years left in him. Hire will be 32 this year, and is going backwards.
Depth is important in your locals, whether its LTIs, or just foul trouble, because your bench guys are the first ones you need to step up. Whenever there is an LTI, people always focus on the "replacement" but what's important is the quality of the guy who's actually going to see a big increase in his minutes.

And ultimately, if it comes down to a choice between Hire, Jervis, or a young gun for that last local slot, Hire would be my last choice.

I also don't like the lack of depth behind the 2 and 3 spots.

It looks like what we're going to have is this:
Martin/Norton
Cotton/Steindl
"Tokoto"/ Hire
Kay/ Wagstaff/ Vague
Brandt/ "Cooked"

If we must go for a cheapo import for our 3rd, I would rather see Big Tommy on the bench at 5, and bring in a cheap import 2/3 to come off the bench.

Hire will be 31 this year /thumbs

The fascination is really around wanting to see what the Cats do with their last local slot, and the fear they will take the easy route and retain Hire.

A Bench that contains, Hire, Steindl, Vague, an aging Wagstaff, and a Derek Cooke lookalike, does not inspire confidence.

So this just got a bit more intriguing.

Cats now have 8 Locals.
I'm hoping this means that Hire will have an off-court role, be a training player, and injury replacement

Or, could it be that the Cats intend to run initially with only two imports??

If they need to comply with the 5 man cap, that could be a reason.

Along with Wagstaff, Jervis, Vague, and Steindl, its probably easier to fit Hire rather than even a budget import.

But yeah, if they could somehow afford him, would love to see Walker back, to come off the bench in the 2 and 3.
Supposedly he's good friends with Cotton

Lucas Walker is gone.

I'm sure AD is referring to Devondrick Walker, the import that the Wildcats signed 1 year ago and got injured pre-season

Hire is going to be interesting. Options basically are:

-Sign him and have 2 imports. Don't see Perth going with 2 imports given the quality of the league, slim chance if they spend huge and got 2 amazing ones.

-Sign him and release another player to have 3 imports. Pretty unlikely, only one I could see them release is Stiendl, but even that's pretty unlikely unless Stiendl asks to leave.

-keep him as a 'Lucus Walker' type train on/injury replacement with a job at the club. Probably the most likely. Walker had a good impact on the group and Hire would do the same. Hire was originally wanting to be the strength and conditioning coach before he got signed.

-dont sign him, have no role at the club. Would be sad to see him go but a likely scenario imo behind being a train on/have a job.

You're missing the point, and in effect have it backwards.

Yes, Greg has been a "great servant of the team" etc, etc, blah, blah,
but yes his time is up, and I'd be happy to see him retire, stick to his counseling job and play SBL.

HOWEVER
Gleeson has already come out and said Hire still has a future with the Wildcats.
So given that, we're hoping that "future" is off court rather than on court.

Were it not for Gleeson's comments, I'd have assumed that Tommy's signing was the end of Hire, and thought no more of it.

I guess part of it is that he's a genuinely nice guy. Cats have always emphasized community work, but Greg does a lot at his own instigation, and its stuff you only hear about through the local grapevine.
He's also been loyal. There was a time he was a half-decent player, and still playing 3rd fiddle on the bench, and was reportedly offered a bigger role elsewhere.

Plus I think some still hope he can recapture his best form.

And when it comes to talking about an off-court role, for most players we'd just think "oh great, jobs for the boys, why can't he get a real job?" but with Hire there's a feeling it may be a genuinely good fit.