After Cal Bruton's... Its a disgrace #55 has not been put to the rafters already

Things Cal Bruton brought to this state when he joined the Cats:

1. Charisma: Run, Gun and have some Fun. It was his mantra but it also got bums on seats because it was something we and the League up until that point had never seen
2. Arguably the biggest point, James Crawford and Tiny Pinder. Overlooking TPs off court transgressions, most of us pre-1985 kids will forever remember him tearing down the ring at the old Superdrome back in the day. The guy could flat out play Then you have arguably one of the most dynamic and versatile players to have ever pulled on a Cats uniform in JC. Had it not been for Bruton, a strong argument can be made that he probably would have stayed at the Supercats or another East Coast club. Without JC you seriously question how many of those early titles the Cats would have won. Again, Cal is the whole reason behind that. Your Catalini's, Worthington's, Harvey's of the WA system probably don't come into the sport for another decade if it weren't for Bruton putting the sport on the map in this state in the late 80s and early 90s. Time to pay homage to the man who well and truly deserves it for everything he has done for the Cats and for the sport in this state.

Crawford left the Cats a full year before Bruton came to Perth.

Bruton only lasted three years, his on-court performances are never considered noteworthy in these discussions, and his off-court contributions just happened to coincide with a huge influx of money with the team coming under a private owner for the first time. They had the Superdrome and TV deals lined up long before Bruton put pen to paper, and were going to be spending some serious money in free agency for the first time whether Bruton was there or not.

Whether you think he's worth honoring or not, though, jersey retirement isn't the way to go about it.

Look forward to seeing Redhage's number up there wouldn't think it's too far off happening.
No doubt Martin will be next after Redhage.

Get Redhage up there before people start clamouring for Martin's singlet. Might as well do it this year unless there is a convention to wait longer?

Can people stop bringing up Cal Bruton whenever retired Perth jerseys get discussed?? Its not going to happen. I agree with Koberulz sentiment. Bruton played 3 seasons in Perth, and was here for a total of 4 seasons as either player, coach or GM. He was succesful here for sure and may be the 'face of the club' at a time when the Cats and the league were taking off. Despite private money being available now.

However, do you think Bruton could have achieved similar things if he took over the Cats in say 2003 in a broken down league at a club that was close to folding?

With the obvious exclusion of a player falling in tragic circumstances, had Bruton played most of his career in Perth and played at the same level as Grace, Vlahov, Fisher etc, or had a captioned longevity like Ellis, his #55 would be up there.

Anyway, Rehage needs his jersey retired and im not sure why its taking so long. I thought it would have happened last year at some point. Not sure what the rationale is behind this.

Bringing up Cal Bruton isn't necessary it's like saying Perth got revenge on 1993 Melbourne Tigers.
They should get Redhage's number retired ASAP.

Yeah, I wondered if there was some convention? ie be retired X years?

Or is it because he's still playing (in the SBL)?

Obviously you wouldn't retire somebody who was still playing in the league, so maybe that applies to playing anywhere?

Redhage is no longer playing SBL, but I doubt that's a factor.

Probably don't want to turn around and retire it immediately, but I would have expected it at some point this past season.

Saville and Campbell both had jerseys retired while they were still playing at Wollongong, although that was a special circumstance. The club may have its own rules but there certainly isn't anything official (I recall someone reporting a games-played minimum, for example, which is a threshold Bruton doesn't meet).

As far as Wagstaff, I'm not sure he warrants it. I put him more in the Watterson tier - played his whole career here, lasted a long time, but his peak probably wasn't high enough to justify it. It wouldn't bother me if they did retire his number (unless it was done before Redhage and Damo), but I think it's better left unretired personally.

I loved Paul Rogers and what he brought to the Wildcats but I doubt they are going to retire his #9 (he was better than Knight) any time soon.

I love that Perth Wildcats have waited a long time to retire jerseys, as I feel Tigers retiring Guidy and Gordon was just strange and who knows what the go is with Adelaide and their lack of retiring numbers (from memory I think it's Darryl Pearce who's number should have been retired 20 years ago).

But I agree with the sentiments above that Cal should have his #55 retired and that Jesse Wagstaff is a better version of Eric Watterson but neither deserve their jersey retired.

He played SBL last year, although yeah, that shouldn't really be an issue It's not like he's likely to mount an NBL comeback.

Fisher played only 247 games, but I feel his was also in acknowledgement of his overall contribution to the NBL. Over 400 games, 3 rings, 2 x league MVP, Olympian and HoF.

If Wagstff makes it to 350, I suppose a case could be made, but I think Redhage definitely deserves it.

I like to see Redhage number retired

he was the first wildcats player I tuned in to see as a teen