THE Joondalup Wolves dominated the Men's SBL competition in 2015 on the way to the championship and the Wolfpack have lost little, added a second import and welcomed back some strong contributors for their 2016 campaign.

The Wolves missed the playoffs surprisingly in 2014 but bounced back emphatically in 2015 with Ben Ettridge taking back over as coach.

They dominated the regular season finishing as minor premiers with a 23-3 record and had to work hard to get through the Perry Lakes Hawks and Rockingham Flames in two-game series'.

However, the Wolfpack fully showed their dominance in the grand final beating the South West Slammers 105-75 to claim their third Men's SBL championship.

It was a star-studded Joondalup team with import big man Kevin Davis close to the MVP award averaging 18.8 points and 10.8 rebounds while leading the league in field goal percentage and blocked shots.

Trian Iliadis continued to be one of the best and most dangerous guards in the league highlighted by Grand Final MVP performance where he had 28 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals shooting 10-of-18 from the floor and nailing six three-pointers.

With former league MVP Damian Matacz still a strong presence, Rob Huntington a powerful force in the post, Ben Ironmonger having a breakout season, Seb Salinas continuing to come up big and there was just so many weapons the Wolves' possessed.

Even Joel Questel was outstanding and he remains a luxury coming off the bench for the Wolves when he would be a key player in starting line-ups at most other clubs.

All of those players are back again in 2016 to try and win back to back championships.

And the Wolves have added to their group as well with the arrival of a second import. Bobby Evans will be able to provide Huntington, Davis and Matacz some support and looks an exciting arrival.

Reece Maxwell is also back having missed most of 2014 and then all of 2015. That was originally to go on the Foxtel TV show 'The Recruit' where he impressed with his football talents but wasn’t picked up by an AFL club.

He tried his hand with WAFL club Claremont last season and played some good football at reserves level, but it ultimately didn’t work out and now he is back where he is most comfortable with the Wolfpack and with the round ball.

Rhys Smyth also returns to the Wolves and they look to have got significantly stronger on last season despite how dominant they were. The only departures of note are Louis Timms who has gone to Wayland Baptist University to play under Ty Harrelson and Doug Gates who has retired.

During the SBL Blitz held at Warwick Stadium, the Wolves beat the Geraldton Buccaneers, Goldfields Giants and Cockburn Cougars but lost a thriller to the Willetton Tigers.

The Wolfpack begin their championship defence against the South West Slammers at Eaton Recreation Centre on Saturday March 19.

Their home opener will take place on Easter Thursday against the Rockingham Flames at Joondalup Basketball Stadium.

ROSTER
Ngor Manyang, Rhys Smyth, Logan Thwaites, Kevin Davis (restricted), Joel Questel, Jordan Wellsteed, Seb Salinas, Ben Ironmonger, Sean Easther, Trian Iliadis, Reece Maxwell, Bobby Evans (restricted), Rob Huntington, Jacob Alexander, Nik Zivanovic, Damian Matacz, Sam Curtis, Juna Williams, Bryce Kenny
Coach – Ben Ettridge

EXPERTS THOUGHTS
Championship winning coach – ADAM FORDE
PREDICTION – 2nd
Consistency and depth in their line-up will see Wolves finish near the top once again. Whether Greg Hire makes an appearance or not will only look to change the winning margin in my opinion. Trian Iliadis, Kevin Davis and Seb Salinas will be more than enough to generate 20 plus wins for 2016.

SBL Slam Radio Host - MATT CECINS
PREDICTION – 1st
Find one weakness on the Wolves roster. I can’t. Reece Maxwell returns this year and is a phenomenal athlete, who will be hungry for his first title. It will be interesting to see how Bobby Evans fits in with the other tall timber with Davis, Huntington and Matacz. The Wolves can potentially score from any position on the floor, and the best rim protector in the league Kevin Davis will be eager to spike more layups out of SBL venues this season. If the whole playing squad buys into a ‘team first’ ethos and minutes played is not a concern, the Wolves will be near unbeatable in 2016.

ANONYMOUS
PREDICTION – 1st
While the league looks stronger in 2016, the defending champions look even better and that's a scary thought. They have lost Louis Timms and Doug Gates but have added a second import in Bobby Evans and welcome back Reece Maxwell and Rhys Smyth. A starting line-up of Iliadis, Salinas, Evans, Huntington and Davis is crazy good. Add in Matacz, Questel, Ironmonger, Maxwell and Smyth off the bench and it's of the highest quality. Hard to see them being stopped.

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Serene-Elise Photography