“Wear them down”: Rillie’s plan breaks Brisbane

John Rillie went into half-time confident the Perth Wildcats’ pressure would eventually wear down the Brisbane Bullets, and that belief proved spot on as an even team contribution powered a winning start to 2026.

Despite trailing by four at the main break on New Year’s Day in Brisbane, after conceding 28 points in the second quarter and forcing just four turnovers, Rillie had seen enough to stay committed to the plan.

With Brisbane short on ball-handling options and Mitch Norton the only genuine playmaker available, Rillie knew sustained pressure would pay dividends if the Wildcats stayed the course.

“The consistency with our effort and the dedication to that, you saw it there in the third quarter and when we’re locked in like that, it can be very disruptive,” Rillie said.

“It creates turnovers so that was really good to see where we just kinda lost our way a little bit there in the second quarter.”

The blueprint had already been laid in recent weeks, with the Sydney Kings and South East Melbourne Phoenix forcing the Bullets into a combined 45 turnovers in wins totalling 54 points. The Wildcats followed suit and shifted into gear after the break.

Perth held Brisbane scoreless for more than five minutes to open the second half while pouring on 21 points of their own. From half-time onward, the Wildcats outscored the Bullets 55–31 and forced 12 turnovers as the pressure finally told.

“My message at half-time was that we just had to trust what we’re doing and don’t let the scoreboard, or the score, reflect how we feel we’re playing,” Rillie said.

“That was about wearing them down with the way the guards picked up and then the bigs protecting the rim, and in the first half statistically they made some shots that are probably little bit out of the norm.

“So that’s where you trust what you’re doing and then when you come out with the approach that we did in the third quarter, that’s where you get rewarded.”

The Wildcats arrived in Brisbane without David Duke Jr, sidelined by the elbow injury he suffered in Sunday’s loss to Adelaide, but the most encouraging aspect of the 20-point win over the Bullets was the depth of contribution across the roster.

“That’s who we are as a team like we need everyone contributing and what a contribution looks like can look different every night for different guys,” Rillie said.

“It’s easy to talk about Pep (Elijah Pepper) and Henny (Ben Henshall), but you’ve got Dave Okwera, you’ve got Sunday (Dech), you’ve got Lat (Mayen) and we’ve got other guys like (Jesse) Wagstaff who was brilliant for us tonight.

“We need everyone contributing in their best way for us to be at our best and you saw glimpses of that tonight.”