The glass half full: Ryan Petrik reflects on Perth's grand final heartbreak

The Lynx coach looks back on a rollercoaster WNBL season of overachievement.

Photo credit: Kelly Defina / Getty Images

Few teams have come as close to winning a WNBL championship but fallen short as the Perth Lynx this year. After hitting 22 of 38 three-pointers to demolish the Southside Flyers 101-79 in game one, their momentum looked irresistible.

Back at home for game two, the Lynx never led but stormed back into the contest late and levelled up the score with just under a minute to go, through a pair of Aari McDonald free throws.

But then, heartbreak.

With the Flyers offence suddenly spluttering, the Lynx had golden opportunities to seize the lead, and the title, but Anneli Maley missed two free throws and then an open lay-up in the closing stages before a buzzer-beater from Mercedes Russell sealed a dramatic Southside win and sent the series back to Melbourne.

History will show that the Flyers then coasted to a 115-81 victory in game three, and the championship that had felt so close just days before, was gone. Remarkably, the loss had haunting echoes of the Lynx’s last grand final series, back in 2021/22, when they almost clinched the title in game two, only to be steamrolled in the decider.

Talking to The Pick and Roll, Lynx coach Ryan Petrik acknowledged the pain of the defeat, but was philosophical about his team’s overachieving season and the big picture of competing against bigger-budget opponents.