IT WAS an unusual sight seeing both Perry Lakes Hawks' men's and women's SBL teams missing the playoffs in 2014 and now each of them has done plenty of work in the off-season to make sure they are back in the hunt in 2015.

With the Hawks women having won six SBL championships and the men five, missing playoffs has not been a common occurrence and having them both fall short in the one season has only ever happened once before, and that was back in 2012.

Perry Lakes' women hung into playoff contention for a lot of the 2014 season but ended up finishing with a 6-16 record and to be four games behind the eighth place Willetton Tigers.

That saw them finish in 10th position on the back of 10th in 2013 and ninth in 2012, and three years out of the playoffs isn’t a place the Lady Hawks are used to being having won championships in 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2007 and 2008, and making grand finals in 1999, 2000, 2004 and 2010.

So Perry Lakes has made a concerted effort to put together a significantly stronger unit for 2015 and that includes the additions of Lauren Jeffers, Danika Pisconeri and import Kassi Conditt.

Despite losing Anna Kovats, Rebecca Boyanich, Rosie Tobin and Sarah Donovan from last year's team, the addition of those three players along with Jessie Clayton and Kate Anthony having fully recovered from knee injuries should all point to a vastly improved season for the Hawks.

Conditt arrives at the Hawks fresh off having led Oregon Tech to their first ever CCC Tournament Title in 2014 with the 22-year-old centre sure to give the Hawks an even stronger inside presence in 2015.

Conditt is just the second imports that the Lady Hawks have signed since the SBL started up in 1989 and coach CJ Jackson is excited not only with her signing, but with how all of the plans put in place to build towards 2015 have to fruition over the off-season.

"We are pleased to have Kassi on board with our women's program. Her inclusion to our roster will make us one of the biggest teams in the competition. Kassie will be the second import in the Lady Hawks history and we look forward to her size and skill set to help guide our team back into playoff contention," Jackson said.

"During the off-season the focus from the coaches was to build a stronger roster featuring our local players, recruiting from other clubs and the inclusion of an import, which is the trend of the league. Now that we have secured all the pieces we look forward to the challenges ahead of us."

The Perry Lakes men also missed out on making the playoffs in 2014 ending with an 11-15 record to be in 10th place and three games behind the ninth place Joondalup Wolves.

That means that the Hawks needed to do something to improve quickly in 2015 and they look capable of doing just that on the back of signing imports Jason Conrad and Bryton Hobbs.

With Ben Purser still leading the way as one of the best all-round players in the SBL and Ben Dixon partnering Hobbs in the back court then Perry Lakes certainly won't be any pushover this season.

Conrad immediately gives the Hawks plenty of size and presence in the paint with his sheer size standing at 213cm tall and he arrives having most recently playing with the Moncton Miracles in the Canadian NBL.

Hobbs, meanwhile, is a 183cm combo guard who has just completing his time at Northeastern State University in Oklahoma, and brings with him plenty of speed, scoring punch and is long enough to be a defensive asset as well.

Hawks men's coach Charles Nix is happy with what both imports offer to top off his squad coming into 2015.

"We are excited to be welcoming Jason and Bryton into the Perry Lakes family. I expect them to come in and make immediate impact on the league and these guys will bring something new to the team that we haven’t had in the time I've been here," Nix said.

"We did an extensive search across the globe to find the pieces we believe will take us to the next level and we have come away with two quality young men. I'm looking forward to helping them develop on and off the court."

WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY
MEN

STEPHEN CHARLTON
Adding 2 new imports and the returning Dixon will lead to a competitive squad form 2014. Added a couple Aussie to the squad and depth is now looking like a strength after a couple of years where this was the biggest issue. Have a few things to prove and must improve defensively on last year to make this leap, but looked competitive at the Blitz as the only team with any imports (from memory).

My Prediction: 7th

MATT CECINS
The Hawks have a well-balanced roster, with added experience returning with Simon Blannerhassett. New import Bryton Hobbs and Ben Dixon form a nice backcourt with Rory Pekin and Miles Tierney providing adequate minutes off the pine. Still question marks remain on the defensive end of the floor, and the Hawks are light on for quality to backup the power forward and centre positions. At 213cm, new import Jason Conrad will be a strong target in the low block.

My Prediction: 9th

CHRIS PIKE
Import point guard Bryton Hobbs in tandem with Ben Dixon who has just returned from his NBL stint with Townsville will be a dynamic duo in the back court, and 213cm import Jason Conrad will add a new dimension to the Hawks this year. Purser will be solid again, however, the Hawks may be one of those teams who find themselves disappointed come August with the league looking as high quality as ever and I feel they may just miss the eight.

My Prediction: 10th

WOMEN

CRAIG MANSFIELD
Why do I think that a team that missed the finals last season and has loses Kovats, Boyanich, Tobin and Donovan gets better? Talent isn’t as evenly spread this year and they have much better team balance. Some of this will depend on J Clayton and Anthony getting back to form from knee injuries but Jeffers is an experienced addition to a team that desperately needed another point guard. They will still have McKay inside and they’ve added Pisconeri and an import tall. Last year they set on-ball screens on every possession with lots of posts but no guards to dribble off them, even with a similar system they should look significantly better this season.

My Prediction: 6th

MATT CECINS
The Hawks are another club that will improve this year. Lauren Jeffers leaves the Slammers and brings an extra dimension to the Hawks. She is one of the best in the WSBL at getting to the hoop and drawing fouls, where she hurts opponents with accuracy from the charity stripe. Megan McKay is one of the best young prospects in the WA and will team up with import Conditt in the low post. The healthy return of Kate Anthony is crucial for this very young side looking to make the playoffs.

My Prediction: 7th

CHRIS PIKE
Should improve on their disappointing 2015 with the addition of Lauren Jeffers, Danika Pisconeri and import Kassi Conditt. I think the Hawks will be one of those teams who will be fighting for that 7/8 spot come playoffs time.

My Prediction: 8th