COACH Matt Parsons built his Cockburn Cougars team like it was a chess game recruiting pieces to fit where they were needed and it is that strong depth behind making Saturday's Grand Final without their captain to be ready for the defending champions.

Parsons had a big task ahead of him when he took over as coach of the Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars for 2015 with a host of important players and championship winners departing leaving him with the job to rebuild.

But last year the signings of Najee Lane and Eric Milam plus the return of Sheldon McIntyre were valuable as the Cougars finished in fourth position before losing in the quarter finals to the Rockingham Flames and now they have gone to another level in 2016.

Dan Thomas and Rhett Della both returned to Cockburn, Lane stayed on and was joined by big man import Marcus Goode replacing Milam while the return of Jaarod Holmes and addition of Travis Hayto have been handy.

Then with the emergence of Julian Pesava and continued strong contributions from the likes of Steven Van Lit and the Cougars have enormous depth even without injured captain Gavin Field who won't be there in Saturday night's Grand Final against the Joondalup Wolves at Bendat Basketball Centre.

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But Parsons is proud of his depth and knowing that he has so many players to call upon heading in the Grand Final against the defending champions has him confident his team can get the job done.

"At the end of the day as a coach, it's a bit of a chess game because you are trying to pick pieces to go to certain places in your team but it is as simple as giving the guys the keys and them taking you to where they want to go," Parsons said.

"We do whatever we can to educate them and put them in a position to succeed, and they are the ones who do the hard work to get us there.

"We've had a really good core group of guys and some of the media stuff we've seen in the last couple of weeks is a testament to some of the characters we have. That's all the character that builds culture, and a great culture breeds winning so that's what we've been aiming to create."

Thomas and Della are two veterans who have returned to the Cougars this year and have proven valuable additions. The reward for both is a first appearance in an SBL Grand Final this Saturday night after their long and decorated careers.

Parsons couldn’t be happier for both and while Thomas has indicated he will play on in 2017, there is a chance the Grand Final could be the last game for Della and 2013 championship winner McIntyre. The coach would be proud to send them out winners.

"Neither of them (Thomas and Della) have played in an SBL Grand Final before and both won't take anything for granted on Saturday night. Their preparation is amazing for both of those guys, they watch film and do all the little things," Parsons said.

"They are going to enjoy this experience and if they do the right thing they will get a championship at the end of it. It would be unbelievable for those guys (McIntyre and Della), they are your two heart and soul, and hustle guys. They do everything that is asked of them and all the things that aren’t asked of them as well.

"I would be honoured to be able to give them that opportunity to walk off with a ring, but I'm also pretty confident that the majority of this group will come back. We may lose one or two but we'll approach next season when the time comes, right now we just want to reward some of the guys for their efforts over the years."

The Cougars had a hiccup in the quarter finals losing Game 2 to the Perry Lakes Hawks but bounced back with a strong Game 3 having adjusted to being without Field.

They were supremely impressive beating a hugely talented Geraldton Buccaneers team in two games and the confidence from that is something Parsons hopes now carries over into Saturday night's Grand Final.

"We did a really, really good job. What we did well was our defensive execution and we were the second highest ranked scoring team in the league prior to the finals and Gavin getting injured. We were happy with that but the key to us was that we had to change what we were doing," Parsons said.

"Losing a key piece in Gavin is massive but you can't keep doing the same things and expect the same results.

"We had a bit of a feeler game against Perry Lakes in Game 2 of the first round but we managed to understand within our group that we'd have to continue to work and make the extra pass, and do those little things without having that default guy who we could throw the ball to and watch.

"We also knew we could only afford to make that change if we played strong defence and we were really happy with our defensive output against Geraldton and it did become a defensive grind.

"It was everything a playoff series should be and all the offence came from the defensive work of both teams. That's where we are sitting right now and we will take that form into the Grand Final."

While the Wolfpack are the defending champions and have now played in four of the last six Grand Finals, Parsons believes that his team has enough experience and more importantly depth to make sure that isn’t an issue come Saturday night.

"It always does have some sort of impact and having had exposure to something before will always hold you in good stead the next time, so experience does play a role. In terms of this season, the bigger games you play in the more exposed you become to that pressure," he said.

"Going up to Geraldton and being able to win is a fair replication of what will be there at the Grand Final so that's a great start for us in preparation for Saturday night."

One of the more fascinating aspects of Saturday night's Grand Final is the battle between big men Goode and Kevin Davis. Without question they are the two best big men in the SBL and they could very well be the two best players, albeit completely different in the way they go about it.

Parsons is looking forward to seeing how the contest pans out.

"It's the tale of two beasts because one is an absolute offensive freak and the other one is as big a defensive freak as there's been in this league ever," Parsons said.

"You can't underestimate one and it's going to be good fun to watch both of them going at each other. They actually play against each other back in Seattle so there's a little bit of history there with the two of them and they'll lift it up another level. I look forward to seeing it, it's going to be crazy."

Article by Chris Pike