CRAIG Mansfield needed to recharge after his stint with the Kalamunda Eastern Suns before arriving at Lakeside in 2016 and 12 months on he has never been more motivated or passionate about coaching in the Women's SBL.

Following his remarkable run at the Suns that at one point saw him coaching the men's and women's teams as well as having plenty more on his plate, it's not hard to see why he felt he needed a break either.

But he had a great passion for Kalamunda and is proud of what he achieved at the club including taking the Eastern Suns to a first grand final with the women in 2013.

Mansfield backs smaller Lightning to have big impact 

However, following a year off in 2015 he wasn’t sure how he would feel upon arrival at Lakeside to pick up his coaching career.

He needn’t have worried because his passion was again piqued last season taking a young team led by MVP Ali Schwagmeyer back into the playoffs following a tough season in 2015 where they won just one game following a grand final appearance in 2014.

And now one game into the 2017 season and after a win on the road over the South West Slammers, Mansfield is feeling as motivated and passionate about his coaching and the team he's in charge of than any time he can remember.

He has enjoyed all the opportunities that coaching has presented him in the past, but right now he is feeling as good about a team he's been in charge of than he ever has before.

"I sure have made my fair share of mistakes along the way, but I enjoyed my time at Suns and if it hadn’t been for me doing so many consecutive seasons and with the first three years I coached the women and the men along with WNBL and the state team," Mansfield said.

"Every year I progressively backed it off and then realised I needed a year off. Then coming back last year I enjoyed it and coming into this year is the most motivated I have felt since my first couple of years when I started.

"It's the most energetic and motivated I've been, and I'm really enjoying things at Lakeside and hopefully things come together and we keep taking the women's program into a good spot."

Mansfield isn’t sure if it's necessarily the basketball side of things either. He feels at a good place in his life and that has helped him feel good about the Lightning team he's coaching.

"For whatever reason I'm really excited for this year," he said.

"I have some theories on it but it's more related to personal things and personal development rather than necessarily anything that's happened in terms of the basketball realm."

It was a big job for Mansfield to walk into when he arrived at the Lightning coming into 2016 as well.

He did well to take them back into the playoffs following that one-win year in 2015 before they came up against the eventual champion Willetton Tigers.

But Mansfield liked what he saw in terms of the young players coming through.

Re-signing MVP Schwagmeyer was then key and he is excited as well to have added Sydnee Fipps who started the season on fire last Saturday night against the Slammers with 24 points and 10 rebounds.

Long-term, Mansfield would like to oversee the development of the Lightning women's program where they can be championship contenders with locals and not needing imports.

But he understands that will take time.

"It's a two-edged sword where we want to build up the program the right way at Lakeside and not all the clubs care about this, some of them just churn the players over each year," he said.

"I don’t know if we'll be one step better or the same, or two or three steps better, but I'd love to get Lakeside to a point where we can be strong without imports and we could be considered a top six team just with local players and Lakeside girls.

"But we probably have a couple of years of development to go on that front, but we have still put together what we feel is a nice team this year."

Mansfield has an eye on the bigger, long-term picture with the Lightning as he continues to develop the young group beneath Schwagmeyer and Fipps along with Jess Van Schie, Tia Ucich and Alecia Knowles with Ash Grant to return after a break following the WNBL season.

How long that means Mansfield sees himself coaching at Lakeside for is something he just isn’t sure about.

But with his passion and motivation levels at an all-time high, and with him an experienced and highly-regarded and credentialed coach, it feels a good fit for club and coach alike to be in it for the long haul.

"My agreement with Lakeside is one year at a time, and that suits both parties but I love coaching. The side of coaching I like the most is the club environment and player development side of it," Mansfield said.

"The actual competitive side of it where it's a ruthless approach to win a grand final or bust, or pursuing basketball coaching goals, I'm not driven by. I was when I was younger, but not anymore.

"As long as I'm enjoying it, then I just want to see the girls develop and I would get no stimulus out of spending some money to put together a team and buy a championship.

"That's not a criticism on anyone else because the ability to be able to do that is part of coaching, but different people get enjoyment from different sides of it."

Photo by Mick Cronin