THE Rockingham Flames might be wondering what they've done to deserve facing NBL stars Cody Ellis, Shawn Redhage and Alex Loughton in their opening two weeks but it's not a task that threatens new coach Brad Samuelson.

The Flames opened the Men's SBL season last Friday night at home playing a Perth Redbacks team featuring retired NBL great Redhage and Cairns Taipans veteran Alex Loughton.

Now this Saturday night as they make the trip to Warwick Stadium to play the Stirling Senators, Cody Ellis looks set to come in bringing 107 games of NBL experience with him including playing a key role in the Illawarra Hawks recent run to the grand final.

Coach Mike Ellis made sure that Cody took a much-needed break last week while his team beat the Perry Lakes Hawks on Friday but will be glad to welcome him back this Saturday night in their home opener against the Flames.

"Cody just needed a break after playing three years straight of NBL, SBL, NBL, SBL and then NBL again. His body just needed a rest last week and it was important that he got that," Ellis said.

"That's another reason why it was such a good win for us. Cody was thankful afterwards because he felt guilty not playing, but he needed it.

"Even if he said at the last minute that he would play, I wouldn’t have let him. He should be back now this week refreshed and it will be good, I'm looking forward to it. Unfortunately for Rocko, but fortunately for us."

That's not quite helpful for a young Flames team that Samuelson has at his disposal in 2017, but the new coach will continue to back in his youthful group no matter what is thrown at them.

"It is really unknown how we will go this year but our average age will be turning 21. We'll have Jarryd who is turning 30, Ryan is 27 or 28 and then I have my son Beau, Matt Honey and Dylan Jeffery who are 23 this," Samuelson said.

"The basics of my group is 20 years of age so we are babies but we have a lot of experience within that group. They've all had their opportunities with AIS programs, state representation, schoolboys and obviously Ryan Godfrey and Beau have been to college and they will be our guards.

"We are quietly confident that we will perform extremely well but if it's our time to put our hand up to make a run at it we won't know until we're near the end of the season and see how we've developed, and coped with the turmoil that happens during a season."

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That Stirling-Rockingham clash on Saturday night is just one of seven intriguing match ups this weekend as well.

The round gets underway on Friday night with the Lakeside Lightning taking on the Mandurah Magic at Lakeside Recreation Centre and the Willetton Tigers facing the Cockburn Cougars at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

The Lightning went 1-1 last weekend beating the South West Slammers on the road on Saturday night before coming up short against the Geraldton Buccaneers at home on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Magic struggled against the Tigers last Saturday losing by 14 points in coach Aaron Trahair's first game in charge. Both teams are new and young, and it should be fascinating to see who steps up.

The other Friday game will be just as interesting on the sidelines with Adam Nener at the helm of the Cougars taking on the team he was assistant coach at last year with Steve Black helping them to the semi finals.

The Cougars might have lost some championship winning stars but showed in a three-point nail biting loss to the Wolves last Saturday they are still going to be around the mark. The Tigers also had a good win over the Magic despite missing Ray Turner setting up a terrific Week 2 battle.

Then on Saturday night, the Geraldton Buccaneers play the East Perth Eagles at Active West Stadium, the Goldfields Giants face the Joondalup Wolves at Neils Hansen Basketball Stadium, the South West Slammers host the Perth Redbacks at Eaton Recreation Centre and the Kalamunda Eastern Suns battle the Perry Lakes Hawks at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

The Buccs clash with the Eagles looms as a cracking early season contest. Geraldton won twice last weekend in Perth over the Eastern Suns and Lightning while East Perth was impressive beating Kalamunda and Goldfields despite the absence of imports Kevin Anthony and Kevin Davis.

Their availability in Geraldton on Saturday night will be one thing to watch out for while the Buccs have plenty of weapons including Player of the Week Dwayne Benjamin who can't wait now to play in front of his home fans for the first time.

"I'm now really excited to play this first home game. I went and watched the city league championship games and the crowd was amazing," Benjamin said.

"They say it goes up another level for our home games so I'm excited to put on a show for them and try and get as many wins at home for them as they can."

The Giants then host the Wolves with Goldfields looking to rebound from losses in Perth to open the season against the Redbacks and Eagles. The Wolfpack, meanwhile, started with a grand final rematch win over the Cougars and will be looking to back that up on the road.

The Slammers will be hoping to welcome back Brian Voelkel to host Redhage, Loughton and the Redbacks also on Saturday night. South West suffered an opening round loss at home to Lakeside while Perth won against Rockingham and Goldfields impressively last weekend.

The Eastern Suns will be looking for an improved performance as well hosting the Hawks. Kalamunda lost to East Perth and Geraldton last weekend while Perry Lakes suffered an upset loss at home to the Senators even without Matthew Adekponya.

WEEK 2 MEN'S SBL FIXTURES
FRIDAY
Lakeside Lightning v Mandurah Magic – Lakeside Recreation Centre 8.30pm
Willetton Tigers v Cockburn Cougars – Willetton Basketball Stadium 8.30pm

SATURDAY
Geraldton Buccaneers v East Perth Eagles – Active West Stadium 7.30m
Goldfields Giants v Joondalup Wolves – Neils Hansen Basketball Stadium 7.30pm
South West Slammers v Perth Redbacks – Eaton Recreation Centre 8pm
Stirling Senators v Rockingham Flames – Warwick Stadium 8pm
Kalamunda Eastern Suns v Perry Lakes Hawks – Ray Owen Sports Centre 8.30pm

Photo by Vikki Hile