Grace opens up on Wagstaff record tilt

Records are made to be broken, and Perth Wildcats legend Ricky Grace would be proud to see current club captain and six-time champion Jesse Wagstaff overtake his all-time appearance record – should the 37-year-old continue his run of form in John Rillie’s side.

Grace arrived at the Wildcats in 1990 and spent 15 years with the club. His honours include four NBL titles, two Larry Sengstock Medals, four All-NBL First Team nominations and an Olympic appearance for Australia at the 2000 Olympics.

His number 15 jersey has also been retired by the club, and he’s regarded as one of the greatest imports in the competition’s history.

Wagstaff currently sits 29 games behind Grace’s mark of 482 appearances for the Wildcats.

“I thought about tripping him. I was sitting there right near the bench and thought maybe I’d trip him up a little bit,” Grace jokingly told SEN.

“Records are made to be broken and Jesse is an amazing Wildcat on and off the court.

“It’s a credit to the professionalism of Jesse, the high standard of play he’s been able to do over many, many years. I wish him the best.”

Grace’s arrival in the NBL ahead of the 1990 season coincided with both the first golden era of Wildcats basketball, and the first golden era of the NBL.

Nicknamed ‘Amazing’ Grace, the Dallas-born guard was one of the league’s leading lights alongside teammates Scott Fisher, James Crawford and Andrew Vlahov – all of whom have also had their jerseys retired by the Wildcats.

The NBL has established itself as a popular destination for high-level overseas talent through the establishment of the Next Stars program and the growing legitimacy of the league as a growing NBL pathway.

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Grace, for all his legendary status in both his club and the league, says he was entering into his NBL experience almost blind.

“It was a fork in the road life moment for me as a youngster when I still had NBA dreams and thought I had NBA talent,” he said.

“I had offers from a few places in the world but I chose Australia because it was English speaking, and that was the only thing I knew about Australia.

“I got on the flight and it said I’d leave Sydney at nine and get to Perth at ten so I thought it was a one-hour flight. That’s how much I knew about Perth.

“When I arrived in Perth they took me straight to the Perth Entertainment Centre, I saw the 9000 seat stadium first game was sold out and the fans were 100 per cent behind us. I knew it was a good place and luckily enough we won two championships in the first two years.

“I fell in love with the city and the city seemed to like me.”

Despite his four titles and extensive honour roll with the Wildcats, a late call into the Boomers squad for the 2000 Sydney Olympics has been heralded by Grace as his career highlight, especially after being so close to selection for the 1996 Atlanta edition of the tournament.

The only NBA representative for Australia in Sydney was current Sydney part-owner Luc Longley who, at the time, was representing the Phoenix Suns.

The then 34-year-old Grace formed a guard rotation with the likes of Adelaide’s Brett Maher, Sydney’s Shane Heal and Victoria’s Jason Smith as the second-oldest player on the team behind Gaze.

“Winning a championship – the first Wildcats championship – in 1990 when we arrived with 10,000 people at the airport near midnight was absolutely amazing,” Grace said.

“But to represent Australia, to be playing against the best in the world from all over the world, those two or three weeks in Sydney seeing the country come together the way it did, to be in the world spotlight of sport – the pinnacle of sport – and to be involved in that was definitely the highlight of my career.

“Being cut three months before the 1996 Olympics and being very disappointed that I wasn’t able to play in Atlanta in front of my family, but to be called into the Boomers side in the opposite circumstances three months before the 2000 Olympics, but to be sitting in the locker room with Andrew Gaze when he got the phone call saying he’ll be carrying the flag for the country, those sort of memories are a true highlight.”

Grace’s Wildcats have moved up to fifth on the ladder off the back of a three-game winning run, and will next play the Cairns Taipans on Thursday, November 16 at RAC Arena.