Little by Doo-little: Perth star nears return

Saturday, January 4, 2025

Perth coach John Rillie can’t put an exact timeline on Kristian Doolittle's return, but says he’s “close".

Kristian Doolittle has taken a big step forward in his recovery from a groin injury, ramping up his training on Friday morning.

Perth coach John Rillie can’t put an exact timeline on the star import’s return, but says he’s “close”, after Doolittle completed his most intensive workout since his last game on December 6.

Doolittle had been recording strong numbers in NBL25, before succumbing to injury, with significant increases in scoring (12.8 points per game, up from 8.5 in NBL24), rebounding (7.6 compared to 6.8) and assists (3.2 compared to 2.3).

“No chance for this weekend, but the good sign is he can join us for certain segments of practice,” Rillie said.

“That’s encouraging, but we also now need to see how he pulls up after ramping up the physical nature of getting out on the court and banging bodies.

“He’s obviously getting close, but today was the first day he could go for a good period of time in the half-court, so his body will dictate where he goes from here.”