Webster's "relentless" approach to comeback

Perth veteran Corey Webster is closing in on towards a return to play with the Wildcats, after being sidelined for the past three weeks with a calf injury.

Webster found his role within head coach John Rillie’s system reduced prior to the injury, but Rillie has praised how “relentless” the 35-year-old has been with his recovery.

The news of Corey’s impending return comes as Rillie played down the absence of Tai Webster from training due to illness.

“With Corey, as of today you would say he’s going to play because he’s practiced well and participated in a lot of on-court duties,” Rillie said.

“It’s totally a loading thing with his injury that he’s bounced back well. I hold my breath a little bit at night to see how he shapes up the next day, but yesterday he was phenomenal and today he was phenomenal again.

“Besides the basketball stuff the way he approached it and the diligence he’s put towards the tedious exercises you have to do to give yourself the best chance of playing, he’s been relentless over the past three weeks in his recovery process.

“That gives me great excitement about where he’s at and how he’s recovering.”

The high-flying Wildcats face a potential banana-skin clash on Friday night when they take on the Illawarra Hawks under interim head coach Justin Tatum, who looks to have reinvigorated the side since his appointment.

The Hawks currently sit bottom of the NBL24 standings, but Rillie says ladder positions don't count for much ahead of Friday’s matchup.

“They’re 1-1 under the new coach and that doesn’t reflect their overall record, so you can argue they’re better,” Rillie said.

“I think they’re still trying to figure out who they are under Tatum but they’re playing with a better purpose.

“For us, it’s how we approach the game. If we come in thinking that mentality thinking it’s a top couple of teams on the ladder versus the bottom, we’ll be in for a struggle.

“Our mentality, our approach has been the same whether it’s the Sydney Kings, Melbourne United, Tassie.”

Illawarra hosts Perth on Friday night at 7:30pm AEDT, with the game live on ESPN via Kayo.