Perth Wildcats captain Jesse Wagstaff to play on next season and create even more NBL history

Perth Wildcats captain Jesse Wagstaff will play into a historic 18th season, hitting the court as a 40-year-old and having the chance to move into third place for the most games in NBL history. Wagstaff will turn 40 later this month but was quick to re-sign with the Wildcats after another season where he defied his age to have a major impact off the bench. The veteran said he has never felt his age and always made decisions based on how strongly he feels he can perform. “I’m proud that I’ve been able to maintain myself for such a long time and can still contribute and perform,” Wagstaff told The West Australian. “But I’m still late 30s. I’m not 40 yet. People have been waiting for me to fall apart for the last decade. I think my longevity is due to a number of factors. Luck plays a role but we have great staff here now and had great staff in the past who I’ve listened to. I’ve never played 40 minutes per game and had high wear and tear on the body. “And I’ve never really played in the off-season. I’ve stayed in shape but I haven’t played basketball in the off-season so that has helped as well. As I’ve got older I’ve learnt that I can’t play all year round. “This wasn’t a really huge decision or difficult decision. But I obviously had to speak to my wife and decide where we want to be with life and with the kids because my life is bigger than the Wildcats and basketball.” Wagstaff is currently ranked sixth in the NBL after playing 540 games. But he played 35 matches last season and if he remains healthy, Wagstaff will pass Leroy Loggins in third spot when he reached his 28th game. “There’s a lot of water to go under the bridge and I still have to get there but it’s humbling because I didn’t even think I’d have a basketball career. I didn’t consider playing basketball professionally until very, very late – let alone playing for this long. It’s a huge honour and I consider it a privilege,” he said. Wagstaff is also chasing a seventh NBL championship and has been close in recent seasons without making the grand final. Perth were knocked out in the semifinals last season by Sydney and Wagstaff believes the team will challenge again. “It’s such a tough league. The gap between winning a championship and losing is very slim,” he said. “Sydney were deserving champions but Adelaide were on shot away from winning. We were one shot away from winning game one in Sydney and the previous year we were seconds away from playing in the grand final series. We don’t need huge changes. We’re close.” MOST NBL GAMES 665 Tony Ronaldson 612 Andrew Gaze 567 Leroy Loggins 563 Glen Saville 554 Mark Bradtke 540 Jesse Wagstaff 532 Lanard Copeland