Perth Lynx coach Ryan Petrik breaks club record for most wins as Anneli Maley goes berserk with rebounds

Perth Lynx coach Ryan Petrik has attempted to downplay his role in breaking the club record for the most wins as coach after his team thrashed Canberra Capitals by 26 points on Monday night, but his captain Anneli Maley has ensured he walked away with plenty of plaudits. The Lynx won 75-49 at the Perth High Performance Centre to register their fifth consecutive victory, but this night was most significant for Petrik’s 70th win in charge. He overtook Andy Stewart as having the most wins by a coach in the club history’s in front of more than 2000 fans at Perth High Performance Centre. “I’ve had really good players and really good staff. In all honesty it’s got nothing to do with me,” Petrik said. “I understand I’m at the head of it and when we lose I should get all the blame. That’s the role of the head coach. But the reality is go through the players I have had for the last five or six years. I’m really, really fortunate to be surrounded by elite staff and elite players who do a lot of the winning for us.” But Maley refused to let her coach give other people credit for his achievement. Now into her third season at the Lynx after playing for five other clubs, she said Petrik was a class above most coaches. “He says it’s good players, but people actually want to play for him,” she said. “That’s probably something he won;t give himself credit for. His basketball brain and ability to see things on the floor and communicate them to his players is the best I’ve ever played for. I’ll struggle to play for another coach.” The Lynx led by only two points early in the third quarter but outscored Canberra 41-17 for the rest of the night. Canberra’s 49 points was the lowest tally scored against any Perth team since the club re-branded from the West Coast Waves in 2015. Maley was outstanding with 16 points and 21 rebounds. She was one rebounds short of her own club record. That followed her 19 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists against Adelaide on Sunday. Petrik expressed his shock that Maley was overlooked for the Australian Opals squad earlier this week, but Maley said she would accept the decision. “People get cut from teams all the time. I’ve been cut from so many teams. Those are hard squads to make and I think all 19 of those girls are so deserving,” she said. “I feel very blessed that people have their opinions but I respect everyone’s decisions and how that panned out. It’s not going to change the way I play. It’s something I want for myself ,but I’ll just keep working.”