Perth Lynx coach Ryan Petrik on the verge of club record for most wins as he chases WNBL championship dream

Perth Lynx coach Ryan Petrik is set to break the record for the most wins in club history, and the man he will overtake believes he will also become the person who ends the team’s championship drought. Petrik coached his 69th WNBL win on Sunday, equalling the mark Andy Stewart set during his five seasons in charge, and has the chance to overtake him during Tuesday night’s game against Canberra at the Perth High Performance Centre. Petrik worked as an assistant coach under Stewart and took over in 2020. He was instantly handed the challenge of dealing with the COVID hub in Queensland and won only four of 13 games that season. But since that time, Petrik has qualified for finals every year, made the grand final twice and currently has the team in third place with a 9-3 record while enjoying a four-game winning streak. Their average winning margin across those four games is 21 points. The Lynx haven’t won a championship since 1992 and Stewart is confident Petrik will finally enjoy the ultimate success this season. “I cannot imagine anybody beating this combination and that would well and truly be richly deserved,” Stewart told The West Australian. “I think the only thing that can beat them is if the Lynx have something go wrong. His strength has always been that he has extreme attention to detail. That was why I wanted to work with him.” Now into his sixth season in charge, Petrik’s ability to succeed despite the constant turnover of players has been a feature of his coaching. The team that made the grand final in 2024 included only one player from the group that lost the championship series in 2022. This season’s squad has only four players remaining from the 2024 campaign. Perth’s recruiting of Chinese superstar Han Xu looms as the masterstroke of this year. Stewart said that coup typified the way Petrik planned for each season. “He’s a very good recruiter. He knows what he’s looking for and goes after them,” Stewart said. “He recruits with his plan well and truly in place. I always recruited players that I liked and would then work with the strengths of the players to plan. He is the opposite. He recruits the exact type of player he needs. “Han Xu was the missing piece. She makes everybody better because you have to be so concerned about her that everybody else has more room. Who do you help off? How do you guard them all now? That highlights his good recruiting.” Lynx co-captain Amy Atwell said Petrik’s coaching this season had highlighted all of his talents. The Lynx overhauled their playing style, spent the first eight matches using a game plan that was designed for Xu despite her not even being in the country, and handled several players either being unavailable or under done due to injury. But now they are dominating matches, while averaging 99 points across the last four games. “We had some ugly wins early in the season because we were putting a lot of stuff in place for the team we have now, because we were going to finish the season with Han. For him to have that patience and trust in us when it wasn’t going great at the start of the season is a huge testament to him as a coach,” Atwell said. MOST WINS AS PERTH LYNX COACH Ryan Petrik: 69 Andy Stewart: 69 Guy Molloy: 52