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Perth Lynx coach Ryan Petrik explains lack of WNBA imports as NBL1 star Robbi Ryan joins club for WNBL

Headshot of Craig O'Donoghue
Craig O'DonoghueThe West Australian
Perth Lynx will be a different looking team this season.
Camera IconPerth Lynx will be a different looking team this season. Credit: James Worsfold/Getty Images

Perth Lynx will enter the season without a WNBA import after finding they weren’t able to compete financially with the massive offers being made to players by clubs in Europe.

The Lynx have signed American Robbi Ryan after seeing her performing in NBL1 West and she is the final piece of their roster puzzle as they attempt to take the step from grand finalists to WNBL champions.

The roster will be extremely different to last season. Captain and Australian Opal Darcee Garbin, reigning club MVP and WNBA number one draft pick Jackie Young, and superstar American Marina Mabrey all received offers too good to refuse to leave the club.

Lynx trio Darcee Garbin, Jackie Young and Marina Mabrey have been lured to Europe.
Camera IconLynx trio Darcee Garbin, Jackie Young and Marina Mabrey have been lured to Europe. Credit: Jackson Flindell/The West Australian

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That followed other teams also losing key players to lucrative deals.

“Europe has gone crazy with spending and the WNBA players are all heading over there,” Lynx coach Ryan Petrik said.

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“The money in Europe has been way too hard to turn down. So with WNBA imports much harder to get, we decided to go much more Australian.

“We wanted to get (WNBA draftee) Amy Atwell back home as a West Aussie and Chloe Bibby was someone we’d coveted for a while. So we were keen to get those two.

“Robbi has been sitting in our backyard. We brought Sami Whitcomb in from the State league, so we’re pretty confident that we know what a good import looks like if they’re going to transfer over to the WNBL.

Lauren Scherf and Alex Sharp are among the big names returning.
Camera IconLauren Scherf and Alex Sharp are among the big names returning. Credit: Kelly Defina/Getty Images

“There’s a lot of Robbi’s game that we really like and we think the way she plays will be good in this league.”

Ryan has averaged 21 points, five assists and six rebounds per game in NBL1 West

The Lynx will enter the season having retained Whitcomb, Lauren Scherf, Alex Sharp and Tayah Burrows. Emma Gandini and Mackenzie Clinch-Hoycard have been upgraded from Development Players, Jessie Edwards received another opportunity after playing in the 2020-21 season while Ryan, Atwell and Bibby are the other key recruits.

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