BIO: Anthony Petrie was born in Tenterfield (NSW) and began playing basketball as a junior with the Tenterfield basketball program. He attended Sir Henry Parkes Memorial Primary School and Tenterfield High School, graduating in 2000. He is married and has 3 daughters and 1 son. One of his daughters Emma has stepped in her fathers footpath and plays basketball as well.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Anthony Petrie made his NBL debut with the West Sydney Razorbacks at 24 years of age. He scored 12 points in his first game.

By the 2007/08 season, the Razorbacks were in the midst of a multitude of financial problems. Under new ownership, the team chose not to re-sign coach Cal Bruton, who was hired mid-way through the previous season and added Rob Beveridge, a unproven young coach who was the former head coach of the junior men’s national team. The financial instability of the team saw leading scorer James Harvey and club veteran Scott McGregor both sign deals to play for Gold Coast. To replace them, Beveridge recruited two of his former junior players, University of Loyola Marymount graduates Damian Martin and Matthew Knight. Liam Rush was named team captain, and Darnell Hinson and Troy De Vries were later signed as import players.

a injury to Damian Martin during the pre-season saw him miss the first half of the season, forcing the team to rely on Hinson (20.5 points, 2.8 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 2.1 steals) and De Vries (16.9 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 2.2 assists) to carry the offensive load and the ball carrying duties.

West Sydney struggled to be competitive most nights with its young roster, but there were still odd nights that they could squeak out a win if a number of players had big games. A win over the South Dragons (116-106) where Devries (31 points), Hinson (26 points), and Knight (23 points and 14 rebounds) all fired at once or the back-to-back wins where Hinson put up big numbers in wins against Gold Coast (32 points and 8 rebounds) and Cairns Taipans (31 points) but there were highlights for the Razorbacks across the season.

The team’s young frontcourt of Knight (12.0 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 1.1 assists) and Khazzouh (11.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.2 assists) showed promise and was able to double the team’s number of wins from the previous season from 5 to 10.

Petrie impressed during his rookie season, appearing in only 28 games, averaging 9.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 0.9 assists.

WOLLONGONG HAWKS
2008/09
Having lost star forward Glen Saville to rival club Sydney in 2007, he returned the following season as a result of the Kings financial collapse and withdrawal from the league. Other key player movements saw Cam Rigby, Aaron Trahair and Ben Castle exit the club with Anthony Petrie, Rhys Martin and Dusty Rychart sigining as their replacements.

Saville (15.1 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.7 steals, and 1.0 blocks) was a monster in his first season back in Wollongong, finishing fourth in the NBL in defensive rebounds, tenth in total rebounds, and fifth in steals. New addition Dusty Rychart (15.1 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 1.6 assists) would lead the team in scoring but the roster shuffle saw Mat Campbell (9.8 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 2.4 assists), Lindsay Tait (8.4 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 2.8 assists) and Larry Davidson (6.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks) all saw their scoring production drop by 3-4 points each resulting in the Hawks struggling to compete offensively against the top team’s.

Saville averaged 15.1 points and 7.7 rebounds, and 3.7 assists and Petrie contributed 12.7 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 1.2 assists as the Hawks limped home to a seventh place finish (11-19).

GOLD COASST BLAZE
2008/09
The 2009/10 season saw Petrie average 11.3 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 1.9 assists and play a key role in helping the Blaze to a third place finish in the regular season (16-12).

2010/11
During the 2010/11 season Petrie averaged 15 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 1.3 assists and helped the Blaze finish the regular season in sixth place (13-15).

2011/12
During the 2011/12 season, Petrie averaged 10.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 1 assist and was a part of the Gold Coast squad which finished in a third place (17-11).

ADELAIDE 36ERS
2012/13
Adelaide and head coach Marty Clarke finished in last place for the second year in a row with a identical 8–20 record to last season. The 36ers suffered through another eight-game losing streak, equalling the losing streak from last season. After a streak of import woes due to injury or poor performance, the team decided to focus on building a Australian talent. Adelaide signed a trio of former Gold Coast Blaze players after they folded, inking Adam Gibson (who had been close to signing with Melbourne), Anthony Petrie and Jason Cadee to multi-year deals and added up and coming young forward Stephen Weigh from Perth. In order to give their young Aussie core the opportunity to develop further, the decision was made to go with only one import, local state player CJ Massingale.

Daniel Johnson (16.2 points and 8.1 rebounds) solidified his place as Adelaide’s franchise player, leading 36ers in scoring and the league in rebounds. Over the first 12 games the emergence of exciting crowd favourite Mitchell Creek (5.8 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 0.5 assists) gave fans hope for the future before he suffered a season ending Achilles tendon injury against Townsville (Dec 15).

Petrie finished the season averaging 11.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.1 assists while coach Marty Clarke was not re-signed for the coming season, the 36ers securing NBL championship winning coach Joey Wright as his replacement.

2013/14
In 2013, the 36ers secured NBL championship-winning coach Joey Wright, who took the team from two consecutive wooden spoons to the Grand Final against the Perth Wildcats. The team retained its core group of Aussie talent, including Daniel Johnson (19.2 points and 6.8 rebounds), who once again led the team in scoring, and rebounding, Adam Gibson, Jason Cadee and Petrie.

The 36ers also received a boost with Mitchell Creek and Luke Schenscher back on the court after both having their previous campaigns ended prematurely due to injury. Creek overcoming a near career-ending Achilles injury, and Schenscher undergoing elbow surgery. The club also added BJ Anthony (via New Zealand) and 2011 NBL MVP Gary Ervin (via Townsville) to pair with new import Jarrid Frye in the backcourt.

After Round 7 of the season the 36ers, led by Ervin and Johnson, were sitting in second place on the NBL ladder with a 7–2 record, which also included a 5–0 run. This included the 36ers winning both of their games against the Breakers in Auckland, their first wins over the triple defending champions since 2009. Adelaide also took down the undefeated Perth Wildcats (91–86) in front of 6,585 fans at the Adelaide Arena. Perth had been sitting on a 7-0 record prior to that loss in front of the largest Adelaide home crowd since Brett Maher’s last home game in 2009.

By December, Adelaide (9-4) had already eclipsed last season’s eight-win total.

By December, Adelaide (9-4) had already eclipsed last season’s eight-win total.

In February, the 36ers released Jarrid Frye (8.2 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.5 assists) due to underwhelming play and a ankle injury keeping him off the court. With second-placed Adelaide eyeing a Grand Final berth local guard Rhys Carter, who had been playing as a import in Sweden, was signed as his replacement.

The 36ers finished the regular season in second place (18-10), with Petrie appearing in 34 games and contributing 10.9 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 1.3 assists.

The 36ers would face Melbourne in the semifinals, and with Gary Ervin (27 points and 7 assists) finishing the game high scorer, Adelaide claimed victory in game one (101-85). Game two would be played in Melbourne, where Tigers guard Chris Goulding (37 points) exploded in a game two win for the Tigers (98-87), evening the series (1-1). In game three, Adelaide responded by demolishing Melbourne (102-63), holding them to a 27-point half-time score and winning every quarter by 7 points or more.

The grand final would see second-ranked Adelaide face first-placed Perth with game one held in Perth. Wildcats star import James Ennis (30 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 assists) would lead Perth in points, rebounds, and assists, resulting in Perth claiming the win (92-85) and taking a 1-0 series lead.

Game two would see 8,127 36ers fans (their largest crowd of the season) rally their team to a 89-84 win behind big games from Gary Ervin (23 points) and Adam Gibson (18 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists) to even the series (1-1).

13,498 of Perth’s ‘red army’ would show up to see the Wildcat’s defeat Adelaide and win their sixth NBL title, with James Ennis subdued by foul trouble Perth’s most experienced duo, Shawn Redhage and Damian Martin were relied on to pick up the slack. Redhage scored 10 of his 16 points in the first term to help his team settle into the contest, while Martin produced a superb defensive effort on 36ers star Gary Ervin, limiting the game two hero to just 4 points while adding 14 points and six rebounds of his own. Greg Hire (9 rebounds, 5 assists) and Jermaine Beal (15 points) provided key contributions of their own to help Perth bury the demons of successive grand final defeats in the past two seasons.

Petrie (20 points) never stopped trying for the 36ers but lacked support from fellow starters Adam Gibson (8 points) and Daniel Johnson (9 points), both of whom had been influential in the first two games of the series.

Daniel Johnson won his third straight club MVP award and was also named to the All-NBL First Team.

2014/15
The 36ers’ need for more production at the point guard spot saw the exits of Gary Ervin (to Wollongong), Jason Cadee (to Sydney) and Rhys Carter (to Europe) and import guards Jamar Wilson (via Cairns) and Daequon Montreal (via Europe) signed to bolster the backcourt. Young Adelaide forward Brock Motum, a member of the national team, was signed to be the main focal point of the offence.

Wilson (20 points, 5 rebounds, and 3.1 assists) would lead the team in scoring, earning NBL player of the week honours twice over the course of the season. The awards coming his way after a game-high 22 points against Melbourne (Jan 10) and another after racking up a game-high 25 points against Townsville (Feb 1).

Motum (17.5 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 0.8 assists) led the team in rebounds and Creek (11.2 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.5 assists) delivered a breakout season, becoming the team’s third-leading scorer, increasing his scoring from 7.7 points per game the season prior. while Petrie would add 10.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 1.6 assists.

The 36ers would finish in third place (17-11) before being eliminated in the semifinals by eventual champions New Zealand in two straight games. Wilson’s play would earn him the Mark Davis Trophy (club MVP) and All-NBL second team honours.

2015/16
The 36ers revamped their backcourt once again prior to the 2015/16 season, signing import guards Kenyon McNeail and two-time NBL champion Ebi Ere. Having lost Brock Motum to Europe and deciding not to re-sign Luke Schenscher (who then signed with Townsville), the team added two young talents in Melbourne Tigers forward Lucas Walker and a guard named Nathan Sobey who had spent the previous season as a training player with Cairns. Coach Joey Wright had noticed the young talent during warm-ups when they played Cairns and offered him a contract and a proper spot on a NBL team’s roster.

Daniel Johnson (15.5 points and 9.3 rebounds per game) continued to lead the team in scoring and rebounding, but three games into the season McNeail left the team after three games due to a shoulder injury sustained during the pre-season dunk contest. Wright was tasked with again, tracking down a suitable import point guard for the club.

The Sixers unearthed point-sized Jerome Randle, who, after being viewed as ‘too small’ to make the NBA, had spent the past five seasons in Europe and, in his own words began to ‘fall out of love’ with basketball. Randle told media that during his first under Wright, who was never known for holding back, didn’t like what he was seeing from his new star, so he called him out by saying, ‘If you don’t play your game, then you’re gonna f***in’ sit on the bench!’. That unexpected outburst struck a chord with Randle, with the Chicago-born kid thinking, ‘Damn, I’m at home now’. It was a sentiment Randle hadn’t had since leaving Chicago, and it made him proud to play basketball for the first time, in a long time.

Randle (23.0 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 5.2 assists) went on to score 30 points or more four times, including a 40-point effort on November 5 against Perth and finished the year as the league’s leading scorer, becoming the first Adelaide 36ers player to do so. He also earned the inaugural NBL Australia Post Fan’s MVP.

Petrie averaged 9.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 1.6 assists alongside Randle and Johnson, helping the team finish the season with 14-14 record.

Despite Randle’s great individual season, the 36ers failed to make the playoffs, finishing in fifth place (14-14). At season’s end, Randle was selected to the All-NBL First Team, and Johnson to the All-NBL second team.

BRISBANE BULLETS
2016/17
In 2016/17, Petrie averaged 7.1 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.2 assists, playing a key role in the Bullets rotation, helping the team finish to a eighth place (10-18).

2017/18
In Petrie’s last NBL season, he averaged 6.2 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.4 assists and played a key role off the bench, helping the Bullets to a eighth place finish in the regular season (9-19).

Anthony Petrie played eleven seasons across five NBL teams. This included the West Sydney Razorbacks, Gold Coast Blaze, Wollongong Hawks, Adelaide 36ers and Brisbane Bullets. He averaged 10.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 268 NBL games.

Dan Boyce (811 Posts)

Dan Boyce is a die-hard Sydney Kings fan who grew up in Melbourne during the roaring 90's of Australian Basketball and spent far too much time collecting Futera NBL Basketball cards.