As it happened: WA news on Tuesday, May 27

Bryce Cotton has blamed Perth management for his exit from the Wildcats, claiming the NBL club gave him too short a time frame to decide his playing future.

But the Wildcats’ owner has defended the club for making a “horrible” but apparently unavoidable decision to cut ties with one of the league’s greatest ever players.

Five-time NBL MVP Cotton raised eyebrows signing with the Adelaide 36ers last week, having knocked back the Wildcats’ contract extension after nine years in Perth.

Bryce Cotton in action for the Wildcats at RAC Arena in 2024.Credit: Paul Kane/Getty Images

But on Tuesday, the 32-year-old said the Wildcats were responsible for his decision to sign elsewhere by insisting he make a decision on his future before he had a proper chance to explore his options.

“As much as people feel or say, ‘Why did I leave the Wildcats?’, I didn’t technically leave,” Cotton told the EasyDay podcast.

“The Wildcats parted ways with me because I wasn’t willing to give an answer back in March.”

Cotton had been open with the Wildcats about his desire to test his value on the open market after the 2024/25 season, which finished as the greatest yet of his already illustrious NBL career.

The American had been linked with Japanese club Chiba Jets, coached by former Wildcats boss Trevor Gleeson, and played a handful of NBA games before arriving at the Wildcats.

But Cotton claims the Wildcats were pushing him for an answer only days after he’d touched down in Puerto Rico for a brief off-season stint at Mets de Guaynabo.

“At that point, I’m pretty sure the (NBL) grand final was still going on, Melbourne playing Illawarra,” Cotton said.

“I had my agent tell them, ’Look, honestly, giving y’all within the next two or three days after I’d gotten to Puerto Rico, that shit’s not enough time for me to make a decision.

“Like not being no cocky or no arrogant shit, but I just had one of the greatest seasons in NBL history, and I’m a free agent for the first time in forever. It couldn’t have been a better time.”

It left Cotton feeling there was only one option, to leave the Wildcats, telling the club: “I want to test free agency. So if you guys feel like you want to move on, I understand, but that (two or thee days) is not enough time for me to make a decision.”

Wildcats owner Mark Arena has subsequently defended the Wildcats, telling NBL Now that the club did “everything we possibly could to sign (Cotton) with the time frame we had”.

But the Wildcats had eight other players hitting free agency, including key men Keanu Pinder and Dylan Windler, so felt they needed an answer on their talisman’s future.

“We didn’t want to end up in a position where we were waiting and waiting and waiting (for an answer from Cotton) and we were at a point where other players perhaps started looking elsewhere,” Arena said.

“It’s a massive decision, a horrible decision we had to make, which was wait longer and risk the whole squad and our success, or make the hard call and move on and build a roster with plenty of time to do that that can win a championship.”

Cotton insisted he remained close with the Wildcats playing roster and his final coach, John Rillie.

“I’m happy there’s not beef between me and JR, it’s all love. We spoke after the decision with Adelaide was made as well. It’s all good,” Cotton said.

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We’re bringing our blog to a close for the day, thank you for joining us. We will have more for you in the next live news coverage.

Here are some of the stories that made headlines today:

• Child-killer Dante Arthurs has been refused parole for a third time.

• Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir said the club would be appealing captain Alex Pearce’s punishment at the AFL Tribunal.

• A UWA rock art professor claims the Murujuga rock art monitoring report released by the WA government on Friday has covered up evidence of degradation due to industrial pollution from nearby gas projects.

• Several state Liberals have rallied behind WA party president Caroline Di Russo after it emerged failed Curtin candidate Tom White intended to nominate for her position.

• WA sport minister Rita Saffioti said she does not believe she will need to intervene to ban a proposed bare knuckle fighting event from being held in Perth in July.

• Two teenagers who were among a group of boys charged over a spate of homophobic attacks in Perth’s south have pleaded guilty.

• Gabriela Bryan has followed in the footsteps of her fellow Hawaiian Carissa Moore by winning successive Margaret River Pro titles.

• Bryce Cotton has blamed Perth management for his exit from the Wildcats, claiming the NBL club gave him too short a time frame to decide his playing future.

Thank you again for tuning in. We’ll see you back here tomorrow for more news you need to know.

Bryce Cotton has blamed Perth management for his exit from the Wildcats, claiming the NBL club gave him too short a time frame to decide his playing future.

But the Wildcats’ owner has defended the club for making a “horrible” but apparently unavoidable decision to cut ties with one of the league’s greatest ever players.

Five-time NBL MVP Cotton raised eyebrows signing with the Adelaide 36ers last week, having knocked back the Wildcats’ contract extension after nine years in Perth.

Bryce Cotton in action for the Wildcats at RAC Arena in 2024.Credit: Paul Kane/Getty Images

But on Tuesday, the 32-year-old said the Wildcats were responsible for his decision to sign elsewhere by insisting he make a decision on his future before he had a proper chance to explore his options.

“As much as people feel or say, ‘Why did I leave the Wildcats?’, I didn’t technically leave,” Cotton told the EasyDay podcast.

“The Wildcats parted ways with me because I wasn’t willing to give an answer back in March.”

Cotton had been open with the Wildcats about his desire to test his value on the open market after the 2024/25 season, which finished as the greatest yet of his already illustrious NBL career.

The American had been linked with Japanese club Chiba Jets, coached by former Wildcats boss Trevor Gleeson, and played a handful of NBA games before arriving at the Wildcats.

But Cotton claims the Wildcats were pushing him for an answer only days after he’d touched down in Puerto Rico for a brief off-season stint at Mets de Guaynabo.

“At that point, I’m pretty sure the (NBL) grand final was still going on, Melbourne playing Illawarra,” Cotton said.

“I had my agent tell them, ’Look, honestly, giving y’all within the next two or three days after I’d gotten to Puerto Rico, that shit’s not enough time for me to make a decision.

“Like not being no cocky or no arrogant shit, but I just had one of the greatest seasons in NBL history, and I’m a free agent for the first time in forever. It couldn’t have been a better time.”

It left Cotton feeling there was only one option, to leave the Wildcats, telling the club: “I want to test free agency. So if you guys feel like you want to move on, I understand, but that (two or thee days) is not enough time for me to make a decision.”

Wildcats owner Mark Arena has subsequently defended the Wildcats, telling NBL Now that the club did “everything we possibly could to sign (Cotton) with the time frame we had”.

But the Wildcats had eight other players hitting free agency, including key men Keanu Pinder and Dylan Windler, so felt they needed an answer on their talisman’s future.

“We didn’t want to end up in a position where we were waiting and waiting and waiting (for an answer from Cotton) and we were at a point where other players perhaps started looking elsewhere,” Arena said.

“It’s a massive decision, a horrible decision we had to make, which was wait longer and risk the whole squad and our success, or make the hard call and move on and build a roster with plenty of time to do that that can win a championship.”

Cotton insisted he remained close with the Wildcats playing roster and his final coach, John Rillie.

“I’m happy there’s not beef between me and JR, it’s all love. We spoke after the decision with Adelaide was made as well. It’s all good,” Cotton said.

AAP

To court news of a different kind now, and Attorney-General Tony Buti has announced the reappointment of Children’s Court of WA president Judge Hylton Quail for a third term in the role.

Quail has served as Children’s Court president for five years, having had a decades-long career as a criminal law barrister and solicitor in the decades before his appointment to the District Court bench in 2018.

Children’s Court of WA President Hylton Quail.Credit: Online

“Judge Quail’s work presiding over complex cases involving juveniles accused of committing crimes and child protection and care proceedings has been exemplary,” Buti said.

“He has also led the way in therapeutic court reforms including the In-Roads Court pilot program that provides an alternative to detention for young people who plead guilty to criminal charges.

“Judge Quail is highly regarded in the judiciary and legal circles and ideally placed to continue his tenure as President of the Children’s Court.”

Quail has been outspoken on the issues plaguing WA’s only youth detention facility, Banksia Hill, and the Unit 18 ward at the maximum-security adult Casuarina Prison.

In 2023, Quail refused to send a teenager who pleaded guilty to a serious crime spree back to Unit 18 due to the “unlawful solitary confinement” the boy had faced, among other “horrendous” treatment.

“The answer is not to further brutalise and alienate them, but to follow the model of care that the Department claims to be implementing but in Unit 18 is clearly not,” Quail said at the time.

Quail’s next term as Children’s Court president will last for three years, beginning on Wednesday.

With Margaret River Pro record-holder Carissa Moore in her corner, Gabriela Bryan has followed in the footsteps of her fellow Hawaiian by winning successive titles in the west.

Aged 37, Jordy Smith then set himself up to become the oldest men’s world champion since Kelly Slater achieved the feat as a 39-year-old in 2011.

Five-time world champ Moore won three times at Margaret River, including consecutively in 2013-2014 and in 2023 before her retirement.

Gabriela Bryan of Hawaii has won back-to-back titles at the Margaret River Pro.Credit: Beatriz Ryder/World Surf League

Bryan became the second woman to claim two titles there in the Championship Tour era by defending her 2024 crown with a commanding win in the final over Caitlin Simmers on Tuesday.

The victory kept the yellow rankings leader jersey out of the hands of the Californian teenager.

However, it wasn’t enough to stop Australian Isabella Nichols taking out the Aussie Treble – awarded to the best surfer over the three-stop Australian swing, including Bells and Burleigh Heads.

Smith joked he now could trade in his 1992 Volkswagen Jetta after winning a new car for topping the men’s tally with victory in the final against American Griffin Colapinto.

Bryan revealed before her decider that Moore, who became a mother earlier this year, had texted her almost daily with words of encouragement and advice.

They resonated with the 23-year-old, earning a massive score of 9.50 for her first wave of the final, which was her best score since making her CT debut in 2019.

AAP

WA Premier Roger Cook says the government will be “guided by the science”, not media commentary, after a rock art expert called into question findings that minimised the impact of nearby industry on rock art at the Burrup Peninsula.

As we brought you earlier in today’s blog, University of WA rock art professor Benjamin Smith believes the scientific findings of an 800-page report on the Murujuga rock art conflicted with the executive summary and media release accompanying it.

Smith said the report identified current levels of sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide which had been proven to cause damage to rock art.

“There are now multiple lines of evidence showing that industrial pollution has already degraded the rock art and will continue to do so unless we lower the industrial pollution levels of sulfur dioxide and nitrous dioxide,” Smith said.

However, asked about Smith’s claims at a press conference on Tuesday, Cook said the report’s findings were based upon “longitudinal and extensive research”.

“I also note that that report itself is peer-reviewed, and so the science is in.

“If there’s contrary science, well that should be presented in the scientific corners, but we’ll be guided by the science on this, not from the media commentary.

“The science has said that modern industrial developments do not have a long-term impact in terms of the quality of the rock art.

“There was one incident back in the 1970s associated with an old generation power plant. That is what people have pointed to as being the most damaging period during the age of the rock art.”

Two teenagers who were among a group of boys charged over a spate of homophobic attacks in Perth’s south have pleaded guilty.

The teenagers faced Perth Children’s Court on Tuesday – one in person, the other via video link – to enter guilty pleas to a swathe of charges including assault occasioning bodily harm, unlawful wounding, aggravated armed robbery and making a threat, among others.

Prosecutors had alleged that last year several men were lured via gay dating app Grindr to a park in South Lake, where the group of teenagers attacked them with weapons including knives, a crow bar and a Taser, and robbed them.

Another three teenagers had already pleaded guilty to a string of offences over the attacks, while a fourth pleaded not guilty.

The five teenagers who pleaded guilty will be sentenced in Perth Children’s Court next month.

WA sport minister Rita Saffioti said she does not believe she will need to intervene to ban a proposed bare knuckle fighting event from being held in Perth in July.

The Combat Sports Commission is mulling a decision to allow the world’s biggest bare-knuckle boxing organisation, partially owned by UFC fighter Conor McGregor, to stage a major fight in Perth next month.

In March, Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship founder David Feldman announced on social media his intention to bring a boxing event to Perth on either July 12 or 19.

WA’s boxing regulations were amended by former Sport Minister David Templeman in February to recognise the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship as a sanctioning body, paving the way for the body to stage a contest in the state.

Speaking with Radio 6PR this morning, Saffioti said there was a strong regulatory environment in place for the Commission to sanction the event.

“They’re working through what safeguards and mechanisms can be put in place to make sure it can be done as safely as possible,” she said.

“In particular the experience of the boxers and the medical practitioners that need to be on hand.”

Asked if she felt she would need to veto the event if sanctioned by the Commission, Saffioti replied, ‘Not at this stage’.

Several state Liberals have rallied behind WA party president Caroline Di Russo after it emerged failed Curtin candidate Tom White intended to nominate for her position.

White’s nomination sets up significant internal power struggle in the party, which has suffered some of its worst defeats in history this year at both a state and federal level.

Former Liberal candidate Tom White.Credit: Jesinta Burton

White confirmed his intention to run for president.

“While I can’t comment on internal party matters, I share the sense that many Liberals have: the party is at a crossroads, and bold thinking is needed to move us forward,” he said.

Speaking outside WA Parliament this morning, most Liberal MPs backed Di Russo to some extent.

Shadow education minister Liam Staltari praised Di Russo but said the presidency was a decision for the lay party.

“I think she’s done a fantastic job and is an excellent president who’s led us well. But, again, I think those matters are matters for the Liberal Party,” he said.

Opposition leader Basil Zempilas said that White was an excellent candidate for president but that he would support Di Russo if she intended to stay on.

“Caroline has done an excellent job as the president of the parliamentary party, and I support her to continue in that role, if that is what she wishes to do,” he said.

Shadow treasurer Sandra Brewer said she welcomed the competition.

“I think it’s just a common fact in political parties that different contestants will be rivals because they have different ideas for the future. So I look forward to hearing more about Caroline’s ideas, Tom White’s ideas, and anyone else who throws their hat in the ring,” she said.

Di Russo, who was elected in 2023, intends to nominate again for presidency.

WA Liberal party presidential terms last 12 months and are put to a ballot of party delegates at its state conference every year.

A UWA rock art professor claims the Murujuga rock art monitoring report released by the WA government on Friday has covered up evidence of degradation due to industrial pollution from nearby gas projects.

The 800-page report forms part of the evidence federal Environment Minister Murray Watt is considering in his decision whether to approve Woodside’s North West Shelf extension this week.

Professor Benjamin Smith claimed the scientific findings in the report conflict with the presentation of the research in the executive summary and media release which accompanied it.

He said the report found that levels of sulfur dioxide and nitrous dioxide were currently at levels that had been proven to cause damage to the rock art.

Industry on the Burrup Peninsular near Dampier currently emits about 20,000 tonnes of sulfur dioxide and nitrous dioxide per year, making it among the most polluted airsheds in the southern hemisphere.

“There are now multiple lines of evidence showing that industrial pollution has already degraded the rock art and will continue to do so unless we lower the industrial pollution levels of sulfur dioxide and nitrous dioxide,” Smith said.

“The report identifies the areas with greatest damage are in the vicinity of the Woodside LNG facilities and Yara fertiliser facility.”

“The report tries to blame emissions from power generation in Dampier during the 1970s and 1980s for causing increased porosity of granophyre rocks. If the power plant did some damage, then current damage will be five times worse because current industry produces five times the sulfur dioxide and nitrous dioxide per year.”

In reaching his conclusion, Smith also compared the damage to a rock taken from the area 30 years ago, compared to rocks still at the site.

A Bunbury couple are crediting their son’s haircut for their spur of the moment decision to recently buy a division one lotto ticket.

The ticket was purchased at Lakers News near Mandurah by the mother, after she decided to visit the newsagency to kill time while her son was getting a haircut.

The ticket was worth $1 million, with the split decision becoming life-changing.

“If I ever travel to a unique or different area, I’ll visit a Lotterywest retailer,” the mother said.

“As my son was getting a haircut, I decided to grab a ticket rather than sit there and wait.”

She said while the prize will make life much more enjoyable, for now, the family is letting the incredible news settle in before they make any big decisions.