WITH the club giving him the support to add an import to a talented and experienced playing group, Keith Horwood knows there is no excuses for the Perth Redbacks heading into the 2017 SBL season.

When Horwood returned to coach the Redbacks in 2015 after a decade-long absence, he was taking over a team that had won just two games in 2014 and his job over a three-year stretch was to get the women's program back on track.

The results have been clear to see the past two years with three more wins and significant improvement with a youthful playing group in 2015 before the Redbacks added some talent and experience in 2016.

Ajay Jones, Rebecca Benson, Bianca Donovan and Lisa Wallbutton were all on board from rival SBL clubs and were key parts of the Redbacks winning 10 games and finish the regular season in seventh spot before losing to the Rockingham Flames in the quarter finals.

Now those four players are all back again, Gabby Clayton has returned to offset the departure of Gabby O'Sullivan and the Redbacks have added an exciting import Emilee Harmon who looks capable of having a significant impact on the SBL.

All of that points to the Redbacks having a line-up in 2017 capable of being a contender. Horwood knows coming into the new season that there won't be any excuses for them to not go well.

"In all honesty those girls have all been fantastic and I couldn’t ask for anything more with the girls we've brought in," Horwood said.

"When you bring six new players in like we did last year it's always hard to get them to gel and it wasn’t all smooth sailing, and we had some hiccups along the way, but we're over that now and hopefully ready to take the next step.

"Having Em alongside girls alongside Ajay, Lisa, Bianca and Bec, and those sort of players and we've got a group there that should perform. If they don’t then we have no one to blame but ourselves."

Horwood and his Redbacks players are now ready to get the season underway against the Flames in Rockingham on Friday night.

After an improved season last year on the back of the players they were able to bring together, Horwood was proud to lead them back into the finals and is looking for an even more exciting season in 2017.

"We've done a fair bit of work in the off-season and we are pretty primed up and ready to go for the first game," she said.

"To chuck a team like that together with six new players and to get them to the finals was awesome. I think that was pretty much done by talent alone with what we bought in and already had there.

"I was really excited that we actually made the finals in my second year back and now to actually add an import this year is really exciting. It's the first time Perth has done that and it's really exciting for me and the girls."

While the Redbacks local contingent of Jones, Donovan, Wallbutton, Clayton, Jess Jakens and Benson is strong along with the emerging Jessica Hughes, Alix Hayward, Lori Ashworth and Shannon Street, it is the addition of an import that Horwood hopes can take them to the next level.

Harmon arrives with tremendous credentials having played her college basketball at Ohio State before coming to Australia to play in the SEABL for three seasons with Albury Wodonga, Launceston and Nunawading.

In those 66 games over three seasons, Harmon averaged 16.7 points and 8.3 rebounds giving Horwood plenty of reason to expect big things from her now with the Redbacks in 2017.

"She has been great. She has only been here almost two weeks when she got here on the Saturday of the Blitz," she said.

"She told me that she wanted to have a run on the Sunday and I wasn’t fussed one way or the other, but I thought there was no harm in it.

"She showed some good signs and then we had a scratch match last Tuesday against Malaysia when she was still jetlagged, and she put up 18 and five. I can't wait to see her when the season starts."

The return of Clayton is another reason to give Horwood reason to think the Redbacks can be a significant threat in 2017. A fully healthy Jakens is sure to help too after she missed seven games in 2016 due to an ankle injury.

But really with the amount of talent now in the playing group, Horwood knows they all need to click and deliver with the club having put significant resources into building a quality line-up.

"To get Gabby (Clayton) back is huge. She had a year with us the first season I took over and now to get her back means that we've pretty much got the same team but we've just added an import. Hopefully we've got to a point where they are all going to gel and we can take the next step," Horwood said.

"We can't really look at her (Jakens) year last year even though she still averaged some good numbers, but she was injured and now we're expecting a big year out of her along with the likes of Lori Ashworth and Jess Hughes. They've been around for a couple of years now and it's time for everyone to have a real crack."