THE Perth Redbacks showed some of their potential in the Women's SBL last Saturday night beating the Kalamunda Eastern Suns by 26 points and coach Keith Horwood only expects his talented group to keep improving.

The Redbacks were expected to be a real force in the Women's SBL this season with the arrival of an import for the first time in Emilee Harmon along with the return of Gabby Clayton and retention of the likes of Ajay Jones, Rebecca Benson, Lisa Wallbutton, Jess Jakens and Bianca Donovan.

They might have had a slow start to the campaign with losses to the Rockingham Flames and South West Slammers, but Horwood always expected there to be some growing pains with his talented and capable squad.

Week 3 Saturday night Women's SBL results 

He knew that things would begin to click and it was no surprise that the return of Clayton on Saturday night at Kalamunda helped to ensure that happened in her first game of the season.

With Harmon a little under the weather as well, Jones (13 points, five rebounds, four steals), Benson (17 points, four assists), Jakens (17 points, six rebounds) and Wallbutton (seven points, 11 boards, four blocks) all came up big for Perth.

Horwood sensed a performance like that was coming and he is happy to see the connections amongst his group now starting to click.

"Our trainings the last two weeks have seen us really up the ante and we've got everyone out on the floor. And with it being harder to make the team, it has made everyone a bit more intense as well which has helped and it's good to see," Horwood said.

"When you've got that much talent it's always hard to get everyone on the court as much as they like but we just have to make sure everyone knows their roles this year and that they are happy to get on board.

"We've had a bit of trouble with that too but we seem to have sorted that now so hopefully that's all done with and we can move forward now."

With Harmon not at the prolific best she had shown she was capable of in the opening two weeks, Horwood was especially happy to see other players step up last Saturday while everyone is beginning to understand their roles within the group.

"Em actually copped a hit in the nose during the week and she wasn’t breathing too well, and she was crook a couple of days leading into the game. So she was a bit off her game but it was good to see Lisa and JJ step up to make a difference for us," he said.

"It is just a matter of people trying to find their roles at the moment too because we've changed the team around a little bit more. Em coming in has been great, we just need her Lisa, JJ and Lori to start working together a bit better inside and we'll be alright. We've got so much firepower outside, it's just about getting the ball out to them at the right time."

Horwood also knew that Clayton was the missing player in his guard rotation so he always knew once she was back to work with the likes of Jones, Benson and some of the younger players that things would look a lot Better.

That's exactly what eventuated on Saturday night.

"It was tough because Gabby was out injured," he said.

"She got injured during the pre-season thanks to me so we hadn’t had her back and she brings a bit of intensity to the game. Having that extra guard in the rotation helps too."

The Redbacks return to Belmont Oasis this Friday night to take on the East Perth Eagles and Horwood hopes for a good atmosphere and a tough opposition.

"The first game is the Len Vlahov Memorial as well so we usually get a good crowd for that. Hopefully we get an extra special crowd there this week to cheer the men and the women on," Horwood said.

"You can't underrate them this year. All the girls they've got are going well and they beat the Suns in the first week. Hopefully their imports are here for us to play against because we just want to play everybody at their best. That gives us a gauge of where we're at too."

Photo by Claire Chappell