The money – from the Wildcats Foundation – was handed over on Thursday after it was promised a couple of weeks ago when Cats managing director Andrew Vlahov heard of the Wheelcats’ plight and rang Ch10 sports boss Tim Gossage on his morning radio gig on NOVA to pledge the cash.

Even without the travelling, it’s a very expensive sport - $7000 or more for the chair, then add about $1000 a year to keep them running. Not surprising when it’s $20 per spoke.

Without the gift, the Wheelcats faced the very real prospect of missing the finals, despite finishing on top of the ladder with just one loss for the regular season.

Wheelcats skipper Brad Ness said the donation had blown the team away.

“A couple of weeks ago, we were in a pretty hard spot there with a number of the guys in a bit of trouble,” he said.

“With the team going so well, and to have it all come down to the last week, and maybe not be able to get a team there was a bit disheartening, so this is just unbelievable.”

Vlahov said he jumped at the opportunity to help another team in the basketball brotherhood.

“The Wheelcats are no different from us – we’re in the community like they are, we look for support from companies, they look for support from companies,” he said.

“Obviously with our profile, we’re able to get more than they can, so it’s good that we put back into the community.

“Perth has got a chance to win the championship, and we need to do everything we can to make sure that that happens.

“I spoke to the players and everyone about it, and this is exactly what we want to do. We are a community-focussed team, and whether you are an able-bodied player, or someone playing with a few challenges, we’d still like to help you.”

New Wildcats skipper Paul Rogers said it was great for the team to be working with a team used to success.

“It’s awesome – it’s great to be able to get on board,” he said.

“It’s always good to jump on the bandwagon of someone that’s running hot, and they’re definitely running hot, I think they’re 14 and 1, so we’re definitely looking at big things from them over at the national championships.

“We’re just really proud to get behind them and help them out.”

Coach Scott Fisher echoed his skipper’s comments.

“Yeah, I’m really proud of our club for doing that, actually,” he said.

“these guys work hard, I’ve watched them, I’ve seen them play – it’s a very entertaining sport, wheelchair basketball.

“They’ve had such a great season, and what a crying shame it would be if they couldn’t get over there for the finals to bring back the championship.”

Fisher and some of the Wildcats got themselves into some of the chairs and rolled around on court, trying out their skills, and the coach didn’t rate himself too highly.

“I’m shocking – it’s tough! And it’s tough to be out there and play too, it really is a completely different sport, an d the skills that these guys possess are legitimate.”

See some vision of the mixed training session on Ten Sport on Friday night at 5:40.