Nearly eight years after the infamous brawl between Gilas Pilipinas and the Australian Boomers at the Philippine Arena in July 2018, tensions that once boiled over have finally cooled—but the memory still lingers.
That chaotic game, which saw benches clear and tempers flare, left both sides with bruised egos and a lingering rivalry.
On Sunday evening, however, Gilas Pilipinas and the Boomers met on a Philippine court once more.
For Australia head coach John Peter Rillie, the past was firmly behind them.
The Perth Wildcats tactician heaped praise on the Filipino fans for their electric support at the venue.
“It was a terrific atmosphere, that was a good regional FIBA game,” Rillie said.
“Thank you to the Manila community for coming out and supporting the game the way they did, and I’m happy my team played as well as they did.”
On the court, the Boomers backed up their coach’s praise with a commanding performance, dismantling the Philippines 93-66 to close out the second window of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers.
After a closely contested first half, Australia pulled away in the final 20 minutes, executing Rillie’s game plan to perfection.
“We knew the Philippines would come out really hard at the start of the game due to their game against New Zealand, so we needed to weather that storm,” he explained.
Gilas stuck to their strategy from last Thursday, applying relentless defensive pressure and even taking a brief lead with 1:39 left in the first quarter.
But Australia’s depth and endurance eventually wore down the Filipino side.
“I felt our intent defensively for forty minutes was pretty good, and we just wore ‘em down over the course of the forty minutes,” Rillie added.
Looking ahead to the final window of round one, which Australia will host, Rillie anticipates a strong showing from the Filipino supporters down under.
“I know in Perth, or wherever the next round may be, there’s a great Filipino community,” he said.
“I know they’ll come out, and that’ll create a great atmosphere for us, so it’ll be a good game once again.”
With old wounds healed and a rematch set in Australia this July, Rillie closed the Manila window with gratitude toward the Gilas faithful.
“Thanks for the hospitality that we’ve received here in the Philippines. It’s been a terrific couple of games for our group.”
