New Redback Patty excited to face Cougars

Image credit: Tiarna | @tiarnarosephoto

Patty Brossmann gave Perth Redbacks 49 points, 34 rebounds and 11 assists in Anzac Round as she prepares to face her Cockburn Cougars championship teammates, but feeling fresh coming into an NBL1 West season is what has her excited.

Brossmann is in her third season in the NBL1 West after previous stints at the Rockingham Flames in 2022 and then as part of the championship at the Cougars in 2023, but there's a lot that's different about joining the Redbacks in 2025.

In each of those previous two seasons, Brossmann arrived fresh off a European season either in Germany or Italy, and by the end of her 2023/24 season in Italy with Faenza Basket Project, she simply needed a break.

So for the first real time since her college career at the University of San Diego, Brossmann took some time off playing basketball all round the world and spent time back home in Germany giving her body a rest, but even more importantly freshening up mentally.

The 28-year-old wanted to arrive rejuvenated and motivated when joining the Redbacks for the 2025 NBL1 West season, she wanted to get to know her teammates over the pre-season and then hit the ground running.

That's exactly how it's panned out with the Redbacks now starting with a 3-1 record after the opening four games and with Brossmann producing a combined 49 points, 34 rebounds and 11 assists last weekend following the departure of Anneli Maley.

"It is a huge difference in how I'm feeling now this season. Firstly it allows me to connect with the girls so much better rather than just getting thrown in the pot when the season has already started and having to figure it out," Brossmann said.

"I got to create a chemistry with them and also got to find my spot on the team by having that pre-season, and having those workouts outside of that because I didn't need to be freshening up.

"It was so good to be able to get ready and prepare for the season at my own pace instead of coming straight off another season.

"It was such a big difference and I really enjoyed it, but the main focus was connecting with the girls and that's been amazing already and I feel like that you can see with how we are clicking on the court already because we have such a bond already. It's so much fun to play with this team already."

First game back against Cockburn

While it wasn’t until 11 games into the 2023 season that Brossmann joined the Cougars, it led into one of the highlights of her career to be part of that championship run.

There are still plenty of championship teammates for her to come up against now in her first game with the Redbacks against the Cougars and the likes of Sarah Mortensen, Steph Gorman and Jewel Williams.

She is excited for the match up and especially to be hosting Cockburn at Belmont Oasis this Saturday evening.

"I feel good and I'm very excited about it, but to be fair I'm going to try and treat it like any other game," Brossmann said.

"It is Cockburn, but the good thing is that we're playing at home and we are playing in front of our home crowd on the home court.

"I'm very excited and especially to play against Sarah because at Cockburn she became one of my best friends so I'm keen to face her, but other than that I'll just treat it as a regular game."

Battling a close friend

Brossmann did know who Mortensen was with the pair having crossed path both in Germany-Denmark match ups in international basketball and in their European careers, they forged a lifelong friendship during that championship season at the Cougars in 2023.

They are now both back in the NBL1 West in 2025 with Brossmann at the Redbacks and Mortensen returning to the Cockburn, and nothing will hurt their friendship, but Brossmann can't wait to face one of her best friends on the court.

"It is fun to be honest because at the end of the day it is just a game that goes for 40 minutes and after that everything goes back to normal," Brossmann said.

"It is fun because we both know each other's strengths, we both also know each other's weaknesses. We did play against each other when we were younger during national games and also in Germany, but we really didn’t know each other back then.

"Now it's a bit different because we do work out and stuff, and we won that championship together. I'm just excited about it, it's going to be a good match up and there's definitely be some shit talk as well. It's going to be good definitely."

Wanting to come back

After that championship triumph at the Cougars in 2023, Brossmann knew that she wanted to play in the NBL1 again if the opportunity should present and especially to return to Perth given how much she liked the last two seasons with Rockingham and Cockburn.

The combination of the basketball and lifestyle mean that it's hard to find too much wrong with it from her point of view.

"From the last two years when I played in Australia, I just loved it so much and it was always my plan to come back and I couldn’t be happier to now be back here in Perth," Brossmann said.

"As imports, we all do have agencies and my agent put me in touch with Tim (Rendulic) and we talked, and pretty much after that it was a sealed deal and I joined Redbacks.

"It's just the lifestyle over here, I know it sounds so stereotypical, but everybody really is so friendly and so calm. It's almost like a slow pace, but it's always a fast paced living if that makes sense.

"You can relax and really calm down over here which is really hard to do in Europe. It's just a beautiful part of the world to live at and I'm just really, really enjoying it and the sun being out so much is such a plus as well."

A big couple of games

Brossmann played her first game with the Redbacks in a memorable come from behind win over the Perry Lakes Hawks where Anneli Maley delivered 37 points and 23 rebounds while Natalie Chou also put up 24 points.

That meant, at least from a numbers point of view, there wasn’t a lot for her to do, but she was happy with the role she played and then was ready, willing and able to step up last week with Maley joining the Chicago Sky for a WNBA training camp.

Brossmann started the weekend with 23 points, 16 rebounds, five steals and four assists on 8/13 shooting and 7/8 at the foul line against the Warwick Senators, and backing it up with 26 points, 18 rebounds, seven assists and two steals on 10/18 shooting with 5/5 at the stripe against the Goldfields Giants.

She played all but four minutes and seven seconds in the two games, but she's just happy to play whatever role is needed on this Redbacks team whether it's with or without Maley in the line-up.

"I loved it last week having the chance to step up, but I love my role on the team with or without Maley," Brossmann said.

"I feel like with her we're a different team obviously but I love it both ways. I love playing with her because she's such an amazing player to play with just with her all-round game and the skill work she is, and her hard work and determination.

"It was amazing to play with her and she and Nat helped us pull off an amazing win against Perry Lakes. But then without her we knew some players had to step up and we had to take the shots she wasn’t there to take.

"So I just went into those games thinking that if I didn’t shoot, someone else would, so I might as well take on that responsibility. I came in with a bit of a mindset to try and fill her role and to step up."

Role on this Redbacks team

Going back to the 2022 season at Rockingham and Brossmann showed what a dominant force in the league she can be with 18.1 points, 10.2 rebounds and 4.9 assists across those 21 matches.

She didn’t need to play as big a role at the Cougars in 2023 but was still a crucial part of the championship with 7.0 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists at almost 26 minutes across the 12 appearances.

So whatever she's asked to do for the Redbacks in 2025, she's more than happy with doing as much as she can whether it's putting up big numbers or facilitating her teammates.

"It's sort of like that leadership that I'm super happy and comfortable to be in that position," Brossmann said.

"Yes, I might have had a big weekend with big numbers, but it shows in the stats that I had seven assists that I got the rest of my teammates involved too. So if I don't have my shots, I'll still try to contribute to my team with any other skills that I have.

"I will always do what I can control which is like rebounding and putting my teammates in the best position so I'm very happy with the role I have on this Redbacks team. I'm for it definitely."

Life as a basketball professional

Having grown up in Germany, it was Brossmann's dream to be able to make a career out of playing basketball and her first taste of that was in her four years in college at the University of San Diego.

That got her accustomed to living away from home and now ever since graduating in 2020, she has spent time playing back at home in Germany along with stints in France and Italy, and now the third season in Australia.

There are a lot of positives getting to do what you love for a living and getting to experience living in different parts of the world, but it can also be exhausting and that's why Brossmann is so thankful she was able to take a break leading into this season at the Redbacks.

"I took this last European season off and I had an off-season just because it got too exhausting. Going from one season to the next just got too mentally draining, but also physically my body needed a break," Brossmann said.

"Having that recharge and that off-season from the European was an amazing and it gave me a whole new vibe attitude coming into this Redbacks season.

"It's amazing to be able to live this life and to make your hobby and what you love as your profession, but on the down side it is exhausting to do it for 12 months of the year.

"You're almost always living out of your suitcase and you never really have a home in that sense, and can't really ever settle in one place. Just that back and forth is tough, but that's also why it's nice to come back to somewhere like Perth and a city that you know and feel so comfortable with."