'We want to give everything': Kelsey Griffin and Canberra Capitals bring Paul Goriss to tears

But as Kelsey Griffin opened up on the challenges the Canberra Capitals have faced during the most tumultuous of WNBL seasons, it became clear this was one battle the coach wouldn't win.

Goriss' Capitals are riding a six-game winning streak. The Perth Lynx are all that stands between Canberra and the No. 1 seed as they hunt their third championship in four seasons.

For the uninitiated, the fact Canberra are in this position at all seems a minor miracle. Goriss was banned for a month due to an integrity breach, twice the club has been hit by COVID-19 cases, matches have been cancelled on game day, Casey Samuels is on the Gold Coast preparing to face court on Monday.

But they're here, and Griffin - whose double double inspired a runaway win over Townsville on Saturday night - knows exactly why.

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"With Goz coming back into the team, I certainly gained a whole new level of appreciation for the man sitting beside me, how much he cares about me, this club, and what he has done," Griffin said.

"Across the board we all have so much appreciation for each other, so regardless of what is happening off the court, things we can't control, we look to each other and know we want to give everything for one another."

You ask what that means to Goriss as he wipes away the tears.

"It means a lot ... that's all," the Capitals coach said, battling to find the right words.

We've seen a similar picture before. More than three years ago Goriss sat beside Marianna Tolo, who had made a long-awaited return from knee surgeries to kickstart Canberra's title run. On that night he was in tears, so proud to see the basketball star he has known for 17 years rise above adversity with a fairytale comeback.

This time it wasn't just one person. It was an entire team who has jumped over every hurdle in their way to make a statement to their WNBL rivals.

"There's so much more to all of us than basketball. We have incredible families and partners around us, some of us have children, jobs, other things in our life that keep us balanced and grounded," Griffin said.

"That's one of the things that I don't know if this league really appreciates about our club and our situation here. We're not professionals for the most part. We have a lot going on all the time, before all of the other things happened with this season.

"The other thing is our experience. I just don't think that's probably spoken about enough in a positive manner, the amount of experience we have.

"Our ability to roll with the punches not only is because of the character of people we have, but because of the amount we have as individuals going on in our lives, but also the amount of experience we have. I feel very fortunate to have such high character people I get to play alongside."

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