WBBL 2025: Katie Mack reveals Perth Scorchers’ offer that was ‘too good’ to refuse ahead of Sydney Sixers game

Perth Scorchers recruit Katie Mack has opened up on why the offer to move west was “too good” to refuse as she prepares to dive headlong into the club’s storied Sydney Sixers rivalry to open the new campaign on Sunday. Mack spent six seasons at the top of the order for Adelaide Strikers, making her name as one of the competition’s most reliable openers and has set lofty goals for her first campaign in Perth. Scorchers skipper Sophie Devine, who played alongside Mack during a stint at Adelaide, has described the opener ditching blue for orange as a “coup” for Perth as they hunt a finals return. It was a coup that took a bit of contemplating on Mack’s part, but she revealed to The West Australian just what got her over the line. “To be honest, it was really difficult,” she said. “I was with the Strikers for six years, and I really loved it. “The Scorchers approached me, I hadn’t really planned for it, and I was coming to the end of my contract, and put an offer towards me opening with Beth Mooney. “This is always a team from afar that I’d looked at, that I knew I’d enjoy being a part of, so the offer was just a bit too good to say no to. And (the team) being from the west coast and so far from the east, I feel like they’ve created an exclusive community. “Everyone in WA goes for the Scorchers, when I’ve played here the ground’s filled with orange, you don’t have supporters from any other team, and I feel like there’s something quite special about that.” Mack and Mooney, the two Ms, are a partnership the former hopes opposition teams will come to dread, while she has also thrown down the gauntlet to the Australian international, declaring she wants to become known as the dominant batting force at the WACA. “I kind of hope at the end of the season my speciality might be batting at the WACA,” she said. “It probably played into my decision (to play for Scorchers) a little bit as I really do enjoy batting here. I enjoy the pace and bounce of the wicket, so I hope to finish the season with the most runs scored at the WACA. “I’m thinking home final here. Towards the end of the season, we play the two home games, so I’d love to just extend my time in Perth by a week, knowing that we have the final here at the WACA.” Seven commentator Kate McCarthy was also excited by Mack’s arrival in the west, suggesting it adds much-needed depth and stability to Perth’s, at times, fragile batting. “She’ll be one who can help sure up that top order; she’s played 140 WBBL games, so she brings in a whole lot of experience,” she said. “They probably didn’t have enough depth in certain players (last season); it was kind of Beth Mooney or nothing, so they’ll really need to work on that and make sure they get a more consistent contribution from their top order. “So Mack will just steady things up, which is something they were really missing last year, someone who can counterattack through that middle period.” The Scorchers’ season gets underway with a blockbuster against the Sixers, a team they would love to get the wood over to start the season. And Mack needs little introduction to the rivalry that has built between the two champion teams across the men’s and women’s competitions. “It’s funny. I reckon every team I go to has a rivalry with the Sixers,” she said. “I think it’s just like the team that was really strong at the start of the Big Bash, so everyone has just decided they’re the team to beat from there on. “I think I have a good record personally, each team I’ve played for, against the Sixers, so I’m hoping to bring that.”