Sure, he knew that his put-back slam - over no less than three Perth defenders - in Thursday's finals clash was a big play in a big game. How could he not?

It gave the Hawks a three-point lead, their biggest of the game, with 16 seconds left. It was the dagger in in what's unquestionably one of the biggest wins in franchise history.

'Hoodoo' is possibly the most over-used term in sports journalism (guilty as charged). It's typically deployed as when there's nothing all that compelling about an upcoming battle.

However, when it comes to the Hawks in Perth, hoodoo was the only way to describe it. That it was snapped with an offensive board - the benchmark hustle play - is only fitting for a club that was built, and has survived on, a blue-collar ethos.

While Damon Lowery's free-throws remain Bradman's 99.94 - never to be surpassed - Simon's o-board will fit comfortably alongside the likes of Gordie McLeod's buzzer-beater against Brisbane in the 1987 playoffs.

In the 'with authority' stakes, it had shades of Glen Saville's dunk on Simon Dwight in 2000. Throw in Chuck Harmison's baseline fadeaway to secure a spot in the 1994 finals.

Simon is unlikely to join the aforementioned trio in the WEC rafters, but he owns an irrevocable place in Hawks folklore. It had it all, the timing, the stakes, the opposition, the history.

For years, Perth was Illawarra's Gordian Knot, seemingly impossible to unravel ... this was Simon the Great slashing it to pieces with a sword.

Best thing about it? Simon had no idea. How could he, the true weight of the hoodoo was in the history long preceding his arrival in Wollongong. Game On put it to the man himself the morning after.

"That's so crazy [to hear]," Simon said, when told of the significance.

"I mean I'm still in the moment, I haven't really thought about all that [history]. Credit to Tyler [Harvey], he was able to get downhill and he normally makes those plays. His floater is really deadly so he drew a [defensive] crowd.

"I remembered [Perth] were always tipping the ball out and I just thought if it's bouncing around the rim, I'm going to put my hand on it and just force it in. It came off the right way and I made a play. I take pride in making winning plays."

His take on RAC Arena and the vaunted Red Army is equally refreshing and completely unburdened by the past.

"I love that arena," Simon said.

"That place, those fans, It brings the best out of you. That's the beauty of the game, the stakes are high, it's playoff basketball and everything counts.

"It's really fun playing that arena, I definitely don't want to go back, we want to end this at our place, but it brings the best out of you. You want to make plays and ultimately you want to make a play to make them quiet."

It sets up a golden opportunity to sweep that Cats at home in Wollongong on Saturday. Game-one victors have won 24 of the last 25 NBL finals series'. Perth have no Cotton. The odds of Harvey going 4-21 again are astronomical.

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However, that erratic pendulum of favouritism swings quickly. That brings pressure, unquestionably, but Simon isn't feeling the heat.

"No pressure at all man, we're not even supposed to be in this position," Simon said.

"A lot of people had us counted out, but we know the group we have and our whole goal from the beginning of the season was to make that four, coach was preaching that.

"Being in Perth, playing in Melbourne, we worked so hard for this moment. It's on our terms, when were competing down the stretch [top four] was in our hands.

"The fact is it's in our hands right now and we want to end the series at our place."

It's what makes this finals run so damn special, it flat-out shouldn't be happening. From top to bottom, it's been rife with apparent impossibilities.

After the collapse of the previous disastrous ownership, the club was literally gone, razed. Brian Goorjian was never going to coach in the NBL again, yet here he is after 11 years, and he's still got it.

His team had 16 of its first 17 games on the road, lived out of suitcases for four months. The club's two marquees barely played because of injuries and neither saw out the season. They were the type of hurdles that crippled the likes of New Zealand, Sydney, Brisbane.

Tim Coenraad was retired, AJ Ogilvy surplus to requirements. Sam Froling was too young, Deng Deng had had enough chances, Dan Grida wouldn't get back from injury, Justinian Jessup was spent, they couldn't win in Perth.

The Hawks shouldn't be here but, just like Simon should not have beaten three Perth defenders to the rim, it somehow happened anyway.

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