 He was immediately snapped up as playing coach of perennial easy-beats the Perth Wildcats for the 1987 NBL season and immediately set about building a championship contending team.He recruited two players who would become stars with the Wildcats, centre/power forwards James Crawford (a teammate of Bruton's at Geelong in 1982 known as the "Alabama Slamma" for his dunking ability) and former Harlem Globetrotter Kendal "Tiny" Pinder.As playing coach of the Wildcats Bruton built a team to beat the reigning NBL champions, the Adelaide 36ers.