Bishop, who came on board mid-season, makes the four-and-a-half hour round trip from West Wyalong three times a week to take the team through their paces.

It's a torrid schedule, even for a team accustomed to travelling more than any other in Wagga sport, with Saturday's five-hour bus ride to Lithgow next on their agenda.

The Heat (3-8) are no chance of making the Waratah League finals, instead focusing on improving their effort, finetuning specific aspects of their game and blooding junior talent for next season.

Maloney hopes Bishop will have enough fuel in the tank to witness the results of the rebuild firsthand.

"It would take a toll on him doing all that travel, but hopefully we can work something out in the off season," Maloney said.

"Bisho's a really good coach, it's fun going to practice and we're all learning something new out of every session.

"We're doing film sessions and highlighting points of emphasis with our ball pressure. We're allowing teams to get too comfortable and we have to get up and pressure the ball a lot more.

"I think he's enjoying it, he gets a lot out of seeing guys improve. If we keep giving him 100 per cent and try and make a difference, what coach wouldn't enjoy that?"

"He really knows his stuff and has taught everyone a lot in the few weeks he's been here. It would be good to be able to get him for a couple more years."

The Heat lost at home to the fifth-placed Lazers by 15 points in late March, and need to shut down American imports Michael Johnson and Darreon Tolliver to cause an upset.

Wagga also welcomes forward Sawyer Dearborn back to the line-up after taking time away overseas.

"We had a hiccup against Queanbeyan and our first half against Sutherland was pretty slack, we went back to our old ways of turning the ball over and allowing offensive rebounds," Maloney said.

"But in the second half we picked up the intensity and made a run."

Saturday's game tips off at Lithgow at 4pm.

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