"The seagull has symbolised our year. We were clobbered, we looked shot, and suddenly we've come good," McGuire said of the team's five-match winning streak which has given them a berth in Sunday's semi-final away to Perth Scorchers.

McGuire was overseas for the start of the BBL season in which the highly rated Stars lost their first three matches. He said he was never tempted, on his return, to question either coach Greg Shipperd or captain Cameron White on why the team was failing to reach the high expectations placed upon them internally as well as externally.

"Football's like this as well. [As a president] you've got to understand what is going on, not what you hoped would be going on and be the bloke in the cheer squad leaning over the fence," he said.

"It's just been so, so exciting: the way the games have been played, the fightback from adversity from the horror run we had with injuries, and then we lost one game [to Brisbane] by one run."

McGuire said he was rapt the Stars had repaid the healthy mid-week crowd of 33,580 on Wednesday night at the MCG by not giving up on the win, achieved primarily courtesy of Peter Handscomb's mighty hitting, once their lure of a home final, for which a huge win was needed, was gone.

"Winning form is good form . . . whether it's football or cricket you want to go in [to finals] feeling great and we are, whereas in the past few years, played really well, killed everybody, and got to the finals and it's been an argument [about player availability]," the president said.

"I think what it does is [fortify your confidence]. After the first three losses you go 'Gee, how are we going to find a way to win?' Suddenly you go 'We can win from anywhere'."

McGuire said the team would have no qualms about returning on Sunday evening to the WACA Ground, where they were eliminated from the BBL finals in the first two years of the competition. The more dramatic of those was two years ago, when the Stars thought they had won but had to re-bowl the final ball due to a no-ball for incorrect field placement, from which the Scorchers triumphed.

"I think we've got a bit of [Fremantle coach] Ross Lyon about us: any time, anywhere," he said.

"We go in as underdogs – there's no doubt about that – at the WACA, against the team that's probably the best performed over the years when it's mattered.

"When you get to the business end of the season you want to be playing the best guys and you want to win by being the best. Whoever wins the game will deservedly be in the final and get a shot at the Champions League, which I'm desperate to get into."

McGuire also praised the camaraderie that has developed among the players, even those in their first year at the Stars. He reckoned the dashing form of Kevin Pietersen was a byproduct of that.

"You see a bloke like Kevin Pietersen . . . the last period of his cricketing career has been horrific in terms of the animosity around him and the injuries he was carrying, the [ECB's] sword of Damocles over his career. Suddenly he's loved, getting standing ovations from the supporters and playing well. He's having a great time."