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Opinion
The WNBL season tips off on Wednesday. The season will run for a 6-week period in a hub in north Queensland. Matches will be played in Cairns, Mackay and Townsville.
Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 there will be no imports in the hub.
The WNBL have announced a broadcast deal that is unprecedented for the competition. All 60 games will be broadcast on either Foxtel, Kayo or the ABC.
Fox Sports will broadcast live four games per week (7pm EDT Thursday, 5pm EDT Saturday, 1pm EDT Sunday and 3pm EDT Sunday) on Foxtel and Kayo.
The ABC will broadcast the 5pm EDT Saturday game and 3pm EDT Sunday games. All matches will be streamed on Kayo.
Click here to see the rest of Scott Rea’s series.
Southside Flyers
Last season: Runner-Up
For the 2019-2020 season, Jayco Caravans owner Gerry Ryan took over the Dandenong Rangers licence and rebranded them as the Southside Flyers. The Ranger’s green was replaced with teal, which reminded me of the North Melbourne Giants’ jerseys when Darryl McDonald was at his best.
The Flyers appointed Cheryl Chambers as coach and assembled a very strong squad. The Flyers were minor premiers and were beaten in two thrilling matches in the grand final series by the Capitals.
One of the key members of the team, import Mercedes Russell will not be suiting up this season. Southside Flyers and WNBL fans couldn’t hope for a better replacement for Russell, with Australian Opals star Liz Cambage. Cambage is the leading point scorer in one game in the WNBA with 53 points when she was playing for the Dallas Wings. Cambage is a larger than life presence both on and off the court.
Cambage is one of the best ever Australian players, so it is great for the WNBL that she is back playing in the league. I am looking forward to her battles inside the paint with players like Marianna Tolo and Cayla George.
Cambage will be part of an experience and talented starting five with Jenna O’Hea, Sara Blicavs, Leilani Mitchell and Rebecca Cole.
Opals captain O’Hea has played in the WNBA and France and brings experience, class and composure to the Flyers line-up. O’Hea is versatile and is just as at home taking the ball to the basket as she is shooting three pointers. O’Hea has been named in the All-WNBL team six times.
Watch for the athleticism of Opal Sara Blicavs as she drives the ball to the basket or flies in to contest a rebound. Sara isn’t alone in her family when it comes to athleticism.
Sara has followed in the footsteps of both her mother and father, who both represented Australia in Basketball and her brother Mark is a two-time Geelong best and fairest winner in the AFL.
Rebecca Cole is a star of the WNBL. (Photo by James Worsfold/Getty Images)
Another Opal Mitchell will be running the show from the point for the Flyers. Mitchell is at home shooting three pointers, but her distribution skills will be one of the main reasons that the Flyers contend this season. Mitchell is the only player to win the WNBA’s most improved player award twice.
Mitchell has won WNBL Championships in 2016/2017 with the Sydney Uni Flames (winning the grand final MVP) and 2018/2019 with the University of Canberra Capitals. Mitchell was the Flyers’ MVP in their first season.
Since Cole moved to Dandenong Stadium her game has gone to a new level. Cole was named in the All-WNBL team in 2018/2019 and was also named the Dandenong Rangers MVP in 2018/2019. Cole has played an important role with the Australian 3×3 team and hopefully this team can qualify for the Olympics.
This isn’t Cole’s only avenue to the Olympics as she was named in the most recent extended Opals squad.
There is no shortage of experience on the Flyers’ bench either. Guard Aimie Clydesdale returns to the Flyers this season. Clydesdale was a member of the Dandenong Rangers championship team in 2011-2012. Clydesdale has also played in WNBL grand finals series in 2016-2017 with the Dandenong Rangers, in 2018-2019 with the Adelaide Lightning and in 2019-2020 with the Flyers.
Clydesdale will be hoping to go one better this year. One of the highlights of last season for Clydesdale that stands out is a clutch three pointer she made late in a game with the Perth Lynx at Dandenong Stadium.
The three-pointer helped the Flyers take the game to overtime and the Flyers ended up winning the game 97 to 93. Clydesdale also stepped into the starting line up for the Flyers in the second half of last season when Jenna O’Hea injured her hand.
The Flyers have signed former Opals Rachel Jarry and Steph Blicavs. Jarry has represented the Opals at Olympic Games and World Championships and won a WNBA and WNBL championship. Jarry is usually the player chasing after loose balls and will bring her tenacity to the defensive end of the court.
What a luxury for coach Chambers to be able to bring a player of Jarry’s calibre off the bench.
Steph Blicavs is Sara’s sister-in-law. Steph is returning to the WNBL after giving birth to her son Arlo. Steph has won WNBL championships with the Dandenong Rangers and Townsville Fire and was a member of Adelaide Lightning’s team that made the 2018-2019 grand final series. Steph is a wonderful defensive player having won the WNBL 2016 Defensive Player of the Year.
The Flyers have also signed AFLW star and former Melbourne Boomer Monique Conti. In the condensed season, Conti will be important in maintaining any momentum created by the starting five and also in giving coach Chambers the chance to rest Mitchell and Cole. Conti was the WNBL rookie of the year in 2017 and in AFLW is a premiership winner with the Western Bulldogs in 2018 and in 2020 won Richmond’s AFLW best and fairest.
Rebecca Pizzey has spent a number of seasons at Stud Road with both the Dandenong Rangers and the Flyers. Pizzey represented Australia at the 2017 Under 19 World Cup. Pizzey will play an important role in allowing coach Chambers to manage the minutes played by star recruit Cambage.
Taylah Giliam has also spent time with the Rangers and Flyers in the WNBL. Warragul product Giliam played for the Dandenong Rangers in NBL1 last season (this NBL1 season was cancelled due to COVID-19). Giliam is a speedy guard.
Saraid Taylor and Amy O’Neill were both development players for the Flyers last season and both have joined the team in the hub. Taylor played with Frankston Blues in NBL1 in 2019 averaging 10.3 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. O’Neill, who is a point guard, attended St Francis College in Brooklyn and played for the Southern Sabres in NBL1.
Prediction
Last season, the Flyers were the minor premiers and lost a thrilling grand final series. With the addition of Cambage to four of last season’s starting five and the experience added to the bench of Jarry and Steph Blicavs, if the Flyers can stay fit, I predict that they will win the title.
Predicted finish: first
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