Did you suffer from GOAT fever during the recent Women’s Basketball World Cup? Did symptoms get worse during the bronze medal match when Lauren Jackson turned back the clock scoring 30 points? I have good news for you. Jackson is returning to the WNBL with the Southside Flyers.
Last season, the Melbourne Boomers won a topsy turvy Grand Final series. In game one, the Perth Lynx shot the lights out and won comprehensively in Melbourne by 27 points. The Boomers won a thrilling game two in Perth by one point and won game three back home by 18 points.
Four of the eight teams have new coaches heading into the 2022/2023 season. What can you expect from the teams this season?
Melbourne Boomers
The Boomers’ title last season was the perfect farewell for coach Guy Molloy, who has been replaced by Chris Lucas, who has coached Townsville Fire to back-to-back titles.
The key departures for the Boomers are Lindsay Allen (AZS AJP Gorzow Wielkopolski, Poland), Ezi Magbegor (Sopron, Hungary), Carley Ernst (Southside Flyers) and Izzy Wright (retired).
Ezi Magbegor. (Photo by Steve Christo – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)
The Boomers have done a remarkable job filling these gaps – they have signed tenacious guard Kristy Wallace from the Flyers. Wallace has won bronze medals for the Opals at the recent World Cup as well as at the 2021 FIBA Women’s Asia Cup.
The Boomers have also acquired WNBL legend Mia Murray from the Townsville Fire. Murray has played in three WNBL Championships with the Fire including a WNBL Grand Final MVP in 2015. Watch for Murray’s signature corner three.
Olivia Nelson-Ododa adds some size. She played college basketball at the UConn Huskies and in her rookie year for the Los Angeles Sparks averaged 14.5 minutes, 4 points and 3 rebounds.
Dynamic import Tiffany Mitchell will have her second season for the Boomers. Mitchell averaged 15 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. Boomers captain Cayla George, who averaged 14 points, 10.6 rebounds and 3 assists per game during the championship season, is also back after she recently won bronze for the Opals at the World Cup alongside Boomers teammate Tess Madgen.
Unfortunately, Madgen has recently undergone knee surgery and is expected to miss the first month of the season. NZ Tall Ferns star Penina Davidson also returns for her fourth season with the Boomers. At the 2021 FIBA Women’s Asia Cup, Davidson averaged 15.4 points and 8 rebounds per game.
Guard Lily Scanlon will be back for her second season after a stint at the University of Canberra Capitals. Other members of the championship winning bench Lou Brown, Rachel Brewster and development players Sophie Burrows and Lauryn Hippolite will also return.
I would expect the Boomers to be playing finals again this season.
Perth Lynx
The Lynx came within one basket of winning the 2021/2022 trophy in two games.
One of the best players to ever wear the Lynx uniform Sami Whitcomb will be back to guide the Lynx in an effort to win that elusive title. Whitcomb averaged 14 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game last season. The 2021 Asia Cup will always stick in my mind as an example of Whitcomb’s skill and desire. On the Thursday prior to the Asia Cup, Whitcomb was playing in a WNBA playoff game for the New York Liberty in Phoenix. Less than four days later, the Opals and Whitcomb were playing their first match against Chinese Taipei in Amman, Jordan. Whitcomb finished the tournament with averages of 17.5 points, 7.5 assists and 7.2 rebounds per game, and was rightfully rewarded with selection in the All-Star Five.
Last season’s Runner-Up in the Lynx MVP Lauren Scherf will be back in red. She averaged 11.8 points and 10.2 rebounds for the Lynx.
The Lynx do have some significant departures from their Grand Final line-up – imports Marina Mabrey (Schio, Italy), who averaged 17.4 points per game for the Lynx, and Jackie Young (Hatayspor, Turkey), who averaged 17.8 points per game for the Lynx. Opal Darcee Garbin has signed with Hungarian club DVTK-Hun-Therm. Garbin averaged 11.4 points and 5.7 rebounds per game last season for the Lynx.
South Perth’s Amy Atwell returns after playing at the University of Hawaii. Atwell was awarded the 2021/2022 Big West Conference Player of the Year award, averaging 17.8 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. Atwell made her WNBA debut, playing four games early in the season with the Los Angeles Sparks.
Chloe Bibby returns to Australia after stints with Mississippi State and the University of Maryland. Bibby led Maryland to back-to-back NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearances, averaging 12.5 points and 5.7 rebounds in 61 games. Bibby earned All-Big Ten Second Team honours in 2022.
The Lynx have signed import Robbi Ryan who played college basketball for Arizona State Sun Devils and started her professional career with Grindavik in Iceland. Ryan has most recently played for Joondalup Wolves in NBL1 West. Ryan averaged 20.12 points, 5.18 assists, 6.47 rebounds and 2.53 steals per game.
Emma Gandini and Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard (development contracts) and Tayah Burrows (amateur contract) have been elevated to a full contract. Jessie Edwards returns after being part of their squad in the 2020 hub season.
With the massive losses of Young, Mabrey and Garbin despite the additions of Atwell and Bibby and Sami Whitcomb’s presence, the Lynx are likely to just miss the finals.
University of Canberra Capitals
Their semi-finals series was reduced to one game after a COVID-19 outbreak at the Capitals.
The Capitals have a new coach with Paul Goriss leaving after six seasons including back-to-back championships. Goriss moved to the WNBA to take up an assistant coach role at the Atlanta Dream. He has been replaced by former Capitals player and assistant coach Kristen Veal.
Two WNBL legends Kelsey Griffin and Kelly Wilson have returned to the Bendigo Spirit. Star import Brittney Sykes is playing for Sopron in Hungary. Last season Sykes averaged 16.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 2.5 steals per game and was named the Robyn Maher Defensive Player of the Year.
Mikaela Ruef has moved to the Townsville Fire, Alicia Froling (Bendigo Spirit) and Abby Cubillo (Adelaide Lightning) will also not be returning, and Tahlia Tupaea has taken personal leave.
Young star guard Jade Melbourne will be expected to step up. Melbourne has played for the Opals and you would expect her to do that for the next decade or more. She has also been drafted by the Seattle Storm. In 2021/2022 Melbourne averaged 9.3 points and 2.4 rebounds per game.
Experienced forward/centre Alex Bunton has re-signed after returning from retirement last season to average 7.3 points and 4.6 rebounds last season. Sharpshooter Brittany Smart is back after she averaged 10.3 points and 1.6 steals per game last season.
The Capitals have added forward Dekeiya Cohen as one of their imports. Cohen is from Charleston and played college basketball at Baylor University. Cohen has also played with Mersin University in Turkey and in 2021/2022 averaged 13 points, 9.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.3 steals per game for Hapoel Rishon Lezion in Israel.
WNBA rookie forward Rae Burrell is the Capitals’ second import. Burrell averaged 10.3 points and 4.2 rebounds over four years with the University of Tennessee. Burrell played three games in her debut season for the Los Angeles Sparks prior to a knee injury ending her season.
Youngsters Gemma Potter and Shaneice Swan will return for the second season of their contracts. Prior to last season Potter injured her ACL playing for Victoria at the Under 20s championships. Swain is a former Australian Gem, winning a silver medal at the 2021 FIBA Under 19 World Cup.
The Capitals have signed Emilee Whittle-Harmon from the Southside Flyers and have added Rebecca Pizzey and Sherrie Calleia from the Sydney Flames, plus former Centre of Excellence graduate Elizabeth Tonks.
With the departures of some key players such as Sykes, Griffin and Wilson as well as experienced coach Goriss, I predict the Capitals will miss the finals.
Adelaide Lightning
The Lightning finished fourth last season and their coach Chris Lucas has moved to the Melbourne Boomers. He will be replaced by WNBL legend Nat Hurst.
Key members of that team who have moved on are Alanna Smith (AZS AJP Gorzow Wielkopolski, Poland), imports Kylee Shook (Olympiacos Piraeus, Greece) and Kiana Williams (Cegledi, Hungary) and Abbey Wehrung who has returned to the Bendigo Spirit.
Steph Talbot returns in fine form, having earned selection in the All Star Five at the World Cup. Guard Mareena Whittle who won a bronze medal for Australia in the Commonwealth Games 3×3 squad also returns.
Steph Talbot (Photo by Mark Brake/Getty Images)
The Lightning have recruited experienced guard Lauren Mansfield after stints with the South East Queensland Stars, University of Canberra Capitals, Perth Lynx and Sydney Flames.
After spending four seasons with the University of Canberra Capitals, another guard Abby Cubillo will join the Lightning. Expect to see Cubillo get more opportunities than she has had with the Capitals.
The Lightning have signed experienced import Jacinta “Jay” Monroe. She played at Florida State University and made her WNBA debut for the Washington Mystics. In her most recent season with Charleville-Mezieres Monroe averaged 10 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.
Kierstan Bell is the Lightning’s second import. Bell played college basketball at Ohio State and Florida Gulf Coast. In her two seasons at Florida Gulf Coast Bell averaged 23.6 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. Bell was a member of the Las Vegas Aces WNBA championship squad.
A number of the Lightning’s bench players from last season are returning – Sam Simons, Chelsea Brook, Brooke Basham, Ella Batish and Tayla Brazel. The Lightning have also added Isobel Borlase to the squad.
The Lightning will sorely miss the lose of Smith, Shook and Wehrung. There will be a lot of expectation on Talbot, Mansfield and the imports. Based on the roster changes in my opinion the Lightning will miss the finals this season.
Bendigo Spirit
Bendigo will also have a new coach with former New Zealand Tall Ferns coach Kennedy Kereama replacing Tracy York, who was coach for three seasons.
The big news for Spirit fans is the return of two, not only WNBL legends, but also Bendigo legends – Kelsey Griffin and Kelly Wilson. Griffin and Wilson both played in the Spirit’s back-to-back championships in 2012/2013 and 2013/2014.
Another former Spirit player is returning from the Capitals Alicia Froling after a standout 2022 NBL1 South season averaging 21.52 points and 11.3 rebounds per game for the Knox Raiders under Kereama.
Abbey Wehrung, who hails from country Victorian town Korweinguboora, which is just over an hour’s drive from Bendigo, is back after making her Opals debut at the 2021 FIBA Women’s Asia Cup.
The key departure for the Bendigo Spirit is Australian 3×3 star Maddie Garrick, who is playing for Polisportiva A.Galli Basket in Italy. Former Opal and WNBA guard Leilani Mitchell left the Spirit midway through last season after announcing she was pregnant. Other departures include Demi Skinner, Jennie Rintala and Carly Boag.
2021/2022 WNBL Most Valuable Player (aka the Suzy Batkovic medal) Anneli Maley will be back providing her energy for the Spirit. Maley averaged 19.8 points and 15.7 rebounds per game in WNBL 2021/2022 and amazingly recorded a double-double in all but one game. Maley was also a member of the Opals’ bronze medal winning team at the World Cup.
Power forward Megan McKay returns for her second season along with dual sport star Tessa Lavey, who last season was often playing a WNBL game and an AFLW match on the same weekend. This season with the timing of the AFLW changing there will only be a crossover for the first two to four weeks of the season, whilst Richmond’s AFLW campaign continues.
Other players that will be back in Bendigo are Alex Wilson, New Zealand Tall Fern Mary Goulding, Cassidy McLean and Piper Dunlop. The Spirit have also signed Sophia Locandro, who is returning home to Victoria after playing college basketball with UC Irvine.
After finishing fifth last season, with the additions of the experienced Griffin and Kelly Wilson and the continued development of Maley and McKay the Spirit should return to the finals this season.
Townsville Fire
The Fire finished sixth in 2021/2022. The Fire were impacted by COVID-19 and also an injury to star import Monique Billings which saw her play only 11 games (15.9 points and 7.3 rebounds per game).
Other key departures are WNBL legend and three-time championship winner Mia Murray who has signed with the Melbourne Boomers, Nadeen Payne, who is taking the season off and import Alecia “Sug” Sutton.
The Fire have signed experienced WNBA forward Tianna Hawkins. A University of Maryland graduate, she has nine years of WNBA experience with the Seattle Storm, Atlanta Dream and mainly the Washington Mystics.
The Fire’s second import is Karlie Samuelson, who played college basketball at Stanford University and has played in the WNBA with the Los Angeles Sparks, Dallas Wings, Seattle Storm and Phoenix Mercury.
Zitina Aokuso was a member of the Fire’s championship winning team in 2017/2018 and 2022/2023 will be her sixth season with the club. New recruit Mikaela Ruef from the University of Canberra Capitals will form a dynamic tag team with Aokuso in the key. Last season Ruef averaged 9.6 points and 7.9 rebounds per game.
Lauren Nicholson is also back. She played college ball for St Mary’s. Nicholson played in a championship with the Sydney Uni Flames in 2016/2017 and was key reason for the Adelaide Lightning to make the Grand Finals series in 2018/2019.
Nicholson and Steph Reid will give opposition backcourts nightmares. Reid played college basketball for the Buffalo Bulls, where she was MVP of the 2016 MAC Women’s Basketball Tournament and reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time.
The Fire have added New Zealand Tall Fern guard Krystal Leger-Walker. She Walker attended Northern Colorado and Washington State. In 2020/2021 when at Washington State led the league in assists.
Lara McSpadden and Courtney Woods are also returning and Morgan Yaeger has joined from the Sydney Flames.
Billings’ injury heavily impacted the Fire last season. The additions of Hawkins, Samuelson, Ruef and Leger-Walker should propel the Fire back to the finals.
Southside Flyers
In the 2020 WNBL season, the Flyers won the championship in the north Queensland hub. The Flyers’ 2021/2022 season was significantly impacted by COVID-19 outbreaks, as well as players missing due to injury and mental health issues, and they dropped to seventh.
The Flyers have moved their home games this season from Dandenong Stadium to the State Basketball Centre. They have lost plenty of experience with former Opals captain Jenna O’Hea and another former Opal Rachel Jarry both retiring. Opals guard Kristy Wallace has joined the Melbourne Boomers and bench forward Emilee Whittle-Harmon has joined the University of Canberra Capitals.
But when you have the greatest Australian player ever in Lauren Jackson returning from retirement, it can only be a good thing.
(Photo by Kelly Defina/Getty Images)
The three-time WNBA MVP and four-time WNBL MVP will once again teaming up in the front court with former Capitals teammate Abby Bishop, another former WNBL MVP.
Dallas Wings forward Kayla Thornton is another exciting addition. Thornton averaged 8 points and almost 6 rebounds per game during the most recent WNBA season. Thornton has previously won championships in South Korea and Israel.
The Flyers will have a number of 2020 championship players returning for the 2022/2023 season. Guard Aimie Rocci, who has received the honour of being named captain for 2022/2023, Opals World Cup bronze medallist Sara Blicavs will again be displaying her athleticism in teal this season, and Southside Flyers 2021/2022 MVP Bec Cole is back to terrorise defences. Cole had the highest three-point percentage in the WNBL last season.
Rocci’s sister-in-law Maddison Rocci will return for her second year with the Flyers. Rocci won two WNBL championships with the University of Canberra Capitals. Rocci also won a club MVP whilst at the Capitals.
Versatile Carley Ernst made a surprise return to the WNBL during the 2021/2022 season with the Melbourne Boomers and ended up being a member of their championship winning team. Don’t leave Ernst free at the top of the key because she loves hitting threes from there.
Southside Flyers have also signed two of Australia’s brightest young talents forward Nyadiew Puoch and guard Dallas Loughridge. Puoch and Loughridge were both members of the Australian Gems who recently won the Under 18 Women’s Asian Championship. Puoch scored 14 points, had 6 rebounds and 3 assists and Loughridge scored 17 points and had 8 assists in the final.
With the addition of Jackson, Thornton and Ernst as well as young guns Puoch and Loughridge to the line-up of experienced returning players I believe the Flyers will once again make the finals.
Sydney Flames
The Sydney Flames have a very young roster and last season had all sorts of issues with their imports with injuries and releases.
Shane Heal returns as coach and one of his key returning players is his daughter Shyla. She was an instrumental member of the Townsville team that made the 2020 WNBL Grand Final. Heal was the Flames’ Joint MVP last season, averaging 15.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game.
Captain Keely Froling is also back – a member of the Capitals’ back-to-back championship teams in 2018/2019 and 2019/2020. Froling averaged 16.3 points and 8.4 rebounds per game last season and was the other Joint MVP.
New Zealand Tall Fern Kalani Purcell will be back for her second season at the Flames. The winner of the Flames’ Most Inspirational Award in 2021/2022 Kiera Rowe is another returning Flame. Rowe spent three seasons at Dandenong Stadium (two with the Dandenong Rangers and one with the Southside Flyers) before joining the Flames.
Tiana Mangakahia has joined on a two-year contract. Mangakahia has been playing college basketball at Syracuse and has overcome a stage three breast cancer diagnosis. Mangakahia led college basketball in assists in her final season at Syracuse.
New York Liberty’s Jocelyn Willoughby has joined the Flames as one of their imports. Willoughby played college basketball at the University of Virginia Cavaliers. Willoughby made her WNBA debut in 2020 but missed the entire 2021 WNBA season after tearing her Achilles.
The Flames’ second import is former South Dakota college star and WNBA Minnesota Lynx draftee Hannah Sjerven. The forward was released by the Lynx in the pre-season but played three WNBA matches after signing a hardship contract. Sjerven’s contract with the Flames is her first full professional contract.
Guard Vanessa Panoussis last played with the Flames in 2019. Since then, Panoussis has played for the Adelaide Lightning and with PAS Giannina in Greece. Emma Clarke, who has played college basketball at the University of Colorado, joins the Flames after two seasons at Perth.
Guard Madelyn Allen has been signed after strong showings in the NBL1 North competition with Southern Districts. Allen averaged 17.33 points, 6.71 assists and 4.9 rebounds for the Spartans. Lily Rotunno recently won a gold medal with the Gems at the FIBA U18 Women’s Asia Championships and has signed an amateur contract with the Flames. Indiah Bowyer, a 19 year old Indigenous player hails from Cairns and has also signed an amateur contract.
This young team should bring Flames fans plenty of enjoyment. Although, I don’t believe they will challenge for finals this season. If the Flames are able to keep the majority of this squad together for a period of time, they will be difficult to beat in a year or two.
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