Women's National Basketball League

For the Philippine basketball league, see Women's National Basketball League (Philippines).

Women's National Basketball League (WNBL)

Current season, competition or edition: 2023–24 WNBL season
Formerly	Women's Interstate Basketball Conference (WIBC) (1981)
Sport	Basketball
Founded	1981
First season	1981
Commissioner	Christy Collier-Hill
No. of teams	8
Country	Australia
Continent	FIBA Oceania (Oceania)
Most recent champion(s)	Townsville Fire (4th title)
Most titles	Canberra Capitals (9 titles)
TV partner(s)	ESPN
Streaming partner(s)	9Now
Sponsor(s)	Cygnett
Level on pyramid	1
Official website	wnbl.basketball

The Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) is the pre-eminent professional women's basketball league in Australia. It is currently composed of eight teams. The league was founded in 1981 and is the women's counterpart to the National Basketball League (NBL). Several WNBL teams have NBL counterparts. The Adelaide Lightning, Melbourne Boomers, Perth Lynx, Southside Flyers and Sydney Uni Flames are the current WNBL teams sharing a market with an NBL team (the Townsville Fire and University of Canberra Capitals shared a market with the Townsville Crocodiles and Canberra Cannons respectively, before both NBL clubs became defunct). The current league champions are the Townsville Fire, who won their fourth title in 2023.

History

Founding of the WNBL

In August 1980, West Adelaide Bearcat Coach Ted Powell, after an encouraging exchange of letters with St Kilda's Coach Bill Palmer, called a meeting at the Governor Hindmarsh Hotel in Adelaide. In attendance were Ted, North Adelaide Coach Kay McFarlane and Noarlunga Coach Brendan Flynn. At this meeting it was decided to approach three Victorian teams (St Kilda, CYMS and Nunawading) with the idea of forming a home and away Interstate Competition.

The six teams' delegates all met and confirmed the new League at the Town and Country Motel in Sydney during the 1980 Australian Club Championships.

The meeting resolved to form a two-round competition between these teams to be held in July and August in 1981. The basis for the idea was that many of the top sides in both States wanted a varied competition from their standard State League as well as a suitable preparation for the Australian Club Championship, which was held on an annual basis for the top 24 teams in the country. There was also much excitement with the formation of the Men's National League in 1979 and the women felt that one of the best ways to develop the game was to provide more opportunities for the best players and clubs to play against each other more regularly.

A major consideration was finance and with this in mind the competition was formed with the six teams with a full home and away series between all teams with three games on one weekend to save costs. The NSW based clubs of Bankstown and Sutherland were not happy to be left out due to costs and offered to pay their own way to Melbourne and Adelaide where they would play each team once for double points.

And so the WNBL was born. Reference. (Boti Nagy. High flyers: women's basketball in Australia 1990. Sun Books)

In 1981, the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) was also opened and the men's head coach Dr. Adrian Hurley (who was to lead the Australian Boomers in the 1988 and 1992 Olympics) contacted the clubs and asked whether the AIS could also participate in the competition to commence later that year.

The nine teams in the inaugural season of the league were: AIS, Bankstown Bruins, Catholic Young Men's Society (CYMS), Melbourne Telstars, Noarlunga Tigers, North Adelaide Rockets, St. Kilda Saints, Sutherland Sharks and West Adelaide Bearcats. The competition commenced on 19 June 1981 with the first game to be played in Adelaide between the AIS and West Adelaide. The competition was called the Women's Interstate Basketball Conference with each team paying the sum of $25 to be a part of the WIBC – giving a central fund of $200 to conduct the competition.

1981–1985: early years

The inaugural winner was St. Kilda who defeated the North Adelaide Rockets 77–58. St. Kilda also went on to win the Victorian State Championship and the Australian Club Championship in Melbourne, defeating Bankstown Bruins in the final. St. Kilda had three Australian representatives in Tracy Morris, Karen Ogden and Patricia Cockrem. Ogden became the national league's first dual Most Valuable Player award winner when she took the individual trophy in 1982 (the first season it was presented) and again in 1983.

In 1982, the competition expanded into another state with the entry of a combined Brisbane team. The new revised program saw Victorian teams travelling to NSW and AIS, and NSW teams travelling to South Australia and South Australian teams travelling to Victoria. It was not a full home and away competition but the beginnings of what was to come in the future. The competition also changed its name to the more appropriate Women's Basketball League. St. Kilda repeated in 1982 with a grand final win over Bankstown – the men's team also won the first two NBL titles, which showed the strength of St. Kilda at that time.

In 1983, Nunawading Spectres led by Robyn Maher easily defeated St. Kilda and went on to win nine WNBL titles during the next 12 years. During the 1983 Australian Club Championships, a workshop was held to discuss women's basketball and from that meeting came the decision to bring together a second tier of clubs to form the Women's Conference. There were now 20 women's teams playing in a home and away competition, which immediately improved the standard of women's basketball in Australia.

With the NBL finally riding the crest of a sudden wave of popularity, media interest in the women's league also was on the increase. Most clubs were recognising the need to promote themselves and the image of the league. Double header matches with the men's NBL and with South East Basketball League games – a secondary men's interstate competition – pushed the women's game before a wider spectator audience unfamiliar with the quality of women's basketball. In 1985, the two competitions continued to work together to improve women's basketball and recognised the need to promote the competition and the individual clubs and athletes. Hobart was winners of the second conference and was keen to enter the main competition, however this was not to be until 1986.

1986–1989: league expansion and growth

When Perth admitted a team for the 1986 Women's Basketball Conference, the two women's leagues could rightfully claim that between them they had a truly national competition. The Australian Basketball Federation approved the WBL's application to be renamed the National Women's Basketball League and a new era was underway. 1986 was also the first year that the WNBL played its first full home and away competition and next year, Perth sought a position in the number league. Perth's inclusion was on the basis that they paid their own airfares in the first two years to earn their position.

Following the success of the Seoul Olympics, the WNBL was ready to enter a new era and appointed Lyn Palmer in the newly created full-time general manager position. Lyn Palmer, who had just retired after a distinguished playing career with St. Kilda, Nunawading and Coburg, was looking for a change whilst her husband Bill was general manager of the men's NBL.

In 1989, the WNBL gained its first sponsorship in Pony, one of Australia's leading sporting apparel companies at the time for $258,000 and ABC agreed to cover the finals series. The women's game in Australia was on the move – there were 13 teams in the WNBL for the 1989 season, with the Bankstown Bruins changing their name to the Sydney Bruins to try to gain more market exposure in Australia's largest city.

1990s: continued growth

The next few years saw the league continue to grow with Australia being awarded the Women's World Championships in 1994. The pressure was now on to ensure that women's basketball gained a profile in the country, and in 1993, the WNBL teams agreed to contribute some money to enable the game to be televised on a weekly basis by ABC. This was the break through that the sport needed and also coincided with the Sydney Kings taking over the ownership of the Sydney Bruins and the formation of the Sydney Flames.

Coached by Carrie Graf, the Flames became one of Australia's most popular women's sporting teams. The Perth Breakers led the way with the bodysuit in the early 1990s whilst the Flames continued to modify the suit, winning the title in 1993 and gaining back page coverage on the Sydney newspapers, a feat never envisaged back in the early 1980s.

The 1990s were dominated by Sydney, Melbourne Tigers, Adelaide Lightning and Canberra. The AIS won their first title in the first summer season of 1998–99 led by one of the best basketballers in the world, Lauren Jackson. Jan Morris continued as the President (10 years as President is recognised as an outstanding contribution to the WNBL) of the League and in 1995 Leeanne Grantham (née Christie) became the Chief Executive. Throughout the mid-late 1990s (and into the early 2000s) the WNBL brand became the most well known women's sport brand in Australia, it was also recognised as one of the top 3 leading women's basketball leagues in the world.

The ABC televised weekly WNBL games and broadcast the 1994 Women's World Championships held in Australia, this provided women's basketball with the type of profile required to help secure significant sponsorship enabling the League to reduce the travel pool and to continue to build on the WNBL Brand.

2000s

WNBL teams, the Logan Thunder in white and the University of Canberra Capitals in blue, battle for the ball in a game on 20 January 2012.

The ABC continued to televise the league despite some difficulties in mid-2001 when the ABC contemplated changing their televising of sport. A successful partnership between the WNBL and Netball Australia subsequently saw both sports retained on ABC. ABC undertook to increase their coverage by showing Friday night games live on ABC digital television as well as a replay in the regular Saturday afternoon slot.

The WNBL was very stable with eight teams for a number of seasons with Tasmania and Northern Territory not represented. In 2006, Bendigo, through the efforts of a strong community focus for women's basketball, commenced discussions with Basketball Australia about entering a team for the 2007–08 season. At the same time, Basketball New Zealand had discussions with Basketball Australia about a team from New Zealand entering the next season.

In October 2006, the decision was made to welcome two new teams into the WNBL for the 2007–08 season in Bendigo Spirit and Christchurch Sirens. Bendigo brought excellent community support into the league, whilst Christchurch had a number of the New Zealand Tall Ferns on their roster to begin. One of the strategic objectives of the WNBL was to see a second team out of Queensland from the south and after some very effective feasibility work, Logan Basketball Association were successful in being admitted into the 2008–09 season with the Logan Thunder.

In 2013, the Adelaide Lightning merged into a partnership with the NBL's Adelaide 36ers which sees the two clubs sharing management and marketing departments, as well as use of the 8,000 seat Adelaide Arena, the largest venue currently used in the WNBL. The collaboration of WNBL and NBL teams from the same city is seen as a way of raising the public profile of both the WNBL and the Lightning, with several Lightning home games played before 36ers games in cross-promoted double headers ensuring the women's game often finishes in front of crowds in excess of 5,000.

A February 2023 match between the Southside Flyers and the Sydney Flames drew a crowd of 7,681, which is the largest ever WNBL crowd.

Current clubs

Main article: List of 2022–23 WNBL team rosters

Club	Colours	City	State	Arena	Capacity	Founded	Head Coach	WNBL Championships	Most recent
Adelaide Lightning	Navy Blue, Red, Yellow	Adelaide	South Australia	Adelaide 36ers Arena	8,000	1992	Natalie Hurst	5	2008 (2008)
Bendigo Spirit	Darker Blue, Yellow	Bendigo	Victoria	Bendigo Stadium	4,000	2007	Kennedy Kereama	2	2014 (2014)
Canberra Capitals	Light Blue, Black, Gold	Canberra	Australian Capital Territory	AIS Arena	5,200	1986	Kristen Veal	9	2020 (2020)
Melbourne Boomers	Purple, Gold	Melbourne	Victoria	Parkville Stadium	3,500	1984	Chris Lucas	2	2022 (2022)
Perth Lynx	Red, Black, White	Perth	Western Australia	Bendat Basketball Centre	2,000	1988	Ryan Petrik	1	1992 (1992)
Southside Flyers	Aqua, Navy, White	Dandenong	Victoria	State Basketball Centre	3,200	1992	Cheryl Chambers	4	2020 (2020)
Sydney Flames	Black, Silver and Gold	Sydney	New South Wales	Qudos Bank Arena	18,000	1981	Shelley Gorman	4	2017 (2017)
Townsville Fire	Black, Orange, Light Blue	Townsville	Queensland	Townsville Entertainment Centre	5,257	2001	Shannon Seebohm	4	2023 (2023)

Former clubs

• Adelaide City Comets – 1992
• Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) – 1981 to 2011–12
• Brisbane Blazers – 1982 to 1998
• Catholic Young Men's Society (CYMS) – 1981 to 1982
• Christchurch Sirens – 2007–08
• Coburg Cougars – 1983 to 1990
• Geelong Supercats – 1986
• Hobart Islanders – 1986 to 1996
• Logan Thunder – 2008–09 to 2013–14
• Melbourne Telstars – 1981
• Melbourne Tigers – 1989 to 2000–01
• Noarlunga Tigers – 1981 to 1991
• North Adelaide Rockets – 1981 to 1991
• Nunawading Spectres (Melbourne East Spectres) – 1982 to 1991
• South East Queensland Stars – 2015–16
• St. Kilda Saints – 1981 to 1985
• Sutherland Sharks – 1981 to 1986
• West Adelaide Bearcats – 1981 to 1992

Season format

Regular season

The WNBL regular season typically begins in early October and concludes in mid to late February. During the regular season, each team plays 24 games, 12 home and away. Each team plays each other at least three times, and some of the teams four times. The top four teams in on the Championship ladder move on to the WNBL Finals, usually taking place in March.

After April, teams hold training camps. Training camps allow the coaching staff to prepare the players for the regular season, and determine the roster with which they will begin the regular season. After training camp, a series of preseason exhibition games are held.

WNBL finals

Main article: List of WNBL champions

The top four teams at the end of the regular season advances to the finals. The teams finishing in the first and second positions at the completion of the regular season receive home advantage in their three-game first-round match-up against the teams finishing in fourth and third positions respectively. The winners of these series advance to the grand final. With home advantage being awarded to the highest remaining seed, the winner of the three-game grand final series is crowned as WNBL champion.

The WNBL finals
1980s Season Champions Runners-up Format Result Finals MVP Team Coach Team Coach 1981 St Kilda Saints North Adelaide Rockets Kay McFarlane Single game 77–58 N/A 1982 St Kilda Saints Bankstown Bruins Robbie Cadee Single game 63–56 N/A 1983 Nunawading Spectres Tom Maher St Kilda Saints Single game 70–46 N/A 1984 Nunawading Spectres Tom Maher West Adelaide Bearcats Ted Powell Single game 78–65 N/A 1985 Coburg Cougars Noarlunga Tigers Jim Madigan Single game 73–71 Karin Maar 1986 Nunawading Spectres Australian Institute of Sport Single game 62–51 Shelley Gorman 1987 Nunawading Spectres Tom Maher Coburg Cougars Single game 67–59 Tracey Browning 1988 Nunawading Spectres Tom Maher North Adelaide Rockets Kay McFarlane Single game 71–43 Shelley Gorman 1989 Nunawading Spectres Tom Maher Hobart Islanders Single game 80–69 Robyn Maher
1990s Season Champions Runners-up Format Result Finals MVP Team Coach Team Coach 1990 North Adelaide Rockets Mark Molitor Hobart Islanders Single game 72–57 Donna Brown 1991 Hobart Islanders Nunawading Spectres Single game 67–64 Debbie Black 1992 Perth Breakers Tom Maher Dandenong Rangers Alex Palazzolo Single game 58–54 Tanya Fisher 1993 Sydney Flames Carrie Graf Perth Breakers Guy Molloy Single game 65–64 Annie Burgess 1994 Adelaide Lightning Jan Stirling Melbourne Tigers Ray Tomlinson Single game 84–77 Rachael Sporn 1995 Adelaide Lightning Jan Stirling Melbourne Tigers Ray Tomlinson Single game 50–43 Rachael Sporn 1996 Adelaide Lightning Jan Stirling Sydney Flames Carrie Graf Single game 80–65 Michelle Brogan 1997 Sydney Flames Bill Tomlinson Adelaide Lightning Jan Stirling Single game 61–56 Trisha Fallon 1998 Adelaide Lightning Jan Stirling Sydney Flames Murray Wardle Single game 67–56 Jo Hill 1998–99 Australian Institute of Sport Phil Brown Perth Breakers Murray Treseder Single game 88–79 Kristen Veal
2000s Season Champions Runners-up Format Result Finals MVP Team Coach Team Coach 1999–00 Canberra Capitals Carrie Graf Adelaide Lightning Jan Stirling Single game 67–50 Kristen Veal 2000–01 Sydney Panthers Karen Dalton Canberra Capitals Carrie Graf Single game 67–50 Annie Burgess 2001–02 Canberra Capitals Carrie Graf Sydney Flames Karen Dalton Single game 75–69 Lauren Jackson 2002–03 Canberra Capitals Tom Maher Sydney Flames Karen Dalton Single game 69–67 Lauren Jackson 2003–04 Dandenong Rangers Gary Fox Sydney Uni Flames Karen Dalton Single game 65–53 Emily McInerny 2004–05 Dandenong Rangers Gary Fox Sydney Uni Flames Karen Dalton Single game 52–47 Jacinta Hamilton 2005–06 Canberra Capitals Carrie Graf Dandenong Rangers Gary Fox Single game 68–55 Lauren Jackson 2006–07 Canberra Capitals Carrie Graf Sydney Uni Flames Karen Dalton Single game 73–59 Tracey Beatty 2007–08 Adelaide Lightning Vicki Valk Sydney Uni Flames Karen Dalton Single game 92–82 Renae Camino 2008–09 Canberra Capitals Carrie Graf Bulleen Boomers Cheryl Chambers Single game 61–58 Natalie Hurst
2010s Season Champions Runners-up Format Result Finals MVP Team Coach Team Coach 2009–10 Canberra Capitals Carrie Graf Bulleen Boomers Tom Maher Single game 75–70 Lauren Jackson 2010–11 Bulleen Boomers Tom Maher Canberra Capitals Carrie Graf Single game 103–78 Sharin Milner 2011–12 Dandenong Rangers Mark Wright Bulleen Boomers Tom Maher Single game 94–70 Kathleen MacLeod 2012–13 Bendigo Spirit Bernie Harrower Townsville Fire Chris Lucas Single game 71–57 Kelsey Griffin 2013–14 Bendigo Spirit Bernie Harrower Townsville Fire Chris Lucas Single game 94–83 Kelsey Griffin 2014–15 Townsville Fire Chris Lucas Bendigo Spirit Bernie Harrower Single game 75–65 Mia Newley 2015–16 Townsville Fire Chris Lucas Perth Lynx Andy Stewart Best-of-three 2–0 Micaela Cocks 2016–17 Sydney Uni Flames Cheryl Chambers Dandenong Rangers Larissa Anderson Best-of-three 2–0 Leilani Mitchell 2017–18 Townsville Fire Claudia Brassard Melbourne Boomers Guy Molloy Best-of-three 2–1 Suzy Batkovic 2018–19 Canberra Capitals Paul Goriss Adelaide Lightning Chris Lucas Best-of-three 2–1 Kelsey Griffin
2020s Season Champions Runners-up Format Result Finals MVP Team Coach Team Coach 2019–20 Canberra Capitals Paul Goriss Southside Flyers Cheryl Chambers Best-of-three 2–0 Olivia Époupa 2020 Southside Flyers Cheryl Chambers Townsville Fire Shannon Seebohm Single game 99–82 Leilani Mitchell 2021–22 Melbourne Boomers Guy Molloy Perth Lynx Ryan Petrik Best-of-three 2–1 Lindsay Allen 2022–23 Townsville Fire Shannon Seebohm Southside Flyers Cheryl Chambers Best-of-three 2–0 Tianna Hawkins 2023–24 Southside Flyers Cheryl Chambers Perth Lynx Ryan Petrik Best-of-three 2–1 Mercedes Russell

Players and Coaches

Over the years the success of the Opals has been vitally linked to the success of the WNBL. The WNBL has seen the development of famous Opals such as Robyn Maher, Michele Timms, Karen Dalton, Rachael Sporn, Shelley Sandie, Julie Nykiel, Jenny Whittle, Lauren Jackson and Penny Taylor. All have represented Australia with distinction and been key performers season after season for their clubs.

Milestones

Main article: WNBL records

Milestone	Player	Team	Date	Information
Most career points	Rachael Sporn	Adelaide	1993–2004	5,823 points
Most career rebounds	Rachael Sporn	Adelaide	1993–2004	3,229 rebounds
Most career assists	Kristen Veal	AIS, Canberra, Sydney, Logan, Melbourne	1997–2016	1,617 assists
Most career blocks	Jenny Whittle	AIS, Brisbane, Perth, Bulleen, Canberra, Adelaide	1989–2009	672 blocks
Most career steals	Tully Bevilaqua	Perth, Canberra	1991–2011	722 steals
Most career three-points made	Belinda Snell	AIS, Sydney, Bendigo	1998–2019	605 three-points made
Most career games played	Kelly Wilson	AIS, Sydney, Townsville, Bendigo, Canberra	2002–present	395 games played

Awards

Main article: List of WNBL awards

The Most Valuable Player Award is given to player deemed the most valuable for (her team) that season. The Grand Final Most Valuable Player Award is given to player deemed the most valuable for (her team) in the finals. The Rookie of the Year Award is awarded to the most outstanding first-year player. The Defensive Player of the Year Award is awarded to the league's best defender. The Top Shooter of the Year Award is given to the player who averages the most points at the conclusion of the regular season. The Coach of the Year Award is awarded to the coach that has made the most positive difference to a team. Also named are the All-Star Five, the most valuable and best performing players of each season.

Most recent award winners (2021–22)

Award	Winner	Position	Team
Most Valuable Player	Anneli Maley	Forward	Bendigo Spirit
Grand Final MVP	Lindsay Allen	Guard	Melbourne Boomers
Defensive Player of the Year	Brittney Sykes	Guard	Canberra Capitals
Sixth Woman of the Year	Kristy Wallace	Guard	Southside Flyers
Youth Player of the Year	Ezi Magbegor	Forward	Melbourne Boomers
Coach of the Year	Ryan Petrik	Coach	Perth Lynx
Leading Scorer Award	Anneli Maley	Forward	Bendigo Spirit
Leading Rebounder Award	Anneli Maley	Forward	Bendigo Spirit
Golden Hands Award	Brittney Sykes	Guard	Canberra Capitals
All-WNBL First Team	Jackie Young	Guard	Perth Lynx
	Brittney Sykes	Guard	Canberra Capitals
	Stephanie Talbot	Guard	Adelaide Lightning
	Anneli Maley	Forward	Bendigo Spirit
	Ezi Magbegor	Forward/Center	Melbourne Boomers
All-WNBL Second Team	Lindsay Allen	Guard	Melbourne Boomers
	Marina Mabrey	Guard	Perth Lynx
	Kelsey Griffin	Forward	Canberra Capitals
	Alanna Smith	Forward	Adelaide Lightning
	Cayla George	Forward/Center	Melbourne Boomers

International influence

Main articles: List of international WNBL players and List of Australian WNBA players

The WNBL has been a major stepping-stone for Australians to become noticed in European leagues and the WNBA in the United States. It has also attracted a number of players from English-speaking countries who supplement their WNBA salaries by playing in the league. This is possible because the WNBA conducts its season in the Northern Hemisphere summer, which is the off-season for most basketball leagues throughout the world, including the WNBL. A number of international players have played in the WNBL, such as:

• Chelsea Aubry, Canada – long time member & two-time champion with the Bendigo Spirit.
• Alana Beard, United States – with the Canberra Capitals.
• Micaela Cocks, New Zealand – three-time champion with the Townsville Fire.
• Shanavia Dowdell, United States – with the Townsville Fire.
• Olivia Époupa, France – one-time champion with the Canberra Capitals.
• Antonia Farnworth, United States – with the Perth Lynx.
• Ruth Hamblin, Canada – with the Perth Lynx & Adelaide Lightning.
• Laurie Koehn, United States – with the Melbourne Boomers.
• Betnijah Laney, United States – with the Perth Lynx, Bendigo Spirit & Dandenong Rangers.
• Jo Leedham, Great Britain – with the Bulleen Boomers.
• Angela Marino, New Zealand – with the Canberra Capitals, Perth Lynx & Adelaide Lightning.
• Kia Nurse, Canada – first international MVP & two-time champion with the Canberra Capitals.
• Krista Phillips, Canada – one-time champion with the Dandenong Rangers.
• Cappie Pondexter, United States – with the Dandenong Rangers.
• Qiu Chen, China – with the Canberra Capitals.
• Julie Vanloo, Belgium – with the Townsville Fire.

Television

ABC held the rights from the inaugural season in 1981 until they axed their coverage in the 2014/15 season.

• Fox Sports picked up the rights for the 2017/18 season, after two seasons without television coverage.
• The 2020 season has returned to the screens of the ABC, along with Fox Sports and Kayo.
• ESPN picked up the rights for the 2022/23 season with 9Now streaming every remaining game.

See also

• Australian Basketball Association
• Basketball Australia
• Basketball in Australia
• National Basketball League
• State Basketball League
• Timeline of women's basketball

External links

• Official website