The Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) is the pre-eminent professional

women's basketball Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It began being played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large part via women's college compet ...

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. It is currently composed of eight teams. The league was founded in 1981 and is the

women's A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardle ...

counterpart to the National Basketball League (NBL). Several WNBL teams have NBL counterparts. The Adelaide Lightning,

Melbourne Boomers The Melbourne Boomers are an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne, Victoria. The Boomers compete in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) and play the majority of their home games at Melbourne Sports Centre – ...

, Perth Lynx,

Southside Flyers The Southside Flyers are a professional women's basketball team competing in the Women's National Basketball League (Women's National Basketball League, WNBL). The club is based in Dandenong, Victoria, Dandenong, Melbourne, Victoria (Australia) ...

and Sydney Uni Flames are the current WNBL teams sharing a market with an NBL team (the

Townsville Fire The Townsville Fire are an Australian professional female basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the prim ...

and

University of Canberra Capitals The University of Canberra Capitals are an Australian professional women's basketball team competing in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). The team is based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. In 2014 the University of Canbe ...

shared a market with the Townsville Crocodiles and Canberra Cannons respectively, before both NBL clubs became defunct). The current league champions are the

, who won their second title in 2022.

History

Founding of the WNBL

In August 1980, West Adelaide Bearcat Coach

Ted Powell Edward W. Powell (1940 – 22 September 2005) was an English amateur footballer who went on to coach the Malawi national team and the England Under-18 side which won the European Championship in 1993. Powell was a teacher at Sutton Grammar Sc ...

, after an encouraging exchange of letters with St Kilda'
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 The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of th ...

(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 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engin ...

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 Lauren Elizabeth Jackson (born 11 May 1981) is an Australian professional basketball player. The daughter of two national basketball team players, Jackson was awarded a scholarship to the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in 1997, when she ...

. 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

Canberra Capitals vs Logan Thunder 1 - Australian Institute of Sport Training Hall

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.

Current clubs

Former clubs

* Adelaide City Comets – 1992 *

(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 Geelong Supercats is a NBL1 South club based in Geelong, Victoria. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 South. The club is affiliated with Basketball Geelong and Geelong United Basketball. The Supercats play their home ga ...

– 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

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. , - ! style="width:4%;" rowspan="2", Season ! style="width:16%;" colspan="2", Champions ! style="width:16%;" colspan="2", Runners-up ! style="width:5%;" rowspan="2", Format ! style="width:3%;" rowspan="2", Result ! style="width:8%;" rowspan="2", Finals MVP , - ! style="width:8%;", Team ! style="width:8%;", Coach ! style="width:8%;", Team ! style="width:8%;", Coach , - , 1981 , St Kilda Saints , ,

North Adelaide Rockets North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north' ...

, Kay McFarlane , Single game , 77–58 , N/A , - ,

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C ...

, St Kilda Saints , ,

Bankstown Bruins Bankstown Bruins is a NBL1 East club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club fields a team in the Men's NBL1 East. The club is a division of Bankstown Basketball Association (BBA), the major administrative basketball organisation in the reg ...

, Robbie Cadee , Single game , 63–56 , N/A , - , 1983 , Nunawading Spectres ,

Tom Maher Tom Maher (born 4 September 1952 in Melbourne, Victoria) is an Australian basketball coach, who is the most successful coach in Women's National Basketball League history, having won nine WNBL titles. He coached Nunawading Spectres to six tit ...

, St Kilda Saints , , Single game , 70–46 , N/A , - , 1984 , Nunawading Spectres ,

, 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 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal en ...

, Nunawading Spectres , ,

, , Single game , 62–51 , Shelley Gorman , - , 1987 , Nunawading Spectres ,

, Coburg Cougars , , Single game , 67–59 , Tracey Browning , - , 1988 , Nunawading Spectres ,

, Kay McFarlane , Single game , 71–43 , Shelley Gorman , - ,

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

, Nunawading Spectres ,

, Hobart Islanders , , Single game , 80–69 ,

Robyn Maher Robyn Maher (born 6 October 1959) is a retired female basketball player from Australia, who played for the Sydney Uni Flames. A three-time Olympian she was a member of the national women's team that won the bronze medal at the 1996 Summer Ol ...

, - , - ! style="width:4%;" rowspan="2", Season ! style="width:16%;" colspan="2", Champions ! style="width:16%;" colspan="2", Runners-up ! style="width:5%;" rowspan="2", Format ! style="width:3%;" rowspan="2", Result ! style="width:8%;" rowspan="2", Finals MVP , - ! style="width:8%;", Team ! style="width:8%;", Coach ! style="width:8%;", Team ! style="width:8%;", Coach , - ,

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicis ...

, Mark Molitor , Hobart Islanders , , Single game , 72–57 , Donna Brown , - , 1991 , Hobart Islanders , , Nunawading Spectres , , Single game , 67–64 , Debbie Black , - ,

, Perth Breakers ,

, Dandenong Rangers , Alex Palazzolo , Single game , 58–54 ,

Tanya Fisher Tanya Fisher is an Australian former professional basketball player. She played eight seasons in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) and was a member of the Perth Breakers team that won the championship in 1992, where she earned grand ...

, - , 1993 ,

Sydney Flames The Sydney Flames are an Australian professional basketball team based in Sydney, New South Wales. The Flames compete in the Women's National Basketball League The Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) is the pre-eminent professional wo ...

Carrie Graf Carrie Ann Graf (born 23 June 1967) is an Australian basketball coach. She competed in the WNBL as a player starting during 1983–1989, after which she attended RMIT. Graf has coached teams in the WNBL, WNBA and Australia's national team, and ...

, Perth Breakers , Guy Molloy , Single game , 65–64 , Annie Burgess , - ,

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...

, Adelaide Lightning , Jan Stirling , Melbourne Tigers , Ray Tomlinson , Single game , 84–77 ,

Rachael Sporn Rachael Pamela Sporn (born 26 May 1968, in Murrayville) is an Australian former basketball player and three time Olympian. Sporn was Development Executive for the Australian Melanoma Research Foundation but has since left the organisation. ...

, - , 1995 , Adelaide Lightning , Jan Stirling , Melbourne Tigers , Ray Tomlinson , Single game , 50–43 ,

, - ,

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone o ...

, Adelaide Lightning , Jan Stirling ,

, Single game , 80–65 ,

Michelle Brogan Michelle Brogan (born 8 February 1973) is a former basketball player from Australia, who won the bronze medal with the Australia women's national basketball team at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. Four years later she was on the ...

, - ,

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

, Bill Tomlinson , Adelaide Lightning , Jan Stirling , Single game , 61–56 ,

Trisha Fallon Trisha Nicole Dykstra (; born 23 July 1972) is an Australian retired basketball player in the Australian Women's National Basketball League and the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) of the United States. She also played with the ...

, - , 1998 , Adelaide Lightning , Jan Stirling ,

, Murray Wardle , Single game , 67–56 ,

Jo Hill Joanne Kay Hill (born 19 June 1973) is a former Australian women's basketball player. Biography Hill played for the Australia women's national basketball team during the late 1990s and early 2000s, and competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics in ...

, - , 1998–99 ,

, Phil Brown , Perth Breakers , Murray Treseder , Single game , 88–79 , Kristen Veal , - , - ! style="width:4%;" rowspan="2", Season ! style="width:16%;" colspan="2", Champions ! style="width:16%;" colspan="2", Runners-up ! style="width:5%;" rowspan="2", Format ! style="width:3%;" rowspan="2", Result ! style="width:8%;" rowspan="2", Finals MVP , - ! style="width:8%;", Team ! style="width:8%;", Coach ! style="width:8%;", Team ! style="width:8%;", Coach , - , 1999–00 , Canberra Capitals ,

, Adelaide Lightning , Jan Stirling , Single game , 67–50 , Kristen Veal , - , 2000–01 , Sydney Panthers , Karen Dalton , Canberra Capitals ,

, Single game , 67–50 , Annie Burgess , - , 2001–02 , Canberra Capitals ,

, Karen Dalton , Single game , 75–69 ,

, - , 2002–03 , Canberra Capitals ,

, Karen Dalton , Single game , 69–67 ,

, - , 2003–04 , Dandenong Rangers , Gary Fox , Sydney Uni Flames , Karen Dalton , Single game , 65–53 ,

Emily McInerny Emily Katherine (Macca) McInerny (born 30 April 1978) is a former Australian women's basketball player. Biography McInerny was a member of the Australia women's national basketball team roster during the late 1990s and 2000s and was a member ...

, - , 2004–05 , Dandenong Rangers , Gary Fox , Sydney Uni Flames , Karen Dalton , Single game , 52–47 ,

Jacinta Hamilton Jacinta Anne Kennedy (née Hamilton, born 3 May 1982) is an Australian women's basketball player, who represented the country at both junior and senior levels.FIBA Archive. 2001 World Championship for Junior WomenJancinta Hamilton Retrieved 201 ...

, - , 2005–06 , Canberra Capitals ,

, Dandenong Rangers , Gary Fox , Single game , 68–55 ,

, - , 2006–07 , Canberra Capitals ,

, 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 ,

Bulleen Boomers The Melbourne Boomers are an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne, Victoria. The Boomers compete in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) and play the majority of their home games at Melbourne Sports Centre – Pa ...

Cheryl Chambers Cheryl Chambers (born 18 April 1968) is an Australian basketball coach and retired professional basketball player. She currently is head coach for the Southside Flyers in the WNBL. Career WNBL Chambers played 261 games in the Women's Nationa ...

, Single game , 61–58 , Natalie Hurst , - , - ! style="width:4%;" rowspan="2", Season ! style="width:16%;" colspan="2", Champions ! style="width:16%;" colspan="2", Runners-up ! style="width:5%;" rowspan="2", Format ! style="width:3%;" rowspan="2", Result ! style="width:8%;" rowspan="2", Finals MVP , - ! style="width:8%;", Team ! style="width:8%;", Coach ! style="width:8%;", Team ! style="width:8%;", Coach , - , 2009–10 , Canberra Capitals ,

, Single game , 75–70 ,

, - , 2010–11 ,

, Canberra Capitals ,

, Single game , 103–78 ,

Sharin Milner Sharin Milner (born 27 July 1980 in Melbourne) is an Australian professional basketball player who most recently played for the Bulleen Boomers in the Women's National Basketball League. Milner is tall and plays as a guard. She was recruited ...

, - , 2011–12 , Dandenong Rangers , Mark Wright ,

, Single game , 94–70 , Kathleen MacLeod , - , 2012–13 , Bendigo Spirit , Bernie Harrower ,

, Chris Lucas , Single game , 71–57 ,

Kelsey Griffin Kelsey Michelle Griffin (born July 2, 1987) is an American-Australian professional women's basketball player. She was drafted 3rd overall in the 2010 WNBA Draft. Griffin played college basketball with the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Griffin was named ...

, - , 2013–14 , Bendigo Spirit , Bernie Harrower ,

, Chris Lucas , Single game , 94–83 ,

, - , 2014–15 ,

, Chris Lucas , Bendigo Spirit , Bernie Harrower , Single game , 75–65 , Mia Newley , - , 2015–16 ,

, Chris Lucas , Perth Lynx , Andy Stewart , Best-of-three , 2–0 , Micaela Cocks , - , 2016–17 , Sydney Uni Flames ,

, Dandenong Rangers ,

Larissa Anderson Larissa Anderson (née ''Cavanagh''; born 27 March 1977) is a former Australian professional basketball player. She currently is an assistant coach for the Melbourne Boomers in the WNBL. Career WNBL Anderson grew up in Victoria and played fo ...

, Best-of-three , 2–0 , Leilani Mitchell , - , 2017–18 ,

, Claudia Brassard ,

Guy Molloy Guy Molloy (born 4 November 1965) is an Australian basketball coach, who is currently the head coach of the Southland Sharks in the New Zealand National Basketball League (NZNBL). Coaching career WNBL Molloy began his coaching career as head c ...

, Best-of-three , 2–1 , Suzy Batkovic , - , 2018–19 , Canberra Capitals ,

Paul Goriss Paul Goriss is an Australian basketball coach who coaches the University of Canberra Capitals. He is an assistant coach of the Australian women's national basketball team (the Opals) and for the Atlanta Dream of the WNBA. Biography Paul Gori ...

, Adelaide Lightning , Chris Lucas , Best-of-three , 2–1 ,

, Best-of-three , 2–0 , Olivia Époupa , - , 2020 ,

Shannon Seebohm Shannon may refer to: People * Shannon (given name) * Shannon (surname) * Shannon (American singer), stage name of singer Shannon Brenda Greene (born 1958) * Shannon (South Korean singer), British-South Korean singer and actress Shannon Arrum Wi ...

, Single game , 99–82 , Leilani Mitchell , - , 2021–22 ,

, Perth Lynx , Ryan Petrik , Best-of-three , 2–1 ,

Lindsay Allen Lindsay Allen (born March 20, 1995 in Clinton, Maryland) is an American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played basketball at the University of Notre Dame. Allen was d ...

, -

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

, Michele Timms, Karen Dalton,

, Shelley Sandie, Julie Nykiel, Jenny Whittle,

and

Penny Taylor Penelope Jane Taylor (born 24 May 1981) is an Australian retired professional basketball player and assistant coach. During her 19-year career, Taylor spent the most time with the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA, where she won three championships. ...

. All have represented Australia with distinction and been key performers season after season for their clubs.

Milestones

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)

International influence

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 Alana Monique Beard (born May 14, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player. After playing college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils, she was drafted second overall by the Washington Mystics in the 2004 WNBA Draft. She signed ...

, United States – with the Canberra Capitals. * Micaela Cocks,

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

– three-time champion with the

. *

Shanavia Dowdell Shanavia Dowdell (born September 10, 1987) is an American professional basketball player for Declercq Stortbeton Waregem in Belgium. She played college basketball at Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters basketball, Louisiana Tech. In her senior year, she ...

, United States – with the

. * 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 Laurie Koehn (born May 13, 1982) is a former professional basketball player, who is currently the associate coach for the Washington State Cougars women's basketball team. Education Born in Newton, Kansas, Koehn attended Moundridge High Schoo ...

, United States – with the

. * Betnijah Laney, United States – with the Perth Lynx, Bendigo Spirit & Dandenong Rangers. * Jo Leedham, Great Britain – with the

. *

Angela Marino Angela Marino (born 3 February 1986) is a former New Zealand professional women's basketball. She has previously represented the Adelaide Lightning, Canberra Capitals and the Perth Lynx. She has the WNBL championship once in the 2007–08 sea ...

– 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 Cappie Marie Pondexter (born January 7, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player. She was born in Oceanside, California and raised in Chicago, Illinois. Pondexter is known for her scrappy play, quick crossovers and midrange ju ...

, United States – with the Dandenong Rangers. * Qiu Chen, China – with the Canberra Capitals. *

Julie Vanloo Julie Anita Vanloo (born 10 February 1993) is a Belgian basketball player for Galatasaray of Turkish Super League. Professional career Galatasaray On 13 September 2023, she signed with Galatasaray of the Turkish Women's Basketball Super League ...

, Belgium – with the

Television

ABC Television ABC Television most commonly refers to: *ABC Television Network of the American Broadcasting Company, United States, or *ABC Television (Australian TV network), a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia ABC Television or 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 ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

picked up the rights for the 2022/23 season with 9Now streaming every remaining game.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Women's basketball leagues in Oceania Basketball leagues in Australia 1981 establishments in Australia Sports leagues established in 1981 Women's basketball competitions in Australia Professional sports leagues in Australia