Albury Wodonga Bandits is a

NBL1 East NBL1 East, formerly the Waratah League, is a semi-professional basketball league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2021, Basketball New South Wales partnered with the Nat ...

club based in

Albury Albury (; ) is a major regional city that is located in the Murray River, Murray region of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the twin city of Albury–Wodonga, Albury-Wodonga and is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of ...

, New South Wales. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 East. The club is a division of the overarching Border Basketball Club, the major administrative basketball organisation in the

Albury–Wodonga Albury-Wodonga is the broad settlement incorporating the twin Australian cities of Albury and Wodonga, which are separated geographically by the Murray River and politically by a state border: Albury on the north of the river is part of New S ...

region. The Bandits play their home games at the Lauren Jackson Sports Centre. For sponsorship reasons, the two teams are known as the Southern Vale Homes Bandits.

Club history

Men's team

In 1984, a team known as the Wodonga Border Bulldogs entered the

South East Australian Basketball League The South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) was a semi-professional basketball league in Australia comprising both a men's and women's competition. The SEABL began in 1981 and operated for 38 seasons until it was disbanded in 2018. The ...

(SEABL). Based out of the

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

city of

Wodonga Wodonga (pronounced ; ) is a city on the Victorian side of the border with New South Wales, north-east of Melbourne, Australia. It is part of the twin city of Albury-Wodonga and is located wholly within the boundaries of the City of Wodonga L ...

, the Bulldogs' home venue was the Wodonga Sports and Leisure Centre. The Wodonga stadium was the original home court in 1984 before the venue split games with the newly constructed Albury Sports Stadium the following year. The Bulldogs' final game they hosted at the Wodonga Sports and Leisure Centre was on 25 August 1985 before changing their name to the Albury Wodonga Bandits in 1986 and re-locating to nearby Albury. Not a lot of success came for the Bandits over their first 17 seasons in the SEABL. That changed in 2001 when coach Leigh Gooding and players Allen McCowan, Matt Sheehan,

Russell Hinder Russell Hinder (born 10 July 1979) is an Australian former professional basketball player who played 13 seasons in the NBL. In 1997, he attended the Australian Institute of Sport. Hinder attended the University of San Francisco before transfer ...

, Nick Grylewicz and Nick Payne helped lead the Bandits to championship success in the East Conference. The Bandits next tasted success in 2012 when they not only won the South Conference title, but took home the SEABL Championship after defeating the East Conference champion Dandenong Rangers in the grand final. In 2015, the Bandits returned to the SEABL Grand Final after winning the East Conference Championship, where they lost to the Mount Gambier Pioneers.

Women's team

In 2006, an Albury Wodonga Bandits women's team entered the SEABL. After missing the playoffs in each of their first three seasons, the Lady Bandits qualified for the post-season for the first time in 2009 behind coach Kennedy Kereama and star import duo Lisa Wallbutton and Toni Edmondson. Heading into the 2014 season, the Lady Bandits had a 39–153 win–loss record. In 2019, following the demise of the SEABL, the Bandits joined the

NBL1 South NBL1 South is a semi-professional basketball league in Victoria (state), Victoria and Tasmania, Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2019, Basketball Victoria partnered with the National Basketball League (Australia), ...

. For the 2022 season, the Bandits joined the

and won the championship behind

Lauren Jackson Lauren Elizabeth Jackson (born 11 May 1981) is an Australian former professional basketball player. Arguably the most notable Australian women's basketball player, Jackson has had a decorated career with the Australia women's national basketb ...

and Unique Thompson. In 2024, the Bandits became the first team in NBL1 East history to go undefeated during the regular season. They went on to lose two straight finals games to bow out of the playoffs.

References

External links

Official website
{{NBL1 East South East Australian Basketball League teams Sport in Albury 1984 establishments in Australia Basketball teams established in 1984 Basketball teams in New South Wales Waratah League teams