Nunawading Spectres is a

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), ...

club based in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 South. The club is a division of Melbourne East Basketball Association (MEBA), the major administrative basketball organisation in the

City of Whitehorse The City of Whitehorse is a Local government areas of Victoria, local government area in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. It has an area of and an estimated residential population of 183,462 as o ...

. The Spectres play their home games at Nunawading Basketball Centre.

Club history

NBL/WNBL

In 1979, a Nunawading Spectres men's team entered the National Basketball League (NBL), joining nine other teams for the league's inaugural season. In 1987, the team changed their name to Eastside Spectres and spent five years under that moniker before merging with the

Southern Melbourne Saints The Southern Melbourne Saints, previously known as the St. Kilda Saints, the St. Kilda Pumas and Westside Saints, were an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne. The Saints competed in the National Basketball League (NBL) be ...

in 1992 to become the

South East Melbourne Magic The South East Melbourne Magic was an Australian basketball team based in Melbourne. The Magic competed in the National Basketball League (NBL) between 1992 and 1998, and played their home games at Rod Laver Arena. The Magic were established i ...

. During their time in the NBL, the Spectres were two-time grand finalists, losing to Launceston in 1981 and

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

in 1991. Between 1982 and 1991, a Nunawading Spectres women's team played in the

Women's National Basketball League The Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) is a professional women's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Australia composed of eight teams. The league was founded in 1981 and is the Women's sports, women's counterpart to the Na ...

(WNBL). The team won six championships in ten seasons under coach

Tom Maher Tom Maher (born 4 September 1952 in Melbourne, Victoria) is an Australian basketball coach. Maher is the most successful coach in history of the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL), having won nine championships. He coached the Nunawa ...

and guard

Robyn Maher Robyn Maher (born 6 October 1959) is an Australian former basketball player. A three-time Olympian, she was a member of the national women's team that won the bronze medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. In the Women's Nation ...

, including four in a row between 1986 and 1989. Following the 1991 season, the team's WNBL license was obtained by the

Dandenong Rangers The Southside Flyers are an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne, Victoria. The Flyers compete in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) and play their home games at the State Basketball Centre. For sponsorship pur ...

SEABL/NBL1

In 1990, with the Eastside Spectres still a championship contender in the NBL, a Nunawading Spectres men's team re-emerged in the form of a

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) franchise. In 1992, a Spectres women's team debuted in the SEABL. In 1995, the men's team collected their first title as they won the SEABL East Conference championship. The women's team were SEABL runners-up in both 2000 and 2008, while the men were conference runners-up in 1999 and 2004. In 2011, the men's team won their second conference title and their first SEABL championship after defeating the

Bendigo Braves Bendigo Braves is a NBL1 South club based in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 South. The club is a division of Bendigo Basketball Association, the major administrative basketball organisatio ...

88–61 in the grand final. Spectres guard Shane McDonald had a game-high 28 points to earn the MVP award. After finishing as conference runners-up in 2013, the men's team won their third conference title in 2014 behind the likes of

Mitch Creek Mitchell Creek (born 27 April 1992) is an Australian professional basketball player for the Vancouver Bandits of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL). He began his National Basketball League (NBL) career in 2010 and played his first eigh ...

, Tommy Greer, Shane McDonald, Simon Conn and Matt O'Hea. They went on to lose 85–71 in the SEABL grand final to the

Mount Gambier Pioneers Mount Gambier Pioneers is a NBL1 South club based in Mount Gambier, South Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 South. The club is a division of Basketball Mount Gambier, the major administrative basketball organisat ...

. In 2018, the Spectres men finished as SEABL runners-up after losing in the grand final to the

Hobart Chargers Hobart Chargers is a NBL1 South club based in Hobart, Tasmania. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 South. The Chargers play their home games at the Hobart Netball and Sports Centre and Pembroke Park's South East Stadium. Cl ...

. In

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, following the demise of the SEABL, the Spectres joined the

NBL1 The NBL1 is a semi-professional basketball league in Australia run by the National Basketball League (NBL). The league consists of five conferences: NBL1 South, NBL1 North, NBL1 Central, NBL1 West and NBL1 East, with each consisting of bot ...

. The men went on to win the championship with a 99–90 win over the

in the grand final. The

season did not go ahead in 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

NBL Season by season

Honour roll

References

External links

Nunawading Basketball's official website
{{Women's National Basketball League South East Australian Basketball League teams Defunct National Basketball League (Australia) teams Defunct Women's National Basketball League teams Basketball teams established in 1979 Basketball teams in Melbourne Sport in the City of Whitehorse