Writing and photographs by Dean Andrews
With the 2024/25 Cygnett WNBL season starting tonight, Wednesday 30 October Milestones and Misses has taken a deep dive looking at the fixture from a league and club perspective. This comprehensive guide to the 2024/25 Cygnett WNBL fixture covers:
- How many games each club plays each round and whether they are playing at home and / or away.
- The split of games for television broadcast each WNBL round between ESPN, 9Go! and 9Now including information on the time slots that ESPN and 9Go! will be showing.
- Each club’s 2024/25 fixture including the venue(s) where they will be playing their home games and a break down of double game rounds.
- The split of the 84 regular season games by the day of the week and venue.
- Stats on WNBL club main rosters and player movement across the league during the off-season.
The fixture for the 2024/25 Cygnett WNBL season was released on Monday 2 September. During the 2024/25 regular season a total of 84 games will be played with each of the eight WNBL clubs playing 21 games comprised of three games against each of their seven rivals. At the time that the fixture was released the location for some games was still to be announced (TBA). In late-October the fixture was finalised with Bendigo Spirit making announcements about the location of two home games. On October 23 Bendigo Spirit announced they were hosting a Round 4 game against the Southside Flyers at Selkirk Stadium in Ballarat on Sunday November 24. Earlier this week on Monday October 28 Bendigo Spirit announced that they would be playing a home game against the Sydney Flames in Round 12 at the Mildura Sporting Precinct on Sunday 12 January.
The WNBL pre-season officially started last month on 18 September. The 15 round regular season commences tonight, Wednesday 30 October 2024, runs for three and a half months and concludes on Sunday 16 February 2025.
As at Tuesday October 29 Bendigo Spirit have announced the signing of nine players to their main roster and have one more player to announce. As per the Cygnett WNBL Season 24/25 Media Guide four clubs, Perth Lynx, Southside Flyers, Sydney Flames and Townsville Fire each have 10 players on their main roster. Two clubs, Geelong United and UC Capitals each have 11 players on their main roster whilst Adelaide Lightning have a league-high 12 players on their main roster. Between them the eight WNBL clubs have 83 players that have been signed to main rosters for the 2024/25 Cygnett WNBL season.
Isobel Borlase shooting a free throw for Adelaide Lightning against Melbourne Boomers on 17 December 2023 at Melbourne Sports Centres Parkville
Five players that were selected on a 2023/24 All-WNBL team are playing in the league in 2024/25 comprised of four Australians and one American import. Three 2023/24 All-WNBL players are suiting up for the same club they did in 2023/24, Amy Atwell (Perth Lynx), Isobel Borlase (Adelaide Lightning) and Jade Melbourne (UC Capitals). Guard Sami Whitcomb earnt All-WNBL selection playing for Townsville Fire in 2023/24 and has signed with Bendigo Spirit for 2024/25. American import forward Naz Hillmon has joined the Southside Flyers for the 2024/25 season after earning All-WNBL selection playing for the Melbourne Boomers in 2023/24.
Sami Whitcomb shooting a three-pointer for Townsville Fire against Bendigo Spirit in a WNBL game at Geelong Arena on 7 January 2024
11 players that represented their nation at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games have signed with a WNBL club for the 2024/25 Cygnett WNBL season comprised of 10 Australians and one Canadian. A quartet of 2024 Paris Olympians will be representing Perth Lynx in 2024/25, Gangurrus 3×3 duo Anneli Maley and Ally Wilson along with Australian Opal Amy Atwell and Canadian five on five member Laeticia Amihere. Opals duo Borlase and Steph Talbot are main roster teammates at Adelaide Lightning for the third consecutive season, however due to an ACL injury Talbot was limited to three late season games in 2023/24. In the off-season two members of the Opals bronze medal winning team from the 2024 Paris Olympics have joined Bendigo Spirit, guard Whitcomb and centre Marianna Tolo. Three-time Olympian Cayla George will be playing her second consecutive season for the Sydney Flames and has been appointed the team’s captain. After being the Opals starting point guard at her first major championship in Paris Melbourne will be playing her fifth consecutive season for the UC Capitals at just 22 years of age. Gangurrus 3×3 guard Lauren Mansfield has joined Townsville Fire for 2024/25 and will be a co-captain for the new look roster after playing the previous two seasons for Adelaide Lightning. More information on player movement for the 2024/25 Cygnett WNBL season is provided later in this article.
Jade Melbourne about to attempts a shot for University of Canberra Capitals with Southside Flyers centre Mercedes Russell playing defense during the WNBL game at the State Basketball Centre on 6 January 2024
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During the 2024 Paris Olympic Games Milestones and Misses published player profiles on the Opals Paris Olympic Games team and the women’s Australian Gangurrus 3×3 Paris team. Links to these articles are below:
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2024/25 is the 45th season of the WNBL and the ninth consecutive season with eight clubs in the league. In May 2024 the WNBL’s longest standing club, the Deakin Melbourne Boomers transferred their WNBL license to Geelong United. The Boomers joined the league in 1984 and competed as the Bulleen Boomers until 2012/13 and as the Melbourne Boomers from 2013/14 until 2023/24. In their inaugural WNBL season Geelong United are playing their home games at Geelong Arena, a venue that hosted two Bendigo Spirit home games in 2023/24. Geelong United play the opening game of the 2024/25 WNBL season with a home game against Townsville Fire tonight, Wednesday October 30 and play a total of 11 games at Geelong Arena during the regular season.
Bendigo Spirit players signing autographs after their home game against Townsville Fire at Geelong Arena on 7 January 2024
The 2024/25 Cygnett WNBL season is the end of an era as it will be the least season that Basketball Australia has a majority interest in the league. The opening paragraph of an article published on the WNBL website on 27 June 2024 stated “The Wollemi Capital Group Syndicate (WCGS), and the National Basketball League (NBL), have formed a consortium to acquire a majority interest in the WNBL following the completion of the 2024/25 season. Basketball Australia will maintain a minority interest in the League.”1
NBL Owner Larry Kestelman commented “We are proud to be part of a group that will now have an opportunity to rethink what the best version of the WNBL can look like, and set the direction for the future as we did for the NBL. We believe this is a truly exciting proposition for us, the players, the fans, and everyone involved.”2
Details on the timing of the change in ownership of the WNBL were included in the article, saying “Under the new ownership structure, the consortium will take control of the league, with the NBL to operate the WNBL, from April 2, 2025.”3 A link to this article is below:
During the 2024/25 Cygnett WNBL regular season the first seven rounds and 11 rounds overall start on a Wednesday and conclude on a Sunday. For most rounds no games are played on Monday and Tuesday and the following round commences on Wednesday, resulting in two days without basketball games between rounds. Table 1 provides a breakdown of WNBL games each round by day of the week. Multiple games of basketball (indicated by the colour green in Table 1) are played on 17 days in the 2024/25 regular season comprised of 11 times on a Saturday and six times on a Sunday. Overall Saturday ranks first with a total of 27 games played during the 2024/25 Cygnett WNBL regular season followed by 20 games on Sunday. A total of 34 WNBL games are played from mid-week to late-week comprised of 13 games on Wednesday, 11 games on Thursday and 10 games on Friday. Early week basketball is a rarity in the 2024/25 WNBL season with a total of two games played on a Monday (Round 8 & 9) and a solitary game played on Tuesday in Round 9 with Townsville hosting Bendigo on New Year’s Eve.
Four games are played in Round 1 with each of the eight WNBL clubs playing one game. Each of the following 14 rounds has at least five games, a season-high seven games are played in Round 8 and Round 12. Five games are played in six rounds and six games are played in six rounds. The most games played on a day during the regular season is three games twice, Saturday November 23 in Round 4 – Indigenous Round and Saturday January 25 in Round 13 – Fighting Period Poverty Round.
For the fourth consecutive season the WNBL will pause for over a week during the regular season for at least one FIBA window. After Round 14 concludes on Sunday February 2 no WNBL basketball is played for nine days from Monday February 3 to Tuesday February 11 due to a FIBA International Window for Women’s Basketball. The final round of the WNBL season, Round 15 commences on Wednesday 12 February and concludes with the final two games of the regular season being played on Sunday 16 February, Townsville at home against Perth and Adelaide hosting Geelong. Entering the final round of the 2023/24 season only two clubs had locked in finals berths – Townsville and Southside. Four clubs Bendigo, Melbourne, Sydney and Perth were vying for the last two finals berths. Will there be a similar thrilling conclusion to the 2024/25 Cygnett WNBL regular season?
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In the lead up to the final weekend of the 2023/24 Cygnett WNBL regular season Milestones and Misses published an article comprehensively covering the finals scenarios for the different combination of outcomes in the final round. A link to this article is below:
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Before the early February 2025 FIBA window the longest stretch without WNBL basketball games being played in 2024/25 is three days, twice. No WNBL games are played for three days over the Christmas period from Tuesday December 24 to Thursday December 26 and Round 9 starts on Friday December 27. After Round 13 – Fighting Period Poverty Round concludes on Saturday January 25 no games are played for three days from Sunday January 26 to Tuesday January 28 and Round 14 commences on Wednesday January 29. At the other end of the spectrum there is only one day without WNBL basketball between Round 9 and 10. Round 9 concludes on Tuesday December 31, no games are played on January 1 and Round 10 starts on Thursday January 2.
Below is a link to the PDF fixture for the 2024/25 Cygnett WNBL season under the 2024/25 season tab on the league’s website:
Note that the venue for three Southside Flyers home games in this fixture is listed as TBA or TBC. As per the fixture on Southside’s website the venue for these three games is:
ROUND 3 SUN NOV 17 SOUTHSIDE V UC CAPITALS 12.30 PM STATE BASKETBALL CENTRE
ROUND 11 WED JAN 8 SOUTHSIDE V GEELONG 7.00 PM STATE BASKETBALL CENTRE
ROUND 13 WED JAN 22 SOUTHSIDE V ADELAIDE 7.00 PM PARKVILLE
On 30 August 2024 the WNBL announced that “the League extended its partnership with ESPN, and expanded its broadcast arrangement with Channel 9 to include a new free-to-air deal, with marquee games to be available on 9Go, in High Definition (HD).”4
An article on the 2024/25 fixture published by the WNBL on September 2 stated “Excitingly, the league will feature two ‘games of the round’ this season, with WNBL Wednesday’s on ESPN continuing, and a WNBL Sunday Showcase on 9GO also being added. All other games will be available on Nine’s free digital channel, 9Now.”5 WNBL games broadcast by ESPN will also be shown on Foxtel, Kayo Sports and Sky Sports NZ. The WNBL signed a two year broadcast deal with ESPN and Channel 9 for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 seasons. Having ESPN and Channel 9 broadcasting the WNBL in 2024/25 enables the league to build on the relationships formed with these two networks in the previous two seasons. 2024/25 is the third consecutive season that each game of the WNBL season will be broadcast by ESPN and / or Channel 9. Having one game broadcast a week during the 2024/25 season in the early Sunday afternoon timeslot on free-to-air TV by 9Go! enables the WNBL to broaden its reach and attract more viewers.
The first game of all 15 rounds of the 2024/25 Cygnett WNBL season will be broadcast on ESPN, 13 of the 15 rounds commence on a Wednesday. The two exceptions are during the Christmas / New Year period with Round 9 starting on Friday December 27 and Round 10 commencing on Thursday January 2. For all 15 rounds of the 2024/25 season there is one WNBL game on the first day of the round, enabling WNBL fans to focus their attention on the weekly ESPN game. From Round 6 to Round 15 nine of the 10 ESPN games commence at 7pm, the one exception is a Round 10 game on Thursday January 2 starting at 5pm with Sydney hosting Bendigo at Qudos Bank Arena.
In 14 of the 15 rounds 9Go! will broadcast a game early afternoon on Sunday, the only exception is Round 13 when no games are played on Sunday January 26, Australia Day. For the first seven rounds and Round 14 the game broadcast on 9Go! is the only WNBL game played on Sunday. In Round 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 15 two WNBL games are played on Sunday with the earlier game being broadcast by 9Go! and the later game being broadcast by 9Now. 10 of the 14 Sunday games broadcast on free-to-air channel 9Go! commence at 12.30pm, local time.
“The Cygnett WNBL will once again celebrate and recognise Indigenous Round in Round 4 of the competition from November 20 (as) well as delivering a third Fighting Period Poverty round”6 in Round 13 from January 22. In addition to these two league-wide rounds individual clubs will also host games supporting causes. The Southside Flyers are hosting a Lifeline Round in support of Lifeline Australia, continuing the legacy of inaugural Flyers captain Jenna O’Hea. The Sydney Flames will hold their annual Pink Hoops event supporting the McGrath Foundation at their Round 12 game against Adelaide Lightning at Qudos Bank Arena on January 19. More details on games held by these two clubs and other WNBL clubs supporting causes will be provided by clubs in the lead up to these games.
The top four teams on the ladder at the end of the 2024/25 Cygnett WNBL regular season qualify for the finals with the two semi final series and the Grand Final series each being a best of three game series. Six days after the regular season concludes on Sunday February 16 the semi finals commence on Saturday February 22 with the team that finished first on the ladder hosting game 1 against fourth place. The following day, Sunday February 23 the second placed team hosts third place in game 1 of a semi final series. Game 1 of both semi final series will be broadcast on all three channels, ESPN, 9Go! and 9Now. Game 2 and game 3 (if required) of the semi finals will be broadcast by ESPN.
Game 1 of the Grand Final will be held on Wednesday March 5 with the highest ranked semi final winner hosting the lowest ranked semi final winner in a game broadcast by ESPN. The lowest ranked semi final winner will host the highest ranked semi final winner in game 2 on Sunday March 9 with ESPN, 9Go! and 9Now all broadcasting the game. If the Grand Final is tied at one game apiece the highest ranked semi final winner will host game 3 on Wednesday March 12 with ESPN broadcasting the game.
Head of WNBL, Christy Collier-Hill commented on the new television deal “This is really exciting for the WNBL. It provides us with an enormous opportunity to really lift the profile of the league, the Clubs, and the incredible athletes that are part of it with two marquee games a week.”7
During the 2024/25 WNBL regular season ESPN will broadcast 15 games, free-to-air channel 9Go! will show 14 games and 55 games will be broadcast on 9Now. International viewers can watch the broadcast of WNBL games for free on Unbeaten.com and FIBA YouTube. Table 2 below shows the number of games that will be played in each of the 15 rounds of the 2024/25 Cygnett WNBL regular season and how many games ESPN, 9Now and 9Go! are each broadcasting.
On Monday 21 October the WNBL published an article on their website providing details of the commentary team that will be covering the games on ESPN, 9Now and 9Go! throughout the season. For details on who the members of the commentary team are for expert insights, sideline reporting and hosting / calling the games please refer to this article, a link is below:
https://wnbl.basketball/blog/news/wnbl-reveals-commentary-team-for-2024-25/
The 21 regular season games for seven of the eight WNBL clubs is comprised of nine rounds where they play one game and six rounds where they play two games. Townsville Fire are the only exception, playing two games in seven rounds, one game in seven rounds and they have a bye in Round 6.
Townsville Fire players getting into a team huddle after defeating Bendigo Spirit at Geelong Arena on 7 January 2024
Below is a colour coded table showing how many games each club plays in each of the 15 rounds and whether the game(s) are at home (indicated by the colour blue), away (indicated by the colour yellow) or is comprised of one home game and one away game (indicated by the colour green).
Later in this article a summary of the 2024/25 fixture for each of the eight WNBL clubs is provided.
In 33 of the 49 instances (representing 67.3%) that a WNBL club plays two games in a round they play one game at home and one game away, all six of Perth Lynx and the Southside Flyers two game rounds are in this category. There are seven instances of a WNBL club playing two home games in a round led by Townsville with three rounds in this category, Round 8, 9 and 13. Bendigo, Geelong, Sydney and the UC Capitals each have one home double. There are nine instances in 2024/25 of a WNBL club playing two away games in a round led by Adelaide, Bendigo and Sydney with two road doubles each. Geelong, Townsville and UC Capitals each have one road double.
During the 2024/25 Cygnett WNBL season games will be played at 13 venues across five states and one territory in Australia. Victoria accounts for almost half of the venues used in the 2024/25 Cygnett WNBL season with the three Victorian WNBL clubs hosting games at a total of six venues between them. Table 5 provides a breakdown of regular season games by venue. Four clubs, Adelaide, Geelong, Townsville and UC Capitals have one venue each where they play all their home games. Another four clubs, Bendigo, Perth, Southside and Sydney split their games across multiple venues, each club in this quartet hosts at least seven games at their primary home court. Bendigo Spirit are the only club to host games at more than two venues, playing home games at four locations in Country Victoria.
On Monday September 2 Head of WNBL, Christy Collier-Hill commented “In unveiling the fixture today, we are excited for the fans to see what the 45th season has to offer, the incredible matchups, the rivalries, the world class players, this season will be special.”
“To have Olympians from the Opals and Gangurrus as well as WNBA stars playing, continues to position the WNBL as one of the best leagues in the world.”
“Last season was one of the most thrilling in recent memory and with what has transpired over the off-season and the talent this league has I cannot wait for what this season holds.”8
Summary of each club’s fixture for the 2024/25 Cygnett WNBL regular season
Each club’s 2024/25 fixture including the venue(s) where they will be playing their home games and a break down of double game rounds is covered below. For seven clubs an Instagram post of their fixture is embedded, Townsville is the exception, a link to a colour coded post of the Fire’s club fixture on their website is provided (I couldn’t find an Instagram post of Townsville’s fixture).
Each of the eight WNBL clubs has a range of memberships available for the 2024/25 season, a link to each club’s membership page is provided.
Adelaide Lightning
All 10 Adelaide Lightning home games in 2024/25 will be played at Adelaide 36ers Arena. In Round 2 on Saturday November 9 Adelaide host their first home game of the season against Perth Lynx with tip-off at 7.30 pm. The Lightning conclude their regular season with two home games, in Round 14 against Perth on Saturday February 1 and against Geelong on the final day of the regular season, Sunday February 16.
Adelaide Lightning players after their victory against the Melbourne Boomers at Melbourne Sports Centres – Parkville on 17 December 2023
The Lightning have four double game rounds where they have one home game and one away game, Round 4, 8, 10 and 12. Adelaide have two road doubles in 2024/25, Round 6 and Round 13. From Sunday January 19 to Friday January 24 Adelaide play three consecutive road games concluding with a Round 13 Victorian road double against Southside at Parkville and Bendigo at Red Energy Arena.
On their Instagram account Adelaide Lightning made a colour coded post of their club fixture, refer below:
Below is a link to Adelaide Lightning‘s membership page:
Bendigo Spirit
During the 2024/25 regular season Bendigo Spirit will host 11 home games including eight games at Red Energy Arena in Bendigo. On Saturday night November 2 Bendigo Spirit host their first home game of 2024/25 against Adelaide Lightning at Red Energy Arena, tip-off is at 7.30 pm. Bendigo Spirit pride themselves on being a club for Country Victoria and in addition to playing eight home games in Bendigo, the club also plays another three home games across Country Victoria. During Indigenous Round Bendigo Spirit host the Southside Flyers at Selkirk Stadium Ballarat in Round 4 on Sunday November 24. During the 2024 NBL1 South season Spirit guard duo Abbey Wehrung and Micah Simpson played for the Ballarat Miners and had their Bendigo WNBL Head Coach Kennedy Kereama as their Head Coach. Wehrung has a strong connection to Ballarat, having also played junior basketball for Ballarat Basketball Association. Bendigo Spirit play a home game against Sydney Flames in Round 11 at Mildura Sporting Precinct on Sunday 12 January. From Sunday January 12 to Friday January 24 Bendigo play four consecutive home games across three locations with the second and fourth games in this sequence at Red Energy Arena in Bendigo. The third game in this stretch is Bendigo playing a home game in Round 12 against Geelong United on Sunday 19 January at Geelong Arena.
Bendigo Spirit players after their victory against the Melbourne Boomers at Melbourne Sports Centres – Parkville on 30 December 2023
The Spirit’s six double game rounds are comprised of three rounds with one home game and one away game (Round 2, 8 & 14), a home double in Round 12 and two road doubles (Round 3 & 9). From Sunday December 22 to Thursday January 2 Bendigo play four consecutive road games including a New Year’s Eve game against Townsville.
On Monday September 2 Bendigo Spirit posted a club fixture on their Instagram account with an image for home games and a second image for away games, refer below:
In the Instagram post above the venue for two Bendigo Spirit home games was listed as TBA. In the past week the Spirit have announced the location for these two games. On October 28 Bendigo made an updated post on their Instagram account including the location for all home games, refer below:
Below is a link to Bendigo Spirit‘s membership page:
Geelong United
In their inaugural WNBL season Geelong United play a total of 11 games at Geelong Arena comprised of 10 home games and a road game against Bendigo Spirit on Sunday January 19. The 2024/25 Cygnett WNBL season commences with Geelong United hosting their first ever WNBL game against Townsville Fire tonight, Wednesday October 30 at Geelong Arena with tip-off at 7.00 pm. Geelong play six home games in the first 7 rounds and have minimal travel during this time with two of their three away games being against fellow Victorian clubs Bendigo and Southside. In the penultimate round of the season Geelong have a Round 14 home double against Bendigo and UC Capitals.
Geelong United’s first ever road game is against fellow country Victorian club Bendigo Spirit at Red Energy Arena on Sunday November 10. From Monday December 23 to Wednesday January 8 Geelong play four consecutive away games commencing with a road game against Perth and followed by an away game against Townsville on December 29. United have four double game rounds where they play one home game and one away game (Round 2, 7, 11 & 12). Geelong have a Round 15 away double against Perth and Adelaide to conclude their first WNBL regular season.
On their Instagram account Geelong United made a colour coded post of their club fixture, refer below:
Below is a link to Geelong United‘s membership page:
Perth Lynx
During the 2024/25 Cygnett WNBL regular season Perth Lynx have 10 home games comprised of seven games at Bendat Basketball Centre and three games at HBF Stadium in Mount Claremont, Perth. The Lynx’s first home game is a grand final rematch against the Southside Flyers at Bendat Basketball Centre on Saturday 2 November with tip-off at 7.00 pm. Four of Perth’s first six games of 2024/25 from November 2 to Wednesday November 27 are at home. On Monday December 23 Perth Lynx play at HBF Stadium for the first time, hosting Geelong United in the first WNBL game between the two teams.
Amy Atwell playing for Perth Lynx against Southside Flyers at the State Basketball Centre on 31 January 2024
On playing three home games at HBF Stadium Perth Lynx Head Coach Ryan Petrik commented “We are incredibly excited to bring our games to HBF Stadium. It’s a fantastic venue that will offer our fans a new way to experience Lynx basketball. We can’t wait to showcase our team in this dynamic environment and build even stronger connections with our community.”9
Each of Perth Lynx’s six double game rounds in Round 2, 5, 6, 8, 12 and 15 are comprised of one home game and one away game. From Sunday January 12 to February 16 five of Perth’s last seven games of the regular season are away including their final game against Townsville on Sunday February 16.
On their Instagram account Perth Lynx made a colour coded post of their club fixture, refer below:
Below is a link to the Perth Lynx membership page:
Southside Flyers
Throughout the 2024/25 WNBL regular season the Southside Flyers will host 10 home games comprised of nine games at the State Basketball Centre and one game at Parkville against Adelaide Lightning on Wednesday January 22. On Saturday November 9 the Southside Flyers will play their first home game of the season with tip-off at 5.00 pm at the State Basketball Centre against the Sydney Flames. Before their Round 2 home game against Sydney the Flyers will unfurl their 2023/24 WNBL Championship banner. From November 9 to Wednesday December 11 five of Southside’s seven games are at home at the State Basketball Centre in Wantirna South.
The Southside Flyers team post-game after the victory against Perth Lynx at the State Basketball Centre on 31 January 2024
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To celebrate the Southside Flyers winning the 2023/24 WNBL championship Milestones and Misses made a post that summarised Southside’s club history and comprehensively covered their title winning 2023/24 season. A link to this article is below:
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The Southside Flyers six double game rounds of the 2024/25 season in Round 2, 6, 8, 11, 13 and 14 are comprised of one home game and one away game. The Flyers conclude the regular season with five away games in their last seven games from Saturday January 11 to Saturday February 15, concluding their regular season with a road game against Sydney.
On their Instagram account Southside Flyers made a colour coded post of their club fixture, refer below:
Below is a link to the Southside Flyers membership page:
Sydney Flames
The Sydney Flames host 11 home games in 2024/25 comprised of four double headers with the Sydney Kings at Qudos Bank Arena and seven games at Quay Centre. In the final game of Round 1 the Sydney Flames play their first game of the season at home against UC Capitals at Qudos Bank Arena on Sunday November 3, tip-off is at 2.00 pm. The Flames host their first Quay Centre game of 2024/25 on Saturday November 30 against Geelong United in the first ever encounter between the two clubs. From November 30 to Thursday January 2 five of Sydney’s seven games are at home. In their fourth and final double header of 2024/25 at Qudos Bank Arena Sydney are hosting “the club’s annual Pink Hoops event supporting the McGrath Foundation”10 with the Flames playing Adelaide Lightning on Saturday January 19.
Sydney Flames team huddle after their victory against Melbourne Boomers on 20 December 2023 at Melbourne Sports Centres Parkville
The Flames six double game rounds are comprised of three rounds with one home game and one away game (Round 8, 12 & 13), a home double in Round 15 against Townsville and Southside and two road doubles (Round 4 & 11). The Flames play three consecutive away games from Thursday January 9 to Friday January 17, playing in order UC Capitals, Bendigo and Geelong.
The Sydney Flames posted a colour coded club fixture on their Instagram account, refer below:
Below is a link to the Sydney Flames membership page:
Townsville Fire
During the 2024/25 WNBL season Townsville Fire host 11 home games at the Townsville Entertainment Centre. The Fire host their first home game of the season at Townsville Entertainment Centre in Round 3 on Saturday November 16 against fellow regional club Bendigo Spirit with tip-off at 7.30pm. There are three rounds where Townsville host a home double, Round 8, 9 and 13. The second game of Townsville’s Round 9 home double is on New Year’s Eve against Bendigo, tip-off is at 7.00pm. Townsville play four consecutive home games from Wednesday December 18 to Tuesday December 31 during Round 8 and 9.
Courtney Woods shooting a three-pointer for Townsville Fire against the Melbourne Boomers on 10 January 2024 at Melbourne Sports Centres, Parkville
Townsville Fire have a bye in Round 6, play one game in seven rounds and play two games in seven rounds. The Townsville Fire have three double game rounds where they play one home game and one away game (Round 4, 12 & 15). The Fire have their only road double of the season in Round 5, playing the first two games of the round against Perth on Wednesday November 27 and Adelaide on Friday November 29. After their Round 6 bye Townsville play a third consecutive away game against Bendigo Spirit in Round 7 on Saturday December 14.
On their website Townsville Fire made a colour coded post of their club fixture, refer to the link below:
A link to the Townsville Fire membership page is below:
UC Capitals
For the 2024/25 Cygnett WNBL season the University of Canberra Capitals return to AIS Arena, also known as The Palace, a venue they last played at during their 2019/20 WNBL championship winning season. An article published by the UC Capitals on 2 September stated “With the AIS undergoing a $15 million upgrade, including improvements in air conditioning, seating and lighting, the Capitals are thrilled to return to their spiritual home.”11 In Round 2 on Friday November 8 the UC Capitals host their first home game of the season against Bendigo Spirit at AIS Arena with tip-off at 6.30pm. The Caps play a total of 11 home games at AIS Arena in 2024/25. From Sunday January 5 to Thursday January 30 five of the UC Capitals six games are home games at AIS Arena.
UC Capitals players after their victory against Southside Flyers at the State Basketball Centre on 6 January 2024
The UC Capitals have four double game rounds where they play one home game and one away game (Round 3, 4, 10 & 14). The UC Capitals play a road double in Round 7 and host a home double in Round 11. From Saturday November 23 to Saturday December 21 five of the UC Capitals six games are away.
The UC Capitals made a colour coded post of their club fixture on their Instagram account, refer below:
Below is a link to the the UC Capitals membership page:
Player movement for the 2024/25 Cygnett WNBL season
As at Tuesday October 29 Bendigo Spirit have announced the signing of nine players to their main roster and have one more player to announce. As per the Cygnett WNBL Season 24/25 Media Guide four clubs, Perth Lynx, Southside Flyers, Sydney Flames and Townsville Fire each have 10 players on their main roster. Two clubs, Geelong United and UC Capitals each have 11 players on their main roster. Caps guard Jayda Clark has been ruled out for the 2024/25 WNBL season as she recovers from an anterior cruciate ligament injury (ACL) suffered on 28 March playing for Perry Lakes Hawks in the 2024 NBL1 West season. Geelong United guard Monique Conti has AFLW commitments with Richmond early in the 2024/25 WNBL season. Adelaide Lighting have 12 players on their main roster including Tayla Brazel who is recovering from an ACL injury suffered in late May playing for Sturt Sabres in NBL1 Central. Between them the eight WNBL clubs have 83 players that have been signed to main rosters for the 2024/25 Cygnett WNBL season. In addition to main roster players WNBL clubs also have two development players each, resulting in each club having at least 12 players on their roster overall.
Above: Monique Conti playing for Melbourne Boomers against Southside Flyers on 3 January 2024 at Melbourne Sports Centres – Parkville
Below: Lauren Nicholson shooting a jump shot for Sydney Flames against Southside Flyers at the State Basketball Centre on 12 January 2024
On Tuesday October 8 the Sydney Flames announced on their website that “Lauren Nicholson will miss the WNBL25 season, announcing on Tuesday that she is pregnant with her first child. Nicholson, who finished second in the WNBL’s MVP voting during her first season back in Sydney, and her partner Jacob Jackomas are expecting the arrival of their child in April, 2025.”12 Two imports that signed with a WNBL club for the 2024/25 season had to withdraw due to injury – Didi Richards at the Sydney Flames and Jacy Sheldon at Townsville Fire. In her debut WNBL season with Sydney in 2023/24 forward Richards earnt selection in the All-WNBL Second Team. The Sydney Flames needing to find replacements for two starters that both earnt All-WNBL selection in 2023/24 in Nicholson and Richards has increased the degree of difficulty in constructing their 2024/25 roster. Table 6 below shows how many players each of the eight WNBL clubs have signed to their main roster as per the Cygnett WNBL Season 24/25 Media Guide.
Steph Talbot during Adelaide Lightning’s game against Southside Flyers on 24 February 2024 at Melbourne Sports Centres – Parkville
On the opening day of the 2024/25 Cygnett WNBL season, Wednesday 30 October, 31 players that are on a main roster of a WNBL club will be suiting up for the same WNBL club they played for in 2023/24. The figure of 31 returning players includes a trio duo that have been promoted from being a development player in 2023/24 to a main roster player in 2024/25, Jess Simons at Adelaide Lightning, Teige Morrell at Perth Lynx and Carla Pitman at the Sydney Flames. Excluding Geelong who are in their inaugural WNBL season the other seven WNBL clubs have an average of 4.42 players on their 2024/25 main roster returning from 2023/24. Last season’s runners up, Perth Lynx and Adelaide Lightning have the most continuity with seven players each from 2023/24 returning for the upcoming 2024/25 season. Perth’s returnees include three starters, captain Anneli Maley, fellow 2024 Paris Olympian Amy Atwell and guard Miela Sowah (nee Goodchild). Adelaide’s seven 2023/24 players suiting up for the club in 2024/25 include the quartet of Isobel Borlase, Steph Talbot, Isabelle Bourne and import Brianna Turner. Townsville and the UC Capitals have had the most roster turnover, with each club only retaining two of their 2023/24 players that will be playing in 2024/25 season (Clark will miss the Caps 2024/25 season due to her ACL injury). Each club has retained a guard duo with Courtney Woods and Saffron Shiels returning for Townsville and Jade Melbourne and Nicole Munger suiting up again for the Caps. Bendigo, Southside and Sydney are approximately half way between the two extremes and each have four of their 2023/24 players returning in 2024/25.
Woods is one of three Townsville Fire co-captains along with off-season recruits Alicia Froling and Lauren Mansfield. Alicia and twin sister Keeley grew up in Townsville, played basketball as juniors for Townsville Heat and as teenagers commenced their WNBL careers as development players with local club Townsville Fire. It is an amazing journey for Alicia after playing college basketball and for rival WNBL teams to now return to Townsville and be a co-captain. In Alicia’s first game with this title against Geelong United the opposing captain will be the rival she is most familiar with, her twin sister Keeley. 2024/25 is the fifth consecutive season that we have been treated to Froling vs Froling battles in the WNBL. It will be a proud moment for the Froling family tonight when Alicia and Keely both with a captaincy title will add another chapter to their sibling vs sibling battle at WNBL level.
Alicia Froling in the key with twin sister Keely playing defense in the game between Bendigo Spirit and the Melbourne Boomers at Melbourne Sports Centres – Parkville on 30 December 2023
50 of the 83 players (equating to 60.2% of players) on a WNBL main roster on opening day of the 2024/25 season October played in the WNBL in 2023/24 comprised of 31 players that are suiting up for the same club in 2024/25 and 19 players that have changed clubs in the off-season. Perth and Adelaide have a league-high eight players on their 2024/25 roster that played in the league last season. At the other end of the spectrum Geelong only have four players on their main roster that played in the WNBL in 2023/24. It will be easier for United to increase this figure when they compete in the league for a second season and beyond and are able to have players suiting up for the club in consecutive seasons. The seven WNBL clubs continuing in the league from last season all have at least five players on their 2024/25 main roster that played in the WNBL in 2023/24.
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On the eve of the 2023/24 season commencing Milestones and Misses published a comprehensive guide to player movement and main rosters for the 2023/24 Cygnett WNBL season. The comprehensive guide provided details on the player movement and main rosters from a league wide perspective and then looked at these two aspects for each of the eight WNBL clubs. The club section included player profiles on every player on a main roster as at 30 October 2023. A profile on each club’s Head Coach was also included. A link is below:
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Adelaide and Perth have only recruited one player each from a rival WNBL club for the 2024/25 season, both recruiting a player from Bendigo with forward Ella Gordon joining the Lightning and guard Ally Wilson joining the Lynx where she will be teammates with her partner and fellow guard Amy Atwell. In the offseason Wilson and Atwell were teammates at NBL1 club Bendigo Braves and both represented Australia at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
For their inaugural WNBL season Geelong United recruited four players that played in the league in 2023/24 including a duo from the Melbourne Boomers, forward Keely Froling and guard Monique Conti. Froling has been appointed Geelong’s captain and has experience as a leader, having been the captain at the Sydney Flames and Melbourne Boomers. Froling and Conti will have coaching continuity with 2023/24 Melbourne Boomers Head Coach Chris Lucas being appointed to the HC role at Geelong. Gemma Potter and Taylor Mole joined Geelong United for the club’s inaugural WNBL season after playing in the league for UC Capitals and Adelaide Lightning respectively in 2023/24. Two guards that have WNBL experience and have represented Geelong United in NBL1 South are on the club’s main roster for the 2024/25 WNBL season – Jaz Shelley and Sarah Elsworthy. Playing for the Melbourne Boomers in 2018/19 Shelley won the WNBL’s Betty Watson Rookie of the Year Award. Shelley was the first player signed to Geelong United’s 2024/25 WNBL main roster, represented Geelong United in NBL1 in 2019 and now at WNBL level is the club’s vice captain for their inaugural season. In 2024 Elsworthy played her fourth consecutive NBL1 South season for Geelong United (formerly Geelong Supercats) and was the captain. Five players on Geelong United’s main roster are making their WNBL debut in 2024/25 including American import duo, guard/forward Haley Jones and centre Lynetta Kizer.
Keely Froling playing for Melbourne Boomers against Townsville Fire at Melbourne Sports Centres – Parkville on 13 January 2024
Shelley was a member of the Australian Opals bronze medal winning team at FIBA Women’s Asia Cup 2021 in Jordan. A member of the Opals bronze medal winning team at the following Asia Cup on home soil in Sydney in 2023 is making a long awaited WNBL debut in 2024/25, forward Chantel Horvat with the UC Capitals. Playing in the WNBL for the first time Horvat will be able to draw on her experience playing professionally in Europe in Poland and Spain.
Six clubs, Adelaide, Geelong, Southside, Sydney, Townsville and UC Capitals have each signed the maximum two imports to their main roster. Perth Lynx have one import on their completed main roster, Canadian forward Laeticia Amihere. Bendigo have signed one import, American guard Veronica Burton and have an additional import position available.
11 players that are on a WNBL main roster for the 2024/25 season played in the WNBA in 2024 comprised of four Australians and seven players that will be playing as imports in the 2024/25 Cygnett WNBL season. Two guards that played for Phoenix Mercury will be playing in the WNBL, Australian Amy Atwell (Perth Lynx) and American import Celeste Taylor (Sydney Flames). An Atlanta Dream trio will be playing as imports during the 2024/25 WNBL season in Australia, guard/forward Haley Jones (Geelong United), forward Laeticia Amihere (Perth Lynx) and forward Naz Hillmon (Southside Flyers) who will be playing a second consecutive WNBL season. Atlanta Dream Assistant Coach Paul Gorris is the Head Coach of the University of Canberra Capitals, commencing his second stint as Head Coach of the club after being an Assistant Coach to Kristen Veal in 2023/24. Veal stepped aside from the HC role and commented “Ongoing medical issues following major knee surgery prior to last season, unfortunately impacts my ability to coach and I’ve made the difficult decision to stand down.”13 A duo that were teammates at WNBA club Los Angeles Sparks in 2024 are playing in the WNBL this season, 2020 Suzy Batkovic Medal winner Steph Talbot with Adelaide Lightning and American guard Zia Cooke with Townsville Fire.
Above: Naz Hillmon playing for the Melbourne Boomers in game 3 of the semi final against Southside Flyers at Melbourne Sports Centres – Parkville on 6 March 2024
Below: Brianna Turner taking a rebound for Adelaide Lightning against Southside Flyers on 24 February 2024 at Melbourne Sports Centres – Parkville
Chicago Sky forward Brianna Turner will be playing her third WNBL season, all with Adelaide Lightning. In 2023/24 Turner led the WNBL for rebounds, blocked shots and minutes per game and ranked third for steals. After playing season number six with Seattle Storm during the 2024 WNBA season guard Sami Whitcomb will be playing her first season with Bendigo Spirit during the 2024/25 WNBL season and will be teammates with fellow WNBA guard Veronica Burton. In WNBA season number three Burton was a member of the Connecticut Sun team that made the 2024 WNBA semi finals. Point guard Jade Melbourne will be able to draw on her experience of playing for the Washington Mystics during the 2024 WNBA season when she embarks on WNBL season number five with the UC Capitals.
During the 2024/25 WNBL season Marianna Tolo joins three-time Rachael Sporn medal winner Kelsey Griffin and WNBL games record holder Kelly Wilson at Bendigo Spirit. This trio were starters on the UC Capitals 2018/19 WNBL Championship team and have great chemistry together. 2024/25 will be the first time that Griffin and Whitcomb are teammates in the WNBL. Griffin and Whitcomb both started their WNBL careers as imports and after several seasons in the league became naturalised Australians. An article published by the WNBL in the off-season ranked Griffin and Whitcomb as the WNBL’s two greatest imports and it will be great to see them join forces at Bendigo.
Sami Whitcomb – number 17 for Townsville and Kelsey Griffin – number 23 for Bendigo after the WNBL game at Geelong Arena on 7 January 2024
Lauren Jackson playing for Southside Flyers against Sydney Flames at the State Basketball Centre on 12 January 2024 with Opals Paris 2024 teammate Cayla George playing defense
A quartet of players that played in the WNBA in 2024 and are making their WNBL debut as imports in 2024/25 were selected in the top 15 of a WNBA draft. Players in this category are Haley Jones (pick 6 – Atlanta Dream 2023), Laeticia Amihere (pick 8 – Atlanta Dream 2022), Zia Cooke (pick 10 – Los Angeles Sparks 2023) and Celeste Taylor (pick 15 – Indiana Fever in 2024). A front court duo that didn’t play in the WNBA in 2024 will be making their WNBL debut in 2024/25 and were top three selections at a WNBA draft. Lauren Cox was selected with pick 3 by Indiana Fever in 2020 and will be suiting up with Townsville Fire in 2024/25. Charli Collier was selected by the Dallas Wings with the number 1 draft pick in 2021 and will be playing for the UC Capitals in 2024/25. Collier becomes the third WNBA number 1 draft pick to play in the WNBL, joining Australian GOAT and five time Olympic medal winner Lauren Jackson (Seattle – 2001) and American guard and two-time Olympic Gold medal winner Jackie Young (Las Vegas Aces – 2019).
Jackie Young playing for the Perth Lynx against the Melbourne Boomers at Gippsland Regional Indoor Sports Stadium (GRISS), Traralgon on 6 February 2022
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During the 2024 WNBA season Milestones and Misses published an article covering the 36 players on 2024 WNBA rosters with experience playing in the WNBL. The 36 WNBL alumni on 2024 WNBA opening rosters was comprised of seven Australians and 29 players that had played in the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) in Australia as imports. A link to this article is below:
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Five people that were a Head Coach of a WNBL club in 2023/24 continue in the HC role at the same club in 2024/25, Nat Hurst (Adelaide Lightning), Kennedy Kereama (Bendigo Spirit), Ryan Petrik (Perth Lynx), Guy Molloy (Sydney Flames) and Shannon Seebohm (Townsville Fire). Molloy is in his second season as Sydney’s Head Coach and Hurst and Kereama are in their third season as HC at their respective club. Petrik is in his fifth season as Head Coach of Perth Lynx, having commenced the role in the 2020 hub season in North Queensland. Of the current coaches Seebohm has the most experience at his current club, entering season number six as Head Coach of the Townsville Fire, starting in 2019/20. Seebohm has the distinction of being the only one of the five coaches continuing at the same club to coach their current club to a WNBL championship, achieving the feat in 2022/23. In the last of nine seasons as the Melbourne Boomers Head Coach Molly coached the club to the WNBL championship in 2021/22. After coaching in New Zealand during 2022/23 Molloy returned to the WNBL in 2023/24 for his first season as Head Coach of the Flames.
In 2024/25 Kristi Harrower is the Head Coach of the Southside Flyers, becoming the second Head Coach of the Flyers, taking over from Cheryl Chambers who coached the club to two titles and two runner-up finishes in five seasons as the Flyers HC from 2019/20 to 2023/24. On 22 May 2024 Chambers announced in a statement “I won’t be returning to the Southside Flyers as Head Coach next season. This decision is mainly due to the hectic Opals schedule leading into the Olympics in July and having coached in the WNBL for more than ten straight seasons.”14 Harrower is in her first season as a WNBL Head Coach in 2024/25 having been an Assistant Coach at the Melbourne Boomers in 2022/23 and 2023/24 with current Geelong United Head Coach Chris Lucas as the HC. Harrower is the unusual position of coaching the defending WNBL champions in her debut season as a Head Coach in the league. Harrower has vast experience as a leader on the court playing as a point guard including at international level for the Australian Opals and in the WNBL for several clubs including Bendigo Spirit where her dad Bernie Harrower was the Head Coach. Harrower was the point guard on four Opals teams that won medals at the Olympic Games, silver in 2000, 2004 and 2008 and bronze in 2012.
The trio of players that were recruited by the Flyers in the off-season that played for another WNBL club in 2023/24 have all had Kristi Harrower as an Assistant Coach. At the Melbourne Boomers in 2023/24 Harrower was the Assistant Coach of Naz Hillmon and Tera Reed. With the Australian Opals Harrower has been an Assistant Coach of forward Alice Kunek including at FIBA Women’s Asia Cup 2023 in Sydney where Kunek earnt selection in the Tournament All-Star Five. During the 2024 NBL1 South season Harrower was the Head Coach of the Keilor Thunder team that made the Grand Final and included current Flyers Reed and Rocci. Harrower was named the 2024 NBL1 South women’s Coach of the Year. Four players from Southside’s 2023/24 WNBL Championship winning team have signed with the club for 2024/25, guards Bec Cole, Maddison Rocci and Dallas Loughridge along with forward Carley Ernst.
Kristi Harrower and Tera Reed at the post-game press conference after the Melbourne Boomers home against Townsville on 11 January at Melbourne Sports Centres – Parkville
52 of the 83 players (representing 62.7% of players) on a 2024/25 WNBL main roster as at the opening day of the season joined their club in the off-season, far outnumbering the 31 players (37.3% of players) that are suiting up for the same WNBL club they played for in 2023/24. With the significant level of player turnover across the league in the off-season the ability of clubs to build team chemistry will play a pivotal role in determining which clubs finish in the top four at the end of the regular season and qualify for the 2024/25 WNBL finals.
Article and photographs by Dean Andrews
Twitter – @DeanAndrews7777
References
4 https://wnbl.basketball/blog/news/wnbl-24-25-key-dates/
5 https://wnbl.basketball/blog/news/wnbl-release-24-25-fixture/
6 https://wnbl.basketball/blog/news/wnbl-release-24-25-fixture/
7 https://wnbl.basketball/blog/news/wnbl-24-25-key-dates/
8 https://wnbl.basketball/blog/news/wnbl-release-24-25-fixture/
10 https://wnbl.basketball/sydneyflames/news/11-home-fixtures-headline-flames-bumper-wnbl25-schedule/
11 https://wnbl.basketball/uc-capitals/news/uc-capitals-return-to-spiritual-home-at-the-ais-arena/
12 https://wnbl.basketball/sydneyflames/news/club-statement-on-lauren-nicholson/
13 https://wnbl.basketball/uc-capitals/news/paul-goriss-to-return-to-uc-capitals-head-coach-role/
14 https://wnbl.basketball/southside/news/flyers-looking-for-a-new-head-coach/
Milestones and Misses
Milestones and Misses publishes articles to celebrate the achievements of sportspeople. In sport as with life in general it is common that milestones are only achieved after overcoming adversity. Whilst the articles on the Milestones and Misses website celebrate sportspeople achieving milestones they also cover the misses along the journey such as a player having minimal game-time or spending a prolonged period on the sidelines due to injury.
Milestones and misses 