Fipps retired

Mackenzie hoycard has returned to w.a after 1 season at the university of Hawaii. is currently about to undergo foot surgery and then will be looking to play WSBL for season 2019. not sure where she will go but I would think there will be a lot of interest. perhaps redbacks or magic ?
she has played for both craig allen and also craig watts at underage nationals.

Taz out of Cockburn to.

Roscoe and Hepburn to Stirling

Lightning championship team breaking up big time

ashlee sidebottom has been training with the Mandurah magic.

good pick up by the rockingham flames chris boag .

Roscoe from one God Squad to another

Hepburn out (STI) hehe

Rumour Mansfield has recruited Maddie Dennis and Amy Atwell to Lakeside for this season. Perhaps too early to write off the reigning champs:

1- import
2- Byrnes
3- Dennis
4-Import
5- Grant

Bench - Atwell, Jacobs sisters, Irongmonger

Will need some scoring

darcee garbin will be at the rockinham flames alongside another import . garbin will be restricted.

ok - I didn't realise allen was restricted . will be interesting to see if he can get allen, garbin and boag all on the court at the same time.
allen and boag aren't the best outside shooters at all.

Come on! Does the WSBL really need its own thread??

generally the W.S.B.L thread is treated with respect by the majority of people who write on the forum. ( mature people ).
the S.B.L thread tends to turn into a farce and people get peeved with it to many egos.
if you are not interested in the Wsbl then skim over the thread , 80% of the topics on this forum don't appeal to a lot of people anyway.
there is more than enough interest to keep a thread going for wsbl.

SBL, WSBL. One's a sport, one's a joke. I love sports, I love jokes. Room for all.

PREDICTED STANDINGS FOR 2019

1- MANDURAH *
2- WOLVES
3- ROCKINHAM
4- LAKESIDE *
5- PERRY LAKES
6- STIRLING *
7- KALAMUNDA
8- WILLETON *

9- REDBACKS
10- SLAMMERS
11- COUGARS
12- EAGLES

* DEPENDS ON THE QUALITY OF IMPORT/IMPORTS

With the Blitz on this weekend, update to season rosters

WSBL Preview:
Wolves
Starters:
Pirini, Miotti, Kidner, Stiendl, Land
Key Bench:
Denehey, Belcher
New coach Charles Nix has formed a formidable starting line-up in 2019 and on paper pre-season favourites. With 4 Lynx squad members lead by Kayla Stiendl one of the best bigs and MVP contender last season. The guard unit is super strong with Pirini a Top 3 PG, Denehey a top 3 defensive guard leading the way.

Senators
Starters:
Jones, Barr, import, import, Roscoe
Key Bench:
Hepburn, 2x throns
A lot will come down to whether Stirling bring in two quality imports into this group. D'agostino has recruited well getting championship centre Sam Roscoe back to her junior club from Lakeside and landing SEABL scoring machine Stacey Barr. Two quality unrestricted Aussies are gold.

East Perth
Starters:
Janae Johnson (import), Flynn, B Fisher, Heart, E Fisher (after college season)
Bench:
Aryang
Coach Fisher is slowly turning this group of young players into a team with future potential, Johnson was good in the back half of 2018 for Stirling and will provide interior muscle and a good tandem with the emerging Eryn Fisher. Hopefully a 2nd import is on its way.

Redbacks
Starters:
Mansfield, Deegan, Jakens, Import*, Williams
Key Bench
Napier, Hoycard
Coach Allen did a great job of coming in late to the program and picking up a stud in Lauren Mansfield. The lynx guard is as good as it gets and paired with WA and AIS guard Rosie Deegan this team will be quick and fun to watch in 2019. Don’t sleep on this team.

Suns
Williams, Montroni, Import, import, Rintala
Key Bench:
Drennan, King
Losing Edwards to the new SEABL league is tough to replace but a naturalised Rintala helps big time, A lot will come down to the quality of the two imports in 2019. Great pick up in U20 player Carla Drennan moving over from Willetton for game time prior to college.

Tigers
Starters:
Jones, priestly, Kelly, import, import
Key Bench:
Ayliffe, Counsel, Harper, T Miotti
A transition year for Coach Parker as he develops the next generation prior to a big 2020 with new stadium, this team will be competitive with two imports to come in.

Lightning
Starters:
Byrnes, Luaulu-Summers, Import, Grant, Ironmonger
Key Bench:
Van Chee, Jacobs twins
The reigning WSBL champs lost a lot of talent over the off season. League MVP Schwagmeyer, Fipps, Roscoe and Moyle all gone. But don’t underestimate Coach Mansfields ability to find import studs to go along with a great junior group coming through. Summers is a combo guard with good range that will pair well with Byrnes in 2019.

Cougars
Starters:
Pitcher, Benn, Muir, Lee, Michaels
Key Bench:
Taylor.
Tough news at cougar land in losing BJ Moyes to injury just weeks prior to the season starting. Moyes is a consistent scorer that worked well with scoring machine Lee. Hopefully an import replacement is on its way. Kisha Lee to continue the scoring load in 2019.

Flames
Starters:
Adams, Armstrong, Boag, Garbin, Allen
Key Bench:
Burrows, Hetherington, Kennedy
Coach Reynolds has been able to bring in one of the premier forwards in the competition in Darcee Garbin to pair up with DPOY and Lynx big Maddie Allen. To add to the imposing frontline is Chris Boag with twin sister of Mandurah’s Carly Boag. Janelle Adams a quick PG with WNBL experience at Canberra and young U20s gun Tayah Burrows has joined the team from Bunbury. A deep team in 2019 to contend with the top teams in the league.

Magic
Starters:
Milo, Bailey, import, C Boag, Palusna
Key Bench
Miegel, B Klastourney, E Klastourney, Halleen, Sidebottom
Talk is the import will be a 3/4 and is a stud. Magic are going all in this year to chase that elusive title. Palusna was the most damaging big in the league last year and a 100% Boag will give them perhaps the biggest Wall to contend with the likes of the Flame and Wolves. The bench is super deep with Casey Miegel back from a year off. This team is a legit contender in 2019.

Slammers
Donovan, Dyer, Parsons, Bayliss, Montgomery
Key Bench
East, Fielding
Nathan Grover has had to deal with the loss of four starters as he came into the program this year. Both Burrows and Denehey having moved up to Perth Clubs. Montgomery looks to be a stud, the Canberra Capitals Academy big put up good numbers in SEABL. The clubs has a good set of juniors coming through for Coach Grover to build a long term program.

^^Hawks not playing this year??

Hawks

Starters:

O'Sullivan, Benson, Import, martin, Burton

Bench:

Mckay, Ashby, Renkema, Teasdale, Ballantyne

Hawks have recruited well bringing vet talent in Nikita Martin and Rebecca Benson to replace Toni Edmonson.

talk is Megan Mckay is heading back to her club post her successful 4 years at St. Marys. This would be huge as she would be a major addition to this team. Ballantyne moving to the city from Mandurah gives them PG depth. A very good junior group coming through, Ashby and Green big talents.

^^ haha yes the poster has no clue re hawks line up at all!

great write up regarding all the WSBL teams. looks like another competitive season. wide open , all the pressure is on the wolves and coach nix .

Unlikely O'Sullivan will start ahead of their North Carolina PG, Jamie Cherry.

LAUREN JEFFERS TO SUIT UP FOR THE KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS . 2 IMPORTS PLUS A NATURALISED RINTALA MAKES THIS TEAM LEGIT CONTENDERS AS WELL.
THE LEAGUE IS LOOKING TOUGH.

Any tips for first round? Maybe some preview?

Lakeside Lightning -Mandurah Magic
Perry Lakes Hawks - Joondalup Wolves
Joondalup Wolves - Goldfields Giants
South West Slammers - East Perth Eagles
Kalamunda Eastern Suns - Goldfields Giants

interesting first round as it always is with a lot of teams not at full strength.

lakeside by 3 - lakeside have the advantage in height here .

wolves by 6 - this is perhaps a grand final rehearsal? watch the
hawks build throughout the year once nats back.

willeton by 10 - too good in the backcourt - were cougars will struggle

senators by 10 - depends on the availability for both squads.both teams
will finish between 5 - 8 .

Mandurah by 8 - Mandurah have good depth , double header wont matter

slammers by 20 - slammers have good mix experience and youth

most of the games went to script in the opening round of the season.
I was surprised to see the cougars get up but congratulations to them for securing that victory. they will go 2-0 by the end of this weekend with a victory over the eagles . anyway my thoughts round 2.

FLAMES VS HAWKS
im predicting a bumper crowd for rockinghams first home game but I don't think it will be enough to get them over the line , the hawks are one side that can match their height. hawks by 6 - unless garbin is in town , if she plays which I don't think she will -flames will win.
these 2 teams will finish in the top - 4.

WOLVES VS SENATORS
will be closer than most think with land playing her old team , she will be too physical for Hepburn and I wouldn't expect hepburn to be putting up the same numbers in this game. wolves will miss denehey in the rotation but too strong win by 10

TIGERS VS LIGHTNING
the tigers were disappointing last week and are under pressure to start the season 0-2 , lightning with ali schagmeyer on a 9 game contract ? - enough to qualify for finals and as an aussie . will pump them lightning by 25

EAGLES VS COUGARS.
im sure this will be a scrappy game which could play in the eagles hands , but with michaesl and lee have way too much height . also cougars confidence will be up - cougars by 15

SUNS VS MAGIC
I would expect the same sort of game , which was tight ! Mandurah will be hoping palusna is getting close to playing because they had no match-up for rintala last week . suns by 2 at home.

^ok... a random copy and paste job from wikipedia...