BASKETBALL<\/p>\n
WNBL<\/p>\n
BY BLAKE METCALF-HOLT<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
IN line with Jade Melbourne\u2019s arrival at the Bendigo Spirit, the Women\u2019s National Basketball League (WNBL) announced more games in the Traralgon local\u2019s hometown for the upcoming season.<\/p>\n
After hosting its first game in the Latrobe Valley last year since 2023, the Spirit are back for two more matches once the next season tips off.<\/p>\n
Bendigo will face-off against Sydney Flames, who posses the talents of Moe\u2019s Jaz Shelley, on December 18 at the Gippsland Regional Indoor Sports Stadium.<\/p>\n
When each of the Latrobe Valley locals matchup in the Friday night blockbuster, it will be the first time either are in new colours in the WNBL.<\/p>\n
Shelley exited Geelong Venom after two seasons, firstly signing with NBL1 East club Norths Bears, before agreeing to a deal with WNBL-affiliate Sydney a short time after.<\/p>\n
On January 31, 2027, the Spirit will then take on latest WNBL expansion franchise, Tasmania Jewels, at GRISS in the last round before finals.<\/p>\n
The Jewels will be the ninth team in the competition, and the first since Geelong in 2024, who\u2019s debut player signing was Shelley.<\/p>\n
Bendigo General Manager, Dan Jackson said the club is proud to again be playing games across regional Victoria.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile Bendigo will always be our home, we are also passionate about being regional Victoria\u2019s team, creating access, visibility and inspiration for young girls and boys right across the state,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe support we\u2019ve received in Ballarat and Traralgon over recent seasons has been fantastic, and we\u2019re excited to return to those communities again this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cParticularly, having signed Jade \u2013 who started her basketball journey in Traralgon \u2013 we know these games will resonate strongly with fans right across the region.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bendigo featured in a regular season game against Perth Lynx at GRISS last November, after the top women\u2019s basketball league vacated the Latrobe Valley for a number of years.<\/p>\n
The now defunct Melbourne Boomers were central in matches played in Traralgon across multiple seasons dating back to 2018, which in the latter years included games against Melbourne and the University of Canberra Capitals.<\/p>\n
In a exclusive interview with the Express in 2024, when the Boomers were transitioning out of the WNBL, former club chairperson Tony Hallam said playing games in Traralgon with its local star (Melbourne) was central to further regional opportunities.<\/p>\n
However, once it returned last year, that did not happen.<\/p>\n
Local WNBL supporters will now be treated to double the Latrobe Valley talent, with both of its stars returning home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BASKETBALL WNBL BY BLAKE METCALF-HOLT \u00a0 IN line with Jade Melbourne\u2019s arrival at the Bendigo Spirit, the Women\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":45549,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[34452,34456,6107,6108,69,260,34457,34458,6112,34459,73,6113],"class_list":["post-45548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-melbourne","tag-bendigo-spirit","tag-griss","tag-jade-melbourne","tag-jaz-shelley","tag-latrobe-valley","tag-melbourne","tag-melbourne-boomers","tag-perth-lynx","tag-sydney-flames","tag-tasmania-jewels","tag-traralgon","tag-wnbl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45548"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45548\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}