Southside Flyers
Basketball team in Victoria, Australia
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 purposes, they are known as the Jayco Southside Flyers .
The team was founded as the Dandenong Rangers in 1992. In 2019, the team was rebranded as the Southside Flyers.
History
Dandenong Rangers
The Dandenong Rangers made their debut in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) in the 1992 season after Dandenong Basketball Association (DBA) obtained a WNBL license from the Nunawading Spectres .[ 1] The Rangers went on to finish as runners-up in their first season. In the 2003–04 and 2004–05 seasons , the Rangers won back-to-back WNBL championships . They finished as runners-up in 2005–06 . The team won their third championship in 2011–12 and finished runners-up again in 2016–17 .[ 2]
In July 2019, the Dandenong Rangers franchise was purchased from DBA by long-time sponsor Gerry Ryan and rebranded to the Southside Flyers .[ 3] [ 4] The team continued to play at Dandenong Stadium until moving to the State Basketball Centre in 2022.[ 5]
In the 2019–20 WNBL season , the Flyers finished as runners-up. In the 2020 WNBL Hub season in Queensland , the Flyers won their first championship and fourth in franchise history. They finished runners-up again in 2022–23 .[ 2] The Flyers won their second WNBL championship and the franchise's fifth in the 2023–24 season .[ 6] In the third and deciding game of the 2024 grand final series, the Flyers won 115–81 over the Perth Lynx , breaking the record for both the biggest winning margin in a grand final and the highest score.[ 7] [ 8]
Following the 2023–24 season, the Flyers sought to rebrand as the Melbourne Flyers following the transfer of the Melbourne Boomers ' WNBL license to Geelong. The name change was initially accepted but later declined by the new league owners.[ 9]
Season-by-season records
Season
Standings
Regular season
Finals
Head coach
W
L
PCT
Dandenong Rangers
1992
3rd
14
6
70.0
Won Semi Final (Canberra , 67–65) Won Preliminary Final (Melbourne , 67–57) Lost Grand Final (Perth , 54–58)
Alex Palazzolo
1993
4th
10
8
55.5
Lost Semi Final (Perth , 68–83)
Alex Palazzolo
1994
5th
10
8
55.5
Did not qualify
Alex Palazzolo
1995
8th
4
14
22.2
Did not qualify
Alex Palazzolo
1996
6th
9
9
50.0
Did not qualify
Steve Barr
1997
4th
9
9
50.0
Lost Qualifying Final (AIS , 66–76)
Steve Barr
1998
6th
7
5
58.3
Did not qualify
Steve Barr
1998–99
7th
6
15
28.5
Did not qualify
Mark Wright
1999–00
5th
11
10
52.3
Did not qualify
Mark Wright
2000–01
4th
15
6
71.4
Won Semi Final (Adelaide , 83–71) Lost Preliminary Final (Sydney , 72–78)
Mark Wright
2001–02
3rd
15
6
71.4
Lost Semi Final (Sydney , 85–98)
Mark Wright
2002–03
5th
11
10
52.3
Did not qualify
Gary Fox
2003–04
1st
17
4
80.9
Won Semi Final (Sydney , 85–68) Won Grand Final (Sydney , 63–53)
Gary Fox
2004–05
1st
19
2
90.4
Won Semi Final (Bulleen , 63–59) Won Grand Final (Sydney , 52–47)
Gary Fox
2005–06
1st
14
7
66.6
Won Semi Final (Adelaide , 75–70) Lost Grand Final (Canberra , 55–68)
Gary Fox
2006–07
4th
12
9
57.1
Lost Semi Final (Adelaide , 61–66)
Gary Fox
2007–08
4th
12
12
50.0
Won Semi Final (Canberra , 60–54) Lost Preliminary Final (Adelaide , 64–74)
Dale Waters
2008–09
7th
7
15
31.8
Did not qualify
Dale Waters
2009–10
7th
7
15
31.8
Did not qualify
Dale Waters / Dean Kinsman
2010–11
4th
12
10
54.5
Lost Elimination Final (Logan , 73–83)
Mark Wright
2011–12
3rd
14
8
63.4
Won Semi Final (Townsville , 77–66) Won Preliminary Final (Adelaide , 91–78) Won Grand Final (Bulleen , 94–70)
Mark Wright
2012–13
2nd
19
5
79.2
Lost Semi Final (Bendigo , 71–78) Lost Preliminary Final (Townsville , 64–78)
Mark Wright
2013–14
2nd
16
8
66.6
Lost Semi Final (Bendigo , 62–71) Lost Preliminary Final (Townsville , 71–74)
Mark Wright
2014–15
3rd
12
10
54.5
Lost Semi Final (Sydney , 80–89)
Mark Wright
2015–16
3rd
15
9
62.5
Lost Semi Final (South East Queensland , 82–86)
Larissa Anderson
2016–17
2nd
15
9
62.5
Won Semi Final (Perth , 2–1) Lost Grand Final (Sydney , 0–2)
Larissa Anderson
2017–18
7th
7
14
33.3
Did not qualify
Larissa Anderson
2018–19
5th
9
12
42.8
Did not qualify
Larissa Anderson
Southside Flyers
2019–20
1st
17
4
80.9
Won Semi Final (Adelaide , 2–0) Lost Grand Final (Canberra , 0–2)
Cheryl Chambers
2020
1st
11
2
84.6
Won Semi Final (Townsville , 106–93) Won Grand Final (Townsville , 99–82)
Cheryl Chambers
2021–22
7th
5
12
41.1
Did not qualify
Cheryl Chambers
2022–23
2nd
15
6
71.4
Won Semi Final (Melbourne , 2–1) Lost Grand Final (Townsville , 0–2)
Cheryl Chambers
2023–24
2nd
13
8
61.9
Won Semi Final (Melbourne , 2–1) Won Grand Final (Perth , 2–1)
Cheryl Chambers
Regular season
389
287
57.5
5 Minor Premierships
Finals
18
20
47.3
5 WNBL Championships
Source: WNBL
Players
Current roster
2023–24 Southside Flyers roster
Players
Coaches
Pos.
No.
Nat.
Name
Ht.
F
00
Hillmon, Naz
1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
24 – (2000-04-05 ) 5 April 2000
G
1
Cole, Rebecca (C)
1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
32 – (1992-03-19 ) 19 March 1992
G
2
Burrows, Paige
1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
23 – (2001-09-01 ) 1 September 2001
G
3
Young, Nikita
1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
22 – (2002-08-04 ) 4 August 2002
G
7
Loughridge, Dallas
1.67 m (5 ft 6 in)
20 – (2004-01-23 ) 23 January 2004
G
9
Rocci, Maddison
1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
26 – (1998-06-01 ) 1 June 1998
F
10
Kunek, Alice
1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
33 – (1991-01-06 ) 6 January 1991
C
11
Ernst, Carley
1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)
30 – (1994-08-01 ) 1 August 1994
G
14
Burrows, Tayah
1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
23 – (2001-09-01 ) 1 September 2001
C
17
Vaughn, Mikayla
1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)
25 – (1998-12-17 ) 17 December 1998
G
24
Reed, Tera
1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
26 – (1998-09-24 ) 24 September 1998
F
32
Puoch, Manuela
1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
18 – (2006-10-05 ) 5 October 2006
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
(C) Team captain(DP) Development player(I) Import player Injured
Updated: 28 January 2024
References
External links
Franchise Arenas Personnel Seasons WNBL Championships Rivals
Current teams Defunct teams Associated Related Others