WNBL HoopsFest returns to Perth under new format

The first HoopsFest coincided with the opening round of the NBL season, which was six weeks before the WNBL season tipped off. This resulted in WNBL teams sending incomplete preseason teams or going with a roster comprised entirely of development players. The teams each played in two games, with the best-performing team, based on both games and quarters won, taking home $10,000 AUD.

This was a bizarre showcase of the WNBL, and after the proof of concept from the NBL in Year 1, HoopsFest will now feature regular-season games for both the NBL and WNBL. This year, it runs from Thursday, Jan. 15, until Sunday, Jan. 18, rather than being played in mid-September.

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“There’s a lot of excitement building up for it,” Perth Lynx guard Steph Gorman told The IX Basketball. “It’s a really amazing opportunity to have every team here in Perth with all their best players. There will be so many great games on show.”

The WNBL season is now in its final stretch before the postseason, with less than a month of regular-season action remaining.

Entering HoopsFest, the upper class of the Bendigo Spirit, Townsville Fire and Perth Lynx sit atop the table in a league of their own. The Southside Melbourne Flyers and Canberra Capitals both sit at 7-9 and are poised to battle it out for fourth place. The Sydney Flames, Adelaide Lightning and Geelong Venom bring up the rear but are still alive in the hunt for that last remaining postseason berth.

For Southside and Canberra, they will have a chance to separate themselves from one another or stay side by side. Southside will go against the 5-13 Adelaide Lightning, whose season was derailed after parting ways with former head coach Kerryn Mitchell when they were 3-4. This matchup will take place on Saturday, before Canberra has the unenviable job of playing Townsville on Sunday.

The Fire have their captain back in Courtney Woods, yet have lost Lauren Cox for the remainder of the season. Townsville has won the first two battles between these teams by a combined 75 points, but Cox played in both games while Zitina Aokuso was sidelined for Canberra. That big matchup now swings heavily in Canberra’s favour, and general form sees the Fire stagnating while the Caps are on a conservative upswing.

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Capitals’ young gun Monique Bobongie is one player who plans to reap the benefits from the more optimal timing of the event.

“I’m more prepared for this one than I was for the last one,” Bobongie told The IX Basketball. “It was preseason, so I was just getting the feel of how I played in the WNBL.”

Bobongie had a stellar run in the last HoopsFest. She scored 38 points against a Bendigo Spirit team that had a host of WNBL players, especially in the back court. This year, with HoopsFest in the middle of the season, Bobongie also has a different mindset about the importance of the games.

“I just treat it as any other game,” Bobongie said. “I don’t think it’s any different. Like, we do need to win games, especially during the end of the season. So just taking it as a regular game, not putting too much pressure on myself and seeing how it goes.”

HoopsFest will tip off with a matchup between Perth, the hosts, and Bendigo. The whole league will be in town to witness the two most in-form teams in the league. There are plenty of different approaches to HoopsFest, and the responsibility of hosting is one that the Lynx wear with honour.

“It’s a really exciting time, especially to have everyone here playing at RAC (Arena),” Gorman said. “HoopsFest lets us show the league how amazing Perth is and how incredible the fans are here.”

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The Spirit have a few returning players from the previous HoopsFest in Georgia Booth and Micah Simpson. Both have seen a boost in minutes this WNBL season. Both Booth and Simpson told The IX that they have developed “a lot” and neither feels as though their role on the team has changed much since last HoopsFest, although the circumstances are much different.

“This is part of our actual season, whereas last season, HoopsFest was a pre-preseason tournament that most clubs didn’t send their full roster,” Booth said. “I wasn’t playing HoopsFest with the girls that I played this actual season with. It’s different this time around to be playing with our full team and having it in a crucial part of the season as a game that counts towards the actual season.”

“Yeah, I think this time it’s definitely different,” Simpson added. “Last year, it was pre-preseason for us. And now we’re at a really pointy end of the season where people are fighting for final spots, ladder positions, whatever that may be for different teams. But everybody’s still got a chance, so it makes for a really competitive environment, and hopefully, we can see some good games across the league.”

There’s a palpable difference throughout the league in regards to HoopsFest this year compared to last. Not only does the new format invite strong basketball, but the way the season has played out will also get the whole league under one roof, with fourth place still on offer for every team outside of the top three. Additionally, spectators may be treated to a WNBL Finals preview between the Perth Lynx and Bendigo Spirit.

With a win for either of Southside or Canberra and a loss to the other, the concluding frame of the season will get a pretty sizeable shake-up. Both teams have a similar mix of teams from the top and bottom ends of the ladder on their fixtures for the rest of the season. What’s more is that they play each other in each of their penultimate games.

WNBL fans are spoiled once again with the final third of the season shaping up to be a classic. HoopsFest is looking like it will serve as the perfect curtain raiser for this final act.