Basketball On The Internet.

WITH all the drama, theatre and tensions of the NBL Championship Series, it would be easy to overlook the fact the WNBL has been notoriously active in these early throes of its off-season, CEO Jennie Sager the first to bite the dust, Tasmania Jewels signing their inaugural player Nikki Parker, and two more coaching appointments.

Townsville's championship-winning coach of 2018, new Jewels coach Claudia Brassard has been busy so expect to see a few former Fire connections showing up on the Apple Isle.

As long as Brassard is coaching "over the seas" on the island, expect a few overseas players to return for the new Tassie franchise, not the least of which would be Steph Reid and Darcee Garbin.

There's also a long history with the Frolings but with Alicia sticking with the champion Fire - who have signed their first six from this season - maybe Keely could again be on the move.

Parker is a 17-year-old guard who stands at 183cm, is from the state's North West and will fill a Development Player capacity.

“The Jewels are a fiercely proud Tasmanian team and a team for every Tasmanian, so it is only fitting that our very first signing is local rising star Nikki Parker,” Brassard said.

“She has raw talent in spades, she’s tough and gritty and plays both ends of the floor. She is the perfect first addition to our program.”

Early indications are the Jewels will immediately be impactful, a la the Tasmania JackJumpers in the NBL.

Since Brassard led the Fire to the championship in 2018, only one female coach has been successful at wresting the title, Cheryl Chambers at the usually stacked Southside Flyers in the 2020 Covid season and 2024.

Chambers has been appointed at Geelong Venom, the club's best local playing asset, Jaz Shelley, a major target on the free agents' list.

At Southside, club management has defied the current desires of WNBL management to almost exclusively appoint women as head coaches, the Flyers releasing the promising Kristi Harrower to secure Sam Mackinnon.

A multiple championship winner as a player and the NBL's MVP in 2007, Olympian Mackinnon has only coached as an interim at the elite level, first at Brisbane Bullets and also at South East Melbourne Phoenix.

“We are thrilled to welcome Sam to the Flyers,” said Flyers owner Gerry Ryan.

In Adelaide, as predicted here long ago, whoever is running the club now reappointed Aja Parham-Ammar for two years.

Given as the Lightning's interim coach Parham-Ammar's record was 3-13 - original coach Kerryn Mitchell was axed at 3-4! - and she kept Adelaide in its usual seventh place (as had unwanted Scott Ninnis and the axed Nat Hurst before her), the difference this time was Adelaide only missed finishing rock bottom by 1.18 per cent.

Adelaide also has three active, relevant coaches living in the city who have all won championships at the elite national level, but facts such as those clearly do not impact the Lightning's interstate leadership. Seriously, who then appoints an interim who went 3-13 ... for two years?

Meanwhile the league is boasting its many advances across the 2025-26 season, including a 43 per cent explosion in match attendance.

“Our athletes, clubs and fans have driven this growth together, and it’s only the beginning. We’re committed to building an even bigger and better experience for our fans because they are at the heart of everything we do,” said CEO Jennie Sager in the immediate aftermath of a season made even more respectable by Perth's recruitment of 211cm Chinese international drawcard Han Xu.

Sager's role, by the way, is officially redundant as of Tuesday, April 7.

By the way, in case you missed it, Brad Rosen and I had 2026 WNBL Championship MVP, the Rachael Sporn Medal winner, Courtney Woods on our Brad&Boti podcast, still available by clicking this LINK. It's worth a listen. She was fantastic.