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Special - The Female Universe: The influx of talent and reshaping of several WNBL teams strongly suggests 2014-15 is the season the league should adopt a best-of-three Grand Final series.

Players and coaches have been advocating for it for years now and even Opals coach Brendan Joyce is a strong supporter of the long overdue concept.

Without revisiting it too much, the past two Grand Finals between Bendigo and Townsville were precisely the type which would have sold their venues out several times over.

Bendigo had the “full house” sign up both last year and this year for the “one-and-done” Grand Final.

Come on now. Does anyone think Townsville would not have attracted sell-outs in both years for a Game 2 at the Fire Station?

And if either series had gone to a decider, does anyone seriously believe Bendigo would not again have sold out its home venue?

The economic value for the two towns should not be under-estimated, let alone what it would have done for basketball, women’s basketball and women’s sport.

ABC-TV would have relished full, loud stands of rabid supporters.

Basketball Australia, administrating the WNBL, surely can see the value in a best-of-three Championship, especially now “best-ofs” have become synonymous with basketball.

Let’s face it. BA is staging the Preseason Spring Shield Tournament in Bendigo so clearly it recognises how supportive the region is for the sport and the league.

It would be no different in Townsville, Canberra or Melbourne and when Adelaide hosted Melbourne Tigers in 1995 after they also met in the 1994 Grand Final, 7,100 rocked along to the Clipsal Powerhouse.

A best-of-three Grand Final, if it still isn’t on the BA agenda, needs to be.

And soon.

(By the way BA. If as a parent body you can so callously remove the Logan Thunder from the WNBL, then perhaps, some months later, you also could get around to removing their club logo at the league’s official website from among those of the competing teams?)

THE WNBL clubs continue to stock up on talent, making this one of the busiest and most fruitful off-seasons this century.

Adelaide Lightning, for example, have had a serious clean-out, although, like most of the rosters, their team is still a few players shy of finalised.

Bendigo’s addition of Belinda Snell is exciting, as is Canberra’s incoming troupe of Lauren Jackson, Abby Bishop, Stephanie Talbot and Hanna Zavecz.

My (e)mail also has Kristen Veal running the point at the Caps.

Getting way more excited about Sydney’s prospects now too, with lifetime-contract-coach Karen Dalton’s shock retirement to take up her new role as Flames general manager.

(Unlike her previous coaching deal, the GM position apparently has an out clause for the club in 2045.)

Leilani Mitchell is a big pick-up now Kathleen MacLeod and Monica Wright are back in the green-and-gold of Dandenong and basking in Lizzie Cambage’s shadow.

(Wonder what the odds are on who gives Lizzie the assist for her first WNBL slam dunk?)

After an impressive US college career, Kate Oliver is another hot one for the Flames whose delay in revealing the club’s new coach suggests he/she might be overseas currently?

Loving the look of Guy Molloy’s young Boomers squad too. They will be exciting.

Townsville has locked away its group ahead of everyone and it does look fairly imposing.

And hasn’t West Coast been busy? (With apologies to Bruce McAvaney, the master of the rhetorical question.)

Clearly the club has had an injection of funding from somewhere with imports Cassie Harberts and Lindsey Moore joining returning MVP Toni Edmondson, plus Sarah Graham, Louella Tomlinson and Doccy Smith.

As best I can make out just now, this is how the clubs are shaping up, with quality free agents such as Jenni Screen and Renae Camino still out there.

ADELAIDE LIGHTNING: Alex Bunton, Jessica Foley, Laura Hodges, Emma Langford, Angela Marino, Carley Mijovic, Natalie Novosel, Kathleen Scheer. Coach: Jeremi Moule

BENDIGO SPIRIT: Sara Blicavs, Kelsey Griffin, Kristi Harrower, Gabe Richards, Belinda Snell, Kelly Wilson. Coach: Bernie Harrower

UNIVERSITY of CANBERRA CAPITALS: Abby Bishop, Nicole Hunt, Lauren Jackson, Stephanie Talbot, Kristen Veal, Carly Wilson, Hanna Zavecz. Coach: Carrie Graf

DANDENONG RANGERS: Elizabeth Cambage, Aimie Clydesdale, Tegan Cunningham, Alice Kunek, Kathleen MacLeod, Tenaya Phillips, Monica Wright. Coach: Mark Wright.

MELBOURNE BOOMERS: Rebecca Allen, Natalie Burton, Rebecca Cole, Shanae Greaves, Rachel Jarry, Tess Madgen, Rosie Moult, Olivia Thompson, Amelia Todhunter. Coach: Guy Molloy.

SYDNEY UNI FLAMES: Rohanee Cox, Katie-Rae Ebzery, Lauren King, Leilani Mitchell, Kate Oliver, Casey Samuels, Tahlia Tupaea. Coach: The Big Mystery

TOWNSVILLE FIRE: Suzy Batkovic, Micaela Cocks, Stephanie Cumming, Rosie Fadljevic, Cayla Francis, Kate Gaze, Jillian Harmon, Rachael McCully, Mia Newley, Alex Wilson. Coach: Chris Lucas.

WEST COAST WAVES: Shani Amos, Toni Edmondson, Darcee Garbin, Jessie Edwards, Kate Fielding, Sarah Graham, Cassie Harberts, Lindsey Moore, Mikayla Pirini, Deanna Smith, Louella Tomlinson. Coach: Kennedy Kereama

ACROSS the Pacific, Sandy Brondello’s Phoenix Mercury lead the WNBA’s Western Conference on a 9-3 record ahead of Minnesota Lynx and on a three-game winning streak.

In their recent 91-80 win over Tulsa Shock, Brittney Griner went off for a career-high 28 points, with Penny Taylor finding her range for 19 points.

Taylor scored at 67 per cent and accompanied her continued form recovery with five defensive boards and three assists.

Erin Phillips played 15:46 off the bench.

Penny, MVP of the 2006 World Championship where the Opals claimed Gold, had 10 points in the first quarter.

“Well, it's the Penny Taylor of old,” Brondello said.

“It's vintage Penny Taylor. I mean, that's what she does.

“She's getting her legs under her basically, she's feeling good.

“Any day she could do that, so I was really happy for her.”

Probably only Opals coach Brendan Joyce is the one person happier than Brondello.

TOMORROW: I can feel a Draft.