Perth are coming home like a freight train.

I'm hearing that Shyla Heal will be back in action this round.

Twice.

I'm hearing the same thing Luuuc but with a team not named Sydney Flames!

Heal would be contracted to flames, would smith allow her to go elsewhere. Maybe a deal has been done.

Heal was looking for another team if you believe the rumour mill, after the problems within Sydney's group she may not be welcomed back
Time her father stepped away from basketball, he’s not good for her career

But flames aren’t the only ones with internal issues ,

Shyla Heal back in action this round twice... so Perth or Townsville? It would seem a bit odd for a finals contending team to add somebody like her at the business end of the season - has the potential to upset team chemistry. We shall see, I guess.

I will go out of my way to watch Perth games, love the way they play. Also try to watch all Canberra and Adelaide games. Like the way they play and personnel. Seem like good team chemistry teams with Perth way ahead on talent and playing together.

That would destroy the chemistry of any team let alone any team contending for a title , she might end up in Canberra , they have nothing to lose , I would put my money on her ending up in Europe playing in some under league there.

The Australian has an 'interview' with Shane regarding his absence but its behind a paywall...

i was of the assumption they tried to sack him and he and Shyla had a dummy spit and afterwards he called his lawyer.

I can't see any benefit for Perth to add Shyla at this point in the season, she would be very handy behind Sami but we are on such a roll...

Fear not, Perth aren't going to kill our own chemistry.

Here we go - something more credible:

Twitter Link

Given that Reid and Nicholson have injury concerns and she played the best basketball of her career so far under Seebohm, it makes sense for Heal. But the last time she played under Seebohm, Reid's emergence as a quality starting point guard hadn't happened yet so it will be interesting to see how they're used together. I think Heal is better off playing off the ball atm but it will be a big adjustment for her if that's her role on the Fire.

If anyone knows how best to use Heal it is Seebohm, and if Reid isn't good to go yet then it may well start with her having PG duties anyway.
So this could work out pretty nicely for both the Fire and Heal.
The Flames have looked better since their coaching change too, so it's potentially a win-win-win situation.

Not if you're Perth it isn’t. Do they have Sami back? They need to win as many of their remaining games as they can & they need Fire to lose, & now instead of Fire being two starters down, they’re effectively only one. This seems really unfair at this stage of the season, particularly for Perth.

Confirmed . She has signed.

too many variables

Does Shyla suit up but not play because she doesn't know the system yet?
does she play and the Fire come out like mud because she doesn't know the system and it affects chemistry?

I'll wait for an official announcement

This seems really unfair at this stage of the season, particularly for Perth.

The Australian didn't interview Shane Heal in that article, it’s just reporting his comments on The Basketball Show.

Heal= Townsville source @LachyReid on twitter

Not a fan of transfers in such a short season. Before the half way point, sure.
With a few games to go? Nup.

Well this is untidy. What is stopping clubs poaching players from teams that are already ruled out of finals contention? Player ethics??

Surely she wouldn't be eligible for finals? I would have thought Europe was a better option for her to get away.

I assume the Flames gave her a release because she was on a three year contract with them (currently in year 2). But I don't know the WNBL's rules around this so it would be good to get some clarification on this.

Can't wait to see how the WNBL put a spin on this player transfer in the same season?

The rule is:

"To be eligible to play in finals, a player must have played a minimum of one-third of the regular season for the same WNBL club."

Townsville Fire have 7 of 21 games remaining in their 2022/23 regular season which is exactly one third.

The min amount of games to be eligible for another team is 7. The fire have 7 games left.

Thanks for the clarification on the rule. A third is interesting... I wonder what other leagues have..

NBL is 25%

Most euro leagues are the same, 25 to 30%

The Australian has an 'interview' with Shane regarding his absence but its behind a paywall...

"I'm sure, at some stage, that’ll come out but, right now, you know I can’t say anything,"

“I can’t say anything, my hands are tied.”

“At some stage I’ll be able to talk.”

https://www.foxsports.com.au/basketball/wnbl/wnbl-basketball-news-2023-shyla-heal-set-to-join-townsville-flames-shane-heal-investigation-sydney-flames-latest-updates/news-story/e1723e14f03660d2f7c05b8ab6a2a98d

Smith will make the smartest decision re his business, let me tell you he won't be pushed into any decision he doesn’t like. There obviously has been some decision re his daughter being released so she can play this weekend. I would think he holds all the aces.

Unlikely as Shane still has another year to go on his contract with the Flames.

Smith will make the smartest decision re his business, let me tell you he won't be pushed into any decision he doesn't like.

I was getting the popcorn ready, not likely now as Heals daughter has been released, I'd say Smith has already stitched something together or I can’t see a release. Heal senior was in a no win situation, fight and daughter doesn’t play or stitch up a deal and we all move on.

True.

It looks as if the Heals have outdone the Joyces in terms of creating a family affair shitfest within a team. Well done.

Just catching up with today's news:

- Flames put out a very basic statement confirming they released Heal for the remainder of this season to pursue opportunities elsewhere

- Heal officially added to the Fire team list for tonight. Nicholson is not listed.

Expected a bigger crowd

Smacks of desperation the Shyla signing by Townsville, has the potential to derail their team chemistry by adding Shyla who has clearly demonstrated that she is not a team first player.

Midweek game on the first day of school was always going to be an empty one.

Any danger of the Lynx not jumping at every head fake?

Doesn't look like Perth want to be in the finals atm.

Dam good 3rd qtr for the Lynx

I feared we might be in for a come-down after that road trip.
Very flat tonight for a team within reach of the top 4. Disappointing.

Without Reid and Nicholson.. poor effort from Perth.

Missed opportunity for Perth. They managed to get a lead in the early 4th quarter and then suddenly their defence disappeared and Courtney Woods started channeling Lauren Nicholson. Disappointing end to their impressive run while Townsville continued theirs.

Shyla Heal playing like she's still in Sydney. Hit several outside shots, but struggled with finishing inside and had a couple of silly turnovers due to physical pressure. Leger-Walker looked steadier at the point.

I still find the timing of this Heal fiasco 'interesting'.

If Shane was so toxic, why wait so long?

And as for Shyla, she conveniently had another team to go to, and just in time too. A week later and it wouldn’t have mattered if she’d had gone to Townsville, as she still wouldn’t have qualified for finals.

Perthworld - just read that Wright v Groves judgement. Interesting reading as you said. Imagine if Joey had continued as Copacabana of the Cats, sliding doors moment right there.

Very strange rotation by Petrik. Bibby and Ryan clearly the best two players yesterday but they both barely played over half the game.

Ryan had early foul trouble.

Perthworld - just read that Wright v Groves judgement. Interesting reading as you said. Imagine if Joey had continued as Copacabana of the Cats, sliding doors moment right there.

After Round 12, WNBL attendance is up 25 per cent in comparison to the 2019/20 season.
Crowds are up across the country, for all teams, including multiple sell-out crowds at the Boom Box (Melbourne), and new record crowds at Sydney's Qudos Bank Arena.

I don't really get Adelaide's offence. Borlase barely sees the ball in the second quarter? I think it's impressive she leads Adelaide in scoring despite not having much plays run for her.

Possibly one of the most entertaining games this year and between two teams on long losing streaks. Glad to see Canberra get another win. Talbot and Melbourne were fantastic and Borlase's clutch three at the end of regulation with a defender in her face was excellent. What won it for Canberra was Pizzey, Tonks and Smart stepping up big time. Pizzey was finishing at a level she's never reached before and was a terror on defence and Tonks and Smart hit all their open threes. I'm really glad to see the non-finals teams are finishing the season strongly.

Hands down, the best game Pizzey's ever had. If Smart had made that second free throw, I reckon it would've been over without needing OT.

Great game, love seeing the Caps win for Kristen Veal.

If the Caps win for Veal who do they lose for?

This game at John Cain.. I'm sure there will be court side seats. I wonder if the people who paid for court side seats for the regular season will be sitting in those seats or will they have been given to non paying so called celebrities and friends of friends. I hope southside did the right thing and rewarded those season ticket holders and not just fair weather I want to be seen and feel Important fame whores who don’t show up to the games at the state center.

TBD...…..

LJ playing through injury and having it catch up with her is #iconic

Credit to Gerry Ryan for hiring JCA

Gerry'

Lauren emotional on the bench.

Suspected Achilles injury for LJ. Unfortunate.

Attendance = 7,681
New WNBL record

Go the Melbourne flyers - woo!

Flames with the boilover!

Wow - Heal really does suck as a HC.
Flames have looked way better under gorman with less in just a few games.

Great crowd and a great game. Not a well played game, but it was a tight scrap with an exciting finish. I thought the Flames were gone when they were down by 7 in the final quarter but they rallied well and the Flames' defence was superb in the last couple of minutes. Panousis, Clarke and even Rowe have performed much better in this new regime which shows how much Heal's regime sucked. It's coach Gorman's first win and against the league leaders - a job well done.

As for Southside, Thornton looked off all night and Rocci struggled with turnovers again. They're looking vulnerable and losing LJ will exacerbate this. Their run home won't be easy - they have one game each against the other four finals contenders. The games are mostly at home but they just lost in a home match to Sydney so they definitely can't be complacent.

When Willoughby fouled out in the 3rd I thought it was going to be too big an ask for them to hang on. Really impressive win by them. And yes - addition by subtraction when it comes to their former head coach.

Cole on the bench again for 1 1/2 quarters in favor of Pouch. that bad foul by Pouch, which seems to happen a lot with Pouch late in games to put Sydney in the bonus. Blicavs launching the ball into the cheap seats, Also Thornton didn't need to swipe at the ball either. Not smart down the stretch. Self inflicted wounds.

27y.o Scherf looking like the lock for next big to replace 42y.o Jackson, 34y.o Tolo or 34y.o George.

29y.o Bunton got her shot in 2018 WC as backup C but has not made the extended list.
25y.o Aokuso was supposably next up but can't stay healthy or in shape.

Scherf is the only genuine centre option atm, none in college thriving.
Magbegor and Smith are 4-5s, Garbin 4, couple of 3-4s in Allen, Blicavs and Maley.

Aokuso is one of the most overrated players ever, IMO. Would take Scherf over her any day of the week.

That was another excellent game (especially the final quarter) but what a painful loss for Perth. They never figured out how to defend Steph Reid and I think that was the difference maker in this game. I think Perth need to win out to make the finals and hope Southside or Bendigo take an extra loss or two.

Townsville have had our number for a while now.
Good game of basketball tonight, but in the end it's 2 fails for Perth, and making the playoffs is out of our own destiny and very unlikely.

Sami hasn't been herself since the back injury, and Bibby hasn't been able to recapture her pre-Covid form. On the plus side, Ryan has stepped up in a big way lately.
But when it came down to it, the Fire picked us apart too easily. Full credit to them. And that Hawkins 3 was clutch.

Well that turned out to be a horrible day for the league. Biggest draw card out, and essentially zero playoff drama remaining. Takes a bit of the shine off.

2 tight games going down to the final shot??? Not sure I see that as a disappointment. The last moth have been awesome. This week alone, all games have been within a few possessions. Great for the wnbl and women's basketball.

Like most things you come to watch the draw card but stay because of the product is good and getting better.

We all remember the first round shitfest, look at the product now. Hopefully it’s onwards and upwards.

Even if the playoff teams are all but locked in, there is still plenty of interest in the fight for home court advantage, and yeah, the lower teams being competitive is a major positive.
Teams are giving the fans reasons to keep tuning in.

Bendigo would want Kelsey Griffin to get healthy ASAP though

More teams having live playoff chances is better than fewer teams, and LJ actually getting to play in the big LJ game (not to mention the rest of the season) is obviously better than the reality.

At least the JCA game was a tight contest but everything outside of that was pretty much the worst possible outcome on the day.

What is it with Bendigo and giving up 110 points plus to Victorian finals rivals? This game gave hope to Perth's finals chances - Bendigo have a tough run home (2 x Townsville, Perth, Southside). Losing all of those is entirely possible. That game on the road against Perth is key.

Seeing Cayla George in peak WNBL form at age 33 is very impressive and she can definitely hang in the WNBA if she can shoot like this over there. She only developed a consistent three pointer last season and now she's one of the best shooters in the competition. She's hitting some difficult looks.

Lynx game was also a struggle for me as 9Now went into an infinite loop of ads at 3QT. Be nice if the league could get a broadcast partner that wasn't garbage.