Southside Melbourne Flyers

"Dandenong Rangers" redirects here. For the NBL1 South club, see Dandenong Rangers (NBL1 South).

Southside Melbourne Flyers
Leagues	WNBL
Founded	1992
History	Dandenong Rangers 1992–2019 Southside Flyers 2019–2025 Southside Melbourne Flyers 2025–present
Arena	State Basketball Centre
Capacity	3,200
Location	Wantirna South, Victoria, Australia
Team colors	Aqua, Navy, White
Main sponsor	Jayco
General manager	Ian Coutts
Head coach	Kristi Harrower
Ownership	Gerry Ryan
Championships	5 (2004, 2005, 2012, 2020, 2024)
Website	wnbl.basketball/southside

The Southside Melbourne 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 Melbourne Flyers.

The team was founded as the Dandenong Rangers in 1992. In 2019, the team was rebranded as the Southside Flyers. In 2025, the team rebranded to the Southside Melbourne 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, losing 58–54 in the grand final to the Perth Breakers. ^[2] 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. ^[3]

In July 2019, the Dandenong Rangers franchise was purchased from DBA by long-time sponsor Gerry Ryan and rebranded to the Southside Flyers. ^{[4] [5]} The team continued to play at Dandenong Stadium until moving to the State Basketball Centre in 2022. ^[6]

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. ^[3] The Flyers won their second WNBL championship and the franchise's fifth in the 2023–24 season. ^[7] 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. ^{[8] [9]}

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. ^[10]

In July 2025, the team was rebranded as the Southside Melbourne Flyers. ^{[11] [12]}

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) 25 – (2000-04-05)5 April 2000 G 1 Cole, Rebecca  (C) 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) 33 – (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) 23 – (2002-08-04)4 August 2002 G 7 Loughridge, Dallas 1.67 m (5 ft 6 in) 21 – (2004-01-23)23 January 2004 G 9 Rocci, Maddison 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in) 27 – (1998-06-01)1 June 1998 F 10 Kunek, Alice 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) 34 – (1991-01-06)6 January 1991 C 11 Ernst, Carley 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 31 – (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) 26 – (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 Kristi Harrower Assistant coach(es) Hannah Lowe Kerryn Mitchell Belinda Snell Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Development player (I) Import player Injured Roster Updated: 28 January 2024

Former players

• Jessica Bibby
• Stephanie Blicavs
• Liz Cambage
• Aimie Clydesdale
• Alison Downie
• Jacinta Kennedy
• Kathleen MacLeod
• Anneli Maley
• Emily McInerny
• Leilani Mitchell
• Jenna O'Hea
• Laia Palau
• Kayla Pedersen
• Cappie Pondexter
• Stephanie Reid
• Mercedes Russell
• Penny Taylor
• Samantha Thornton
• Louella Tomlinson
• Carly Wilson

References

1. "History". wnbl.basketball/southside. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
2. "Dandenong Rangers celebrate a whirlwind 25 years in the WNBL". heraldsun.com.au. 11 January 2017. Retrieved 9 February 2025.
3. "2023–24 Media Guide" (PDF). wnbl.basketball. p. 62. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
4. "SOUTHSIDE FLYERS – A NEW LOOK TEAM IN THE WNBL". wnbl.com.au. 31 July 2019. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
5. Ward, Roy (2 July 2019). "Gerry Ryan to take over Dandenong WNBL licence". The Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 9 March 2024.
6. "FLYERS LAND IN BASKETBALL HEARTLAND". wnbl.basketball/southside. 18 July 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
7. "WNBL24 SOUTHSIDE FLYERS CYGNETT WNBL CHAMPIONS". wnbl.basketball. 17 March 2024. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
8. O'Donoghue, Craig (17 March 2024). "WNBL grand final: Perth Lynx smashed in game three by Southside as championship dream gets shattered". The West Australian . Archived from the original on 17 March 2024.
9. O'Donoghue, Craig (17 March 2024). "WNBL grand final: Perth Lynx coach Ryan Petrik admits inexperience was costly against Southside in decider". The West Australian . Archived from the original on 17 March 2024.
10. Randall, Michael (5 October 2024). "Tasmania Jackjumpers star Will Magnay learns verdict after NBL Game Review Panel investigates 'choke' in Cairns Taipans game". codesports.com.au. Archived from the original on 6 October 2024.
11. Flyers, Southside (24 July 2025). "FLYERS - MELBOURNE'S TEAM IN THE WNBL". southsideflyers.wnbl.com.au. Retrieved 17 August 2025.
12. "Take Off: Flyers take flight as Melbourne's WNBL flagship | Basketball.com.au". www.basketball.com.au. 24 July 2025. Retrieved 17 August 2025.

External links

• Sports portal
• Australia portal

• Official WNBL club website