Townsville Fire | |
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Leagues | WNBL |
Founded | 2001 |
History | Townsville Fire 2001–present |
Arena | Townsville Entertainment and Convention Centre |
Capacity | 5,257 |
Location | Townsville, Queensland |
Main sponsor | James Cook University |
President | Sam Pascoe |
Head coach | Shannon Seebohm |
Championships | 4 (2015, 2016, 2018, 2023) |
The Townsville Fire are an Australian professional female basketball team competing in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). They are the only female professional sporting team of any discipline in the northern half of Australia. The team was established in 2001 by Townsville Basketball Inc. In 2014, James Cook University became the team's principal partner and naming rights sponsor. [1]
Following the 2010/11 season, the Fire were seemingly doomed, folding under the weight of financial pressures before an 11th hour resurrection. [1] Prior to the 2011/12 season, the team became a not-for-profit, community owned entity. The Fire reached four straight WNBL Grand Finals between 2012/13 and 2015/16, winning back-to-back championships in 2015 and 2016. Their victory in March 2015 was the city's maiden national premiership. [2] The Fire returned to the WNBL Grand Final in 2017/18 and won their third title in four years. [3] The team won their fourth championship in 2023. [4]
Season | Standings | Regular season | Finals | Head coach | ||
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W | L | PCT | ||||
Townsville Fire | ||||||
2001–02 | 8th | 3 | 18 | 14.2 | Did not qualify | David Herbert |
2002–03 | 2nd | 15 | 6 | 71.0 | Lost Semi Final (Canberra, 67–68) Lost Preliminary Final (Sydney, 78–83) | David Herbert |
2003–04 | 5th | 12 | 9 | 57.0 | Did not qualify | David Herbert |
2004–05 | 6th | 7 | 14 | 33.0 | Did not qualify | David Herbert |
2005–06 | 6th | 12 | 9 | 57.0 | Did not qualify | David Herbert |
2006–07 | 6th | 10 | 11 | 48.0 | Did not qualify | David Herbert |
2007–08 | 6th | 10 | 14 | 41.6 | Did not qualify | Peter Buckle |
2008–09 | 3rd | 16 | 6 | 72.7 | Won Semi Final (Adelaide, 91–78) Lost Preliminary Final (Bulleen, 68–79) | Peter Buckle |
2009–10 | 4th | 14 | 8 | 63.6 | Won Elimination Final (Bendigo, 84–73) Lost Semi Final (Canberra, 39–60) | Peter Buckle |
2010–11 | 7th | 10 | 12 | 45.4 | Did not qualify | Peter Buckle |
2011–12 | 4th | 13 | 9 | 59.0 | Won Elimination Final (Sydney, 85–78) Lost Semi Final (Dandenong, 66–77) | Chris Lucas |
2012–13 | 4th | 13 | 11 | 54.1 | Won Semi Final (Adelaide, 60–53) Won Preliminary Final (Dandenong, 78–64) Lost Grand Final (Bendigo, 57–71) | Chris Lucas |
2013–14 | 3rd | 16 | 8 | 66.6 | Won Semi Final (Melbourne, 78–73) Won Preliminary Final (Dandenong, 74–71) Lost Grand Final (Bendigo, 83–94) | Chris Lucas |
2014–15 | 1st | 17 | 5 | 77.7 | Won Semi Final (Bendigo, 82–63) Won Grand Final (Bendigo, 75–65) | Chris Lucas |
2015–16 | 1st | 17 | 7 | 70.8 | Lost Semi Final (Perth, 72–91) Won Preliminary Final (South East Queensland, 91–71) Won Grand Final (Perth, 2–0) | Chris Lucas |
2016–17 | 4th | 14 | 10 | 58.3 | Lost Semi Final (Sydney, 0–2) | Claudia Brassard |
2017–18 | 3rd | 14 | 7 | 66.6 | Won Semi Final (Sydney, 2–0) Won Grand Final (Melbourne, 2–1) | Claudia Brassard |
2018–19 | 6th | 9 | 12 | 42.8 | Did not qualify | Claudia Brassard |
2019–20 | 8th | 5 | 16 | 23.8 | Did not qualify | Shannon Seebohm |
2020-21 | 2nd | 9 | 4 | 69.2 | Lost Semi Final (Southside, 93–106) Won Preliminary Final (Melbourne, 65–62) Lost Grand Final (Southside, 82–99) | Shannon Seebohm |
2021–22 | 6th | 7 | 10 | 41.1 | Did not qualify | Shannon Seebohm |
2022–23 | 1st | 17 | 4 | 80.9 | Won Semi Final (Perth, 2-0) Won Grand Final (Southside, 2-0) | Shannon Seebohm |
2023–24 | 1st | 14 | 7 | 66.6 | Loss Semi Final (Perth, 0-2) | Shannon Seebohm |
Regular season | 274 | 221 | 55.3 | 4 Minor Premierships | ||
Finals | 19 | 15 | 55.8 | 4 WNBL Championships |
Townsville Fire roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Updated: 28 January 2024 |
Townsville Fire head coaches | |||||||||||
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Name | Start | End | Seasons | Regular season | Finals | ||||||
W | L | PCT | G | W | L | PCT | G | ||||
David Herbert | 2001 | 2007 | 6 | 59 | 67 | 46.82 | 126 | 0 | 2 | 0.00 | 2 |
Peter Buckle | 2007 | 2011 | 4 | 50 | 40 | 55.55 | 90 | 2 | 2 | 50.00 | 4 |
Chris Lucas | 2011 | 2016 | 5 | 76 | 40 | 65.51 | 116 | 10 | 4 | 71.42 | 14 |
Claudia Brassard | 2016 | 2019 | 3 | 37 | 29 | 56.06 | 66 | 4 | 3 | 57.14 | 7 |
Shannon Seebohm | 2019 | Current | 4 | 14 | 20 | 41.17 | 34 | 1 | 2 | 33.33 | 3 |
The Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) is the pre-eminent professional women's basketball league in Australia. It is currently composed of eight teams. The league was founded in 1981 and is the women's counterpart to the National Basketball League (NBL). Several WNBL teams have NBL counterparts. The Adelaide Lightning, Melbourne Boomers, Perth Lynx, Southside Flyers and Sydney Uni Flames are the current WNBL teams sharing a market with an NBL team. The current league champions are the Townsville Fire, who won their fourth title in 2023.
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