Townsville Fire

Townsville Fire
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 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. In 2014, James Cook University became the team's principal partner and naming rights sponsor.

The Fire are four-time WNBL champions, winning in 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2023.

History

In May 2001, Townsville Basketball were granted a WNBL license for the 2001–02 season. ^[1]

In 2011, the Fire were close to folding under the weight of financial pressures. ^[2]

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. ^[3] The Fire returned to the WNBL Grand Final in 2017–18 and won their third title in four years. ^[4] The team won their fourth championship in 2023. ^[5]

Season-by-season records

Season	Standings	Regular season			Finals	Head coach
		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

Players

Current roster

2024-25 Townsville Fire roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. F 1 Lok, Nyaduoth 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) 24 – (2000-04-24)24 April 2000 G 2 Shiels, Saffron 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 19 – (2006-01-18)18 January 2006 G 7 Woods, Courtney 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 27 – (1997-03-24)24 March 1997 F 9 Froling, Alicia 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 29 – (1996-01-31)31 January 1996 F 11 Coffey, Nia 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 29 – (1995-06-11)11 June 1995 F 12 Fowler, Alex 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 23 – (2001-07-21)21 July 2001 F 14 Carey, Majella 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) 24 – (2000-04-06)6 April 2000 F 15 Cox, Lauren 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 26 – (1998-04-20)20 April 1998 G 23 Ellis, Abbey 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in) 24 – (2001-01-22)22 January 2001 G 24 Mcdowell-White, Jessica 1.67 m (5 ft 6 in) 24 – (2000-08-23)23 August 2000 F 30 Cochrane, Lucy 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 24 – (2000-09-18)18 September 2000 G 33 Mansfield, Lauren 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) 35 – (1989-12-18)18 December 1989	Head coach Shannon Seebohm Assistant coach(es) Marcus Wong Hayden Zasadny Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Development player (I) Import player Injured Roster Updated: 28 January 2024

Former players

• Gina Stevens, (2002–2004)
• Jodie Datson, (2002–05)
• Natalie Porter, (2004–2006)
• Rachael McCully, (2004–2007, 2008–2015)
• Rohanee Cox, (2005–2010)
• Jennifer Crouse, (2005–2009)
• Kelly Wilson, (2005–2008, 2016–2018)
• Aneka Kerr, (2008–2010)
• Jo Hill, (2009–2011)
• Nadeen Payne, (2010–2012)
• Shanavia Dowdell, (2011–2012)
• Jessica Foley, (2011–2013)
• Suzy Batkovic, (2013–2019)
• Karlie Samuelson, (2022-2023)

Coaches and staff

Owners

• Townsville Fire Limited (2011–present)

Head coaches

Townsville Fire head coaches
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

References

1. "Townsville wins WNBL team". NBL.com.au. 14 May 2001. Archived from the original on 3 June 2001. Retrieved 15 February 2025.
2. "Uni stoking Fire in sponsorship deal". Townsville Bulletin. 13 August 2014.
3. Side earn top city honours
4. WNBL: Townsville Fire claim third title in four years with win over Melbourne Boomers
5. "JCU TOWNSVILLE FIRE CROWNED WNBL CHAMPIONS". wnbl.basketball. 22 March 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.

External links

• Townsville Fire official website