IT was a season to remember in the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) for the 2023/24 fixture, with an extremely tight season capped off with a marvellous finals series.

For a large portion of the season, most of the teams in the competition were in the hunt for a top-four spot. In fact it came down to the final round to determine which sides would advance to the postseason in a thrilling finish.

In the end, the Southside Flyers emerged champions after defeating the valiant Perth Lynx 2-1 in the Grand Final series.

With the season now wrapped, Rookie Me Central will be dissecting the performance of each club in the 2023/24 fixture, putting all 10 teams under the microscope now that the dust has settled.

There are not many teams remaining, so today we will be taking a look at the Melbourne Boomers, who fell in a hard-fought semi-final series.

Melbourne Boomers

2023/24 record – 12-9
Ladder position – 3rd
Postseason result – Lost in game three of semi-final series

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Boomers were always in the race for the championship throughout the 2023/24 season, staying around the top of the table for much of the fixture. With some strong performances from their imports and a handful of experienced players at WNBL level, Melbourne delivered a solid home-and-away campaign.

The Boomers locked in third spot at fixture’s end, setting up a matchup against their cross-town rivals in the Flyers. After falling by four points in game one, the Boomers bounced back to take a massive win in game two and force a decider. However, they lost that match by 16, ending their season earlier than they would have liked.

MVP – Jordin Canada

There was going to be no one else, given Canada won the league award for the Most Valuable Player at the WNBL awards. The import guard was fantastic over the course of the entire fixture, and was the glue that kept the team rolling when many others went down with injury. She played all 21 games for Melbourne, and posted averages of 15.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, 7.6 assists and 3.0 steals per game, doing a bit of everything and orchestrating the offence to perfection.

THE COACH – Chris Lucas

In his second season at the helm of the Boomers, Lucas did an impressive job given the amount of injuries the team copped. He got them to a semi-final series, and made the necessary adjustments after a tough loss in game one to force a third contest. Although the team could not make the grand final, Lucas tried to get things going for Melbourne in the decider, even when it was staring down the barrel of a massive deficit.

WHERE TO?

Canada led the way for Melbourne and the team will be eager to ensure she returns for another campaign. If the Boomers can get her on the court when the season kicks off later this year, it will be massive for their championship chances. Keeping the local core will also be important, as will the progression of the team’s development players in Paige Burrows, Lily Carmody and Lilly Rotunno. The Boomers were not far off the ultimate prize, and will be in the conversation again next year.