THE WNBL has wrapped up for another year, and there was plenty of excitement across the course of the 2023 season.

It was a different looking landscape as the campaign rolled on, with contenders rising and falling in a tense finish to the home and away fixture. Ultimately, the strongest side in the Townsville Fire claimed the grand prize, but other teams showed plenty of promise and delivered highlights of their own.

As we did with the NBL over the past few weeks, Rookie Me Central will be taking a look at how each side fared in the 2022/23 season, with mixed results across the eight teams.

The Perth Lynx stormed home into fourth spot thanks to a dominant final 14 games of the season, proving one of the form teams of the competition in the second half of the fixture.

The first seven games of the season were less than ideal for the team out west, who had a record of 2-5 in that time as the team simply could not get everything to click. It made things a bit trickier in the back half of the season, but it was not an issue in the end.

The Lynx delivered a record of 11-3 in their final 14 games, and managed to get the on-court cohesion and chemistry that eluded them in the start of the fixture. Their poor start to the year meant they faced a number of crucial games to lock in their spot in the top-four, but did not shy away and ended up performing in nearly every big game.

Perth ended up securing fourth spot in the standings and a place in the finals in the process, where it came up against the Fire. Although they were unable to get a game against the eventual champions, the Lynx showed plenty of fight and character in the series.

Perth Lynx

2022/23 record – 13 wins, eight losses

The Lynx looked a different side in the final two-thirds of the season, turning things around after a slow start to emerge as a dark horse for the title, and although it did not come to fruition, the improvement was still as clear as ever.

MVP – Sami Whitcomb

Despite being 34 years of age, Whitcomb has continued to improve her game, and did so again for the Lynx in 2022/23. Her scoring capability has always been well-known around the competition, but she adapted to take a heavier playmaking load to try and help her side get going as an offensive unit. To top it all off, Whitcomb takes the opposition’s best guard on a weekly basis, doing just about everything for the Lynx. Another strong season saw her earn a spot on the All-WNBL first team.

Next season

The Lynx simply have to look at their final 14 games of the regular season to see what a winning formula looks like. At the top of the list in terms of re-signings after the season ended is Whitcomb, who is the most important piece of the team and has been for the past couple of years. Also high in importance is retaining the services of Lauren Scherf, who has also shown consistent improvement in a Perth jersey. The team will also be eager to add another guard to take some of the pressure off Whitcomb in the backcourt.