AFTER claiming the ultimate prize in the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) last time around, Rebecca Cole and the Southside Flyers will be looking to pull off the elusive back-to-back championships when the fixture kicks off this week.

The Flyers stood up when it mattered most, proving the best team in the postseason and defeating the Perth Lynx in the finals. Southside snagged its fifth title in the WNBL, and maintained its status as one of the powerhouse clubs of the competition.

Coming into the 2024/25 season, the Flyers will now be the hunted, and speaking to Rookie Me Central at the WNBL season launch, Cole says the Flyers are ready for the challenge.

“Obviously you want to soak in that championship and it is amazing,” she said. “But it is a new season so you have to work hard. Championships are so hard to get, and you have to work so hard to get them. We do have that confidence in the back of our heads knowing ‘Hey, we can do this’.

“We know everyone is chasing us. Every side is going to bring their A-Game so you have to come with your best foot forward.”

Cole has enjoyed plenty of success in 2024, also claiming the NBL1 South Women’s title and the National Championships with the Waverley Falcons, and says that was a truly special chapter of her decorated career.

“It was so great to win with the Waverley Falcons, and to do it with one of my best mates in Carley Ernst who also plays with me at the Flyers was special,” she said.

The WNBL season kicks off in just two days, and after a long off-season, Southside is shaping up for another tough campaign given the level of competition. However, Cole says the team is looking strong in their final preparations for the fixture.

“We’re shaping up really good,” she said. “Preseason has been quick but it’s been great. We’re hustling and grinding every day. We’re growing, we have our imports in finally. Are we going to be amazing week one? No, but our chemistry is finally getting there.

“We have really hard workers in our team and its a long season, you want to peak at the right time. I think you’re going to see some really special moments from the Flyers this season.”

Speaking on the evenness of the competition, Cole says she is excited to see how tight the race for a spot in the finals will be in the coming months.

“I think it is going to be really interesting,” she said. “You have a few of those core players that have gone to Europe. Now you still have those vets who have experience here, but the younger generation is coming through.

“A lot of teams are filled with young guns, and its going to be a really exciting season. I am not sure what is going to happen, but I can tell you the Flyers are going to bring it.”

When it comes to mindset, the reigning champions of any competition may run into the pitfall of losing motivation, but Cole says the team is coming into the season with a strong mentality.

“We obviously want to win a championship, but we have to look at the big picture,” Cole said. “We want to make finals, but if we don’t win a championship, we have to find the positives as well. The negatives do happen, but our first goal is to make finals, so we will see it as a success given the changes that have happened within the Flyers.”

The Flyers are still loaded with talent for the upcoming season, and Cole says there is potentially an exciting story to come out of the Flyers.

“I am excited to see what Dallas Loughridge will do this season,” she said. “Her first season in the WNBL, she tore her ACL, and last year was sort of her comeback season. She has been working her butt off in the offseason, and the more time she will get on the court will definitely make her someone to watch.”

Roster

Alice Kunek, Carley Ernst, Dallas Loughridge, Maddison Rocci, Manuela Puoch, Mikayla Vaughn, Naz Hillmon, Nikita Young, Paige Burrows, Rebecca Cole, Tayah Burrows, Akiene-Tera Reed