THE WOMEN’S National Basketball League (WNBL) Grand Final series begins tonight, with the Townsville Fire set to host the Perth Lynx at the Townsville Entertainment Centre for a massive game one of the decisive series.

The Fire and the Lynx are the final two teams standing following an entertaining 2025/26 season, and will undoubtedly deliver an entertaining conclusion to their respective campaigns. There is plenty of history between the two sides over the past few years, facing off in postseason matchups in the past three finals series.

Now, the stakes will be as high as ever with the championship on the line, and with plenty of stars on both sides of the court, there is every chance it ends up being a series that goes the full three games in the coming week.

Townsville Fire vs. Perth Lynx

Townsville Entertainment Centre
Thursday, February 26 @ 7:00pm

The Fire were pushed by the Southside Melbourne Flyers in their recent semi-final series, with the underdogs pushing Townsville to three games, before last year’s grand finalists got the job done in Queensland in the decider on Sunday. The Fire are looking to make amends for their Grand Final defeat last season, and showed that they were still good enough to withstand a strong challenge.

Now they will turn their attention to the Lynx, who have been a familiar foe for Townsville in semi-final encounters over recent seasons. Perth was too good for the reigning champion Bendigo Spirit in the series matchup between the teams last week, advancing in two games to cap off a strong campaign and give itself a great chance of winning it all.

The rivalry began in 2023, when the Fire eliminated their opponents from out west, before Perth returned the favour in 2024, while Townsville got the better of the Lynx in the penultimate series in 2025. Both sides have dealt their blows over recent years, and will play off for the ultimate prize over the coming days.

It seems fitting that the two sides will lock horns in the final series of the 2025/26 season, having made up the top two in the standings at the conclusion of the home and away portion of the fixture. The Fire won four of their first five games to start the season, and were the benchmark throughout the first half of the fixture, before Perth built nicely to close out the year.

It will be a battle between Townsville’s depth and immense level of contributors, and Perth’s elite top-end talent, with both proving winning methods of late. The Fire simply have so many players who can hit the scoreboard, and can give minutes to as many as 10 players, which means their starters will not be as fatigued throughout the match. They do not rely too heavily on one player and have multiple starters who can break the game open.

Their depth is highlighted by boasting the WNBL’s Sixth Woman of the Year in Lucy Olsen, who has given the Fire a massive spark off the bench offensively. Her ability to come into the game and steady the ship for Townsville has helped the team out of a bind on several occasions, making Olsen one of the biggest wildcards heading into the series.

On the other hand, the Lynx have a strong crop of stars, headlined by four selections across the All-WNBL First and Second teams for the 2025/26 season. Leading the way in the semi-final series was superstar centre Han Xu, who dominated the paint and made the most of her size. Standing an immense six-foot-11, she often proves a handful for the opposition, and looms as one of the biggest factors in the Grand Final.

Joining her in the frontcourt is Olympian Anneli Maley, who has built one of the most impressive resumes in the entire competition. Since combining with Xu, the Lynx have gone 15-2 and turned into the best team in the WNBL, so look for the pair to own the battle in the low block, which has been Perth’s biggest strength since the Chinese star has joined the team.

The 2025/26 WNBL Grand Final series is shaping up as a modern classic to wrap up the biggest season in competition history, and in a battle between depth and star power, either side could emerge winners in the coming week.