RECENTLY, the National Basketball League (NBL)1 announced the introduction of a league based on the eastern seaboard, as they expanded their work across Australia. With the Australian basketball system producing more talent than ever, it was a justified move, as the eastern league joins the NBL1 North, NBL1 South, NBL1 Central and NBL1 West as the competitions spread out across Australia.

The league will be made up of 12 teams from the eastern shores of Australia, with many coming from the Waratah 1 competition. The NBL1 has shown this competition allows teams to take their respective games to the next level, and the teams entering NBL1 East will be looking to do the same. In this series, we introduce you to the 12 sides who will be taking the court in the league’s inaugural season in 2022. Next up on the agenda are the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles.

Sharing their name with a Rugby League side, the Sea Eagles are the leading basketball program in the Manly area, with a strong reputation courtesy of their impressive representative program. With four senior sides and 16 junior sides, the organization is as sound as they come, and will be given an even bigger boost with their entry to the new NBL1 East competition.

The men’s side is one of the most successful in the state, with a rich history of competitiveness and success dating way back to the 1980’s and 1990’s, where they established themselves as one of the area’s most impressive sides.

Prior to the turn of the century, New South Wales’ strongest sides played in the Premier Division competition, and the Sea Eagles were one of the most impressive sides throughout key points. They were consecutive runners-up in 1991 and 1992, but could not convert this into a championship in the next decade.

When the Premier Division was rebranded as the Waratah League in 2001, the landscape of the competition changed, with a new breed of champions coming through. It took them 10 years in the league, but the Sea Eagles finally claimed their first championship in 2010, as they defeated the Bankstown Bruins to get their first taste of success in team history.

They were able to repeat this feat in 2013, when they claimed yet another title by defeating the Illawarra Kittyhawks as they staked their claim as one of the most successful teams of the modern era.

They were runners-up in 2017, losing in heartbreaking fashion to the Norths Bears, but it took just three years to amend this. The Sea Eagles claimed the last official Waratah League championship in 2020, as they returned to their winning ways of the early 2010’s. They were also awarded joint winners of the 2021 championship, with the season cancelled due to the coronavirus restrictions placed across the state.

Entering the NBL1 East league as one of the powerhouse sides in the competition, the men’s side will be looking to maintain this reputation moving forward.

The organisation also hosts a women’s side, that will be looking to recapture their form of the early 90’s where they won consecutive championships in the Women’s Premier League. Since then, the side has been unable to reach these heights, but were the runners-up in 2011, and will be eager to add another title to their already impressive history.

Picture credit: Manly Warringah Sea Eagles