I will not hide the fact that I have an absolute love for this team. I've followed them since they were the Dandenong Rangers, having attended games regularly since 2007. When Jayco Owner Gerry Ryan bought the license from the Dandenong Basketball Association and rebranded them as the Southside Flyers, I admit I had initial skepticism but when I saw them take the court in the new colours, I utterly embraced them and continue to do so which makes this lament, quite extraordinary.
Over the first 4 seasons, Southside has had the sublime mixed with the ridiculous.
In the 2019-20 Season, Southside finished top of the table but then came runners-up losing 2-0 in the Grand Final series against Canberra.
In the 2020 Season which was a condensed bubble season held in Townsville due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Southside put together an unbelievable team that finished top of the table and then won the title after beating Townsville 99-82 in the Grand Final.
The 2021-22 Season saw an unbelievable fall from grace as Southside went from Premiers to 7th and missed the finals mainly due to issues surrounding players getting Covid and having fitness concerns for most of the season. At one stage there was actually a real danger that Southside were going to finish with the wooden spoon before a couple of late wins took them above Sydney to finish a very disappointing 7th.
Following that shocker, Southside reloaded for the 2022-23 Season and there were big changes. A move away from the Dandenong Basketball Stadium to the State Basketball Centre was one but the biggest story was the return of the GOAT of Women's Basketball in Australia, Lauren Jackson. This led to an unbelievable moment where the WNBL was put on the big stage at John Cain Arena in front of a record crowd and despite that result, not to mention the injury to Jackson, was a night that will be remembered by all who attended. Southside would finish 2nd on the table behind Townsville and then battle past the Melbourne Boomers in one of the greatest Game 3's of all time but unfortunately, injuries and fatigue led to a 2-0 Grand Final Series loss against Townsville.
Which brings us to now!
It is currently the off-season with just under 4 months till Round 1 and right now
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*crickets*
Every other team has made moves to strengthen.
For example, the defending champions Townsville Fire have lost Lauren Nicholson but have managed to add Alice Kunek.
The Sydney Flames have built a new-look team containing the likes of Lauren Nicholson, Cayla George, Tess Madgen and Shaneice Swain.
That's just an example and then you look at the Southside Flyers
Sara Blicavs - left for Melbourne Boomers
Monique Conti - left for Melbourne Boomers
Aimie Rocci - left for Melbourne Boomers
Abby Bishop - left for Spain
Holly Griffiths - heading to College
Kayla Thornton - ??? Lauren Jackson - Don't think she's coming back but could be wrong
According to Southside, they will start making announcements once the fixture is released but given EVERY OTHER TEAM has already made a number of moves and strengthened, it feels strongly like we've dropped the ball in a way I've never seen before.
When you watch WNBL Free Agency and see the moves that other teams are making and how they are seeking to improve, you think "Geez, these teams know who they want, what they need and they move quickly to get the deal in place."
In the case of the other teams, it's actually impressive to see.
Meanwhile, the Southside Flyers haven't even gotten out of the starting blocks yet and frankly, it's not good enough.
The WNBL Fixture is due to be released on Friday the 14th of July; memberships come out not long after. What would the point be of marketing memberships when we don't actually have anything to show as yet?
Right now, we only have TWO contracted players! We've been poached ruthlessly by our cross-town rivals the Melbourne Boomers. This is a team that was runners-up in the Grand Final FOUR MONTHS ago and right now, we've been utterly decimated.
How is it that a team can go from runners-up to being so slow out of the blocks that the majority of the other teams have been strengthened while we've been weakened significantly?
How is it that we could go utterly silent like we don't even exist and somehow expect our fans to believe that we can go one better?
It's not good enough. It's not acceptable.
WNBL Free Agency opened TWO months ago. Apparently, we've decided "Oh, we're going to wait till July before we start making announcements." Seriously? I can see the idea of building momentum up for the season in this method but at the same time, the level of unease CANNOT be denied.
This afternoon I was in a three-way conversation on Twitter about the Flyers. All three of us were distinctly uneasy about the lack of signings and the lack of anything coming out of Southside. We were trying to spitball names thinking about who was left but it was impossible to work out what the club was going to do or indeed what the club actually could do.
In the past, we've been organised and we've had something to look forward to. This off-season however has thus far been an absolute disgrace and I sincerely hope that we won't be left lamenting that fact come the opening round in November.
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