Joondalup Wolves

Basketball team in Joondalup, Western Australia

Joondalup Wolves

Leagues| NBL1 West
Founded| 1989
History| Wanneroo Wolves
1989–2013
Joondalup Wolves
2014–present
Arena| HBF Arena
Location| Joondalup, Western Australia
Team colors| Green & white
CEO| Andrew Summerville
President| Ryan Hunter
Vice-president(s)| Glen Simpson
General manager| Stephen de Wet
Head coach| M: David Morrell
W: Jesse Pence
Championships| 7
Website| WolfpackBasketball.com.au

Joondalup Wolves is an NBL1 West club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 West. The club is a division of Wanneroo Basketball Association (WBA), the major administrative basketball organisation in the Joondalup/Wanneroo region. The Wolves play their home games at HBF Arena.

## Club history

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### Background

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In 1982, Wanneroo District Basketball Association was established.[1] In 1983, the association moved into Joondalup Basketball Stadium.[2] Being one of the fastest growing associations in Western Australia in their early years, 1985 marked the inaugural year of the Wolves' acceptance into District basketball.[3] In just their second season, both the A Grade Men and A Grade Women won 1986 State League championships.[4]

### SBL and NBL1 West

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1989 saw the formation of the State Basketball League (SBL) with both a men's and women's competition. Wanneroo, trading as the Wolves, entered a team into both the Men's SBL and Women's SBL. In 1990, the women's team reached their first WSBL Grand Final, where they defeated the Stirling Senators 70–67 to win the championship.[5] In 1992, the women's team won their second championship with a 74–64 victory over the Swan City Mustangs in the grand final.[5] In 1993, the men's team won their first championship with a 109–91 victory over Cockburn Cougars in the grand final.[6] In 1995, the women's team won the minor premiership and reached the WSBL Grand Final, where they defeated the Mustangs 2–0 in the best-of-three series to win their third championship.[5] In 1997, the women's team reached their fourth WSBL Grand Final, where they were defeated 62–52 by the Willetton Tigers.[5]

In 2011, the men's team reached the grand final,[7][8] where they defeated the Perry Lakes Hawks 88–83 to claim their second championship.[9] In 2012, both teams won the minor premiership but both failed to reach the grand final.[5][10] In 2013, both teams made grand final appearances,[11] with the women defeating the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 72–47 to claim their fourth championship while the men were defeated 77–74 by the Lakeside Lightning.[5][10]

In 2014, Wanneroo Basketball Association changed their trading name from Wanneroo Wolves to Joondalup Wolves.[12]

In 2015, the men's team claimed their second minor premiership and reached the MSBL Grand Final, where they won their third championship with a 105–75 win over the South West Slammers.[13][14] In 2016, the women's team claimed their third minor premiership with a 19–3 record before going on to lose 60–58 to the Willetton Tigers in the WSBL Grand Final.[5] The men's team meanwhile made their way through to the MSBL Grand Final, where they were defeated 96–84 by the Cockburn Cougars.[10] In 2017, the men's team reached their third straight MSBL Grand Final, where they lost 103–70 to the Perth Redbacks.[10] In 2018, the Wolves moved into HBF Arena after playing out of Joondalup Basketball Stadium for more than three decades.[15] The men's team went on to reach their fourth straight MSBL Grand Final,[16] where they lost 94–87 to the Perry Lakes Hawks.[17] In 2019, the men's team claimed their third minor premiership and reached their fifth straight MSBL Grand Final,[10] where they lost 92–80 to the Geraldton Buccaneers.[18]

In 2020, the women's team finished as minor premiers in the amateur-based West Coast Classic.[19] They reached the grand final, where they defeated the Perry Lakes Hawks 72–54.[20]

In 2021, the SBL was rebranded as NBL1 West.[21][22] The Wolves women reached the grand final in the inaugural NBL1 West season, where they were defeated by the Willetton Tigers 65–54.[23][24] In 2023, the men reached the NBL1 West grand final,[25] where they lost 86–80 to the Geraldton Buccaneers.[26]

## Notable club figures

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In August 2015, Wanneroo Basketball Association announced the retirements of Life Members and longstanding employees Van and Mary Kailis. Having commenced work with WBA in 1986, Van and Mary Kailis were considered the forefront of basketball's growth in the Wanneroo area, building one of the most successful and professionally operated basketball associations in Western Australia. During his time with the Wolves, Van won WSBL Coach of the Year in 1990, guided the women to championships in 1986 and 1990, and worked as an assistant coach with the Wolves men.[27]

## Accolades

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The Wolves' wall-mounted championship banners at HBF Arena. The seven SBL championships are featured alongside the Wolves' 1986 "State League" premiership double.

Women

* Championships: 4 (1990, 1992, 1995, 2013)
* Grand Final appearances: 7 (1990, 1992, 1995, 1997, 2013, 2016, 2021)
* Minor premierships: 3 (1995, 2012, 2016)

Men

* Championships: 3 (1993, 2011, 2015)
* Grand Final appearances: 9 (1993, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2023)
* Minor premierships: 3 (2012, 2015, 2019)

## References

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1. ^ "CITY OF JOONDALUP – MINUTES OF SPECIAL MEETING OF ELECTORS – 06.03.03" (PDF). City of Joondalup. p. 2. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
2. ^ "Briefing Notes for the Relocation of the Wanneroo Basketball Association's Operations" (PDF). City of Joondalup. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
3. ^ Peters District Fixtures 1985. Western Australian Basketball Federation (Incorporated). 1985. p. 9.
4. ^ "Past Players Day | Celebrating Wolves Heritage". WolfpackBasketball.com.au. Archived from the original on 2 January 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
5. ^ a b c d e f g "WSBL History". SBL.asn.au. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020.
6. ^ Donaldson, Mark (27 July 2017). "SBL: ode to suburban stadiums as Joondalup Wolves farewell Joondalup Basketball Stadium". Joondalup Times. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
7. ^ Kagi, Jacob (25 August 2011). "Men's SBL grand final preview - Wanneroo v Perry Lakes". PerthNow.com.au. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
8. ^ Hope, Shayne (26 August 2011). "SBL grand final set for sell-out". TheWest.com.au. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
9. ^ "Wanneroo take out SBL title". TheWest.com.au. 28 August 2011. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
10. ^ a b c d e "MSBL History". SBL.asn.au. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020.
11. ^ Donaldson, Mark (27 August 2013). "Wolves hungry for finals feed". CommunityNews.com.au. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
12. ^ Pike, Chris (31 July 2014). "A look at the men's SBL teams not in playoffs". SBL.asn.au. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
13. ^ Pike, Chris (30 August 2015). "Wolves too good for Slammers to win third men's SBL championship". SBL.asn.au. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
14. ^ Pike, Chris (3 September 2015). "Wolves' depth the key to dominant 2015 championship win". SBL.asn.au. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
15. ^ Donaldson, Mark (27 July 2017). "SBL: ode to suburban stadiums as Joondalup Wolves farewell Joondalup Basketball Stadium". Joondalup Times. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
16. ^ Donaldson, Mark (30 August 2018). "SBL: Joondalup Wolves success akin to WAFL club Subiaco". Joondalup Times. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
17. ^ Donaldson, Mark (1 September 2018). "SBL grand final: Perry Lakes Hawks upset Joondalup Wolves". Western Suburbs Weekly. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
18. ^ "GRAND FINAL SPOTLIGHT | BUCCS END TITLE DROUGHT IN STYLE". SBL.asn.au. 31 August 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
19. ^ "SEMI-FINAL WOMEN'S WEST COAST CLASSIC PREVIEW". SBL.asn.au. 25 September 2020. Archived from the original on 25 September 2020.
20. ^ "POWERFUL LADY WOLFPACK CLAIM WEST COAST CLASSIC TITLE". SBL.asn.au. 26 September 2020. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020.
21. ^ "NBL1 West to tip off in 2021". NBL1.com.au. 30 October 2020. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
22. ^ Garlepp, Josh (30 October 2020). "State Basketball League to become NBL 1 West as WA clubs agree to unite under national second-tier banner". TheWest.com.au. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
23. ^ "Women's Grand Final Preview: Willetton Tigers v Joondalup Wolves". NBL1.com.au. 1 September 2021. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
24. ^ "Tigers overpower Wolves in Grand Final to savour". NBL1.com.au. 3 September 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
25. ^ Pike, Chris (6 August 2023). "NBL1 West Recap | Preliminary Finals". NBL1.com.au. Archived from the original on 6 August 2023. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
26. ^ Pike, Chris (12 August 2023). "NBL1 West Recap | Men's Grand Final 2023". NBL1.com.au. Archived from the original on 12 August 2023. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
27. ^ "End of an Era for the Wolfpack Family". SBL.asn.au. 14 August 2015. Retrieved 29 August 2015.

## External links

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* WBA's official website

* v
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NBL1 West

* Basketball Western Australia

Current clubs|

* Cockburn Cougars
* East Perth Eagles
* Geraldton Buccaneers (Men)
* Goldfields Giants
* Joondalup Wolves
* Kalamunda Eastern Suns
* Lakeside Lightning
* Mandurah Magic
* Perry Lakes Hawks
* Perth Redbacks
* Rockingham Flames
* South West Slammers
* Warwick Senators
* Willetton Tigers

Former clubs|

* Rainbow Coast Raiders
* Swan City Mustangs
* WAIS Warriors

Others|

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