How coach Guy Molloy rebuilt the Sydney Flames, from the ground up

Off-court controversies, poor results and the longest list of injuries that captain Cayla George has ever seen. Guy Molloy reveals how he started the rebuild of the once proud Sydney Flames from the ground up.

The Sydney Flames have been missing in action, but not anymore.

Coach Guy Molloy was handed the task last season of rebuilding a once proud franchise which considered success simply part of its DNA.

After all, this is the Sydney Flames that won four WNBL titles (1993, 1997, 2001 and 2018) and had been runner-up nine times.

But a series of off-court controversies and a drop-off in results on the hardwood left Molloy with the challenge of returning the Flames to contention for the first time since the 2017 season.

Fast forward to today and the Sydney-siders have fought back to a place in the top four and a finals berth.

And for Molloy there were three key pillars to the Flames rebuild - cohesion, stability and community recognition.

Guy Molloy was tasked with the Flames rebuild. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

“A huge part of the coaching philosophy I have is to try and create cohesion and build on a stable core of players over a period of time,” Molloy told Code Sports.

“And that was one of the real platform things I put toward the Flames ownership about how to recreate the club and drive it toward success.

“It (rebuilding) makes the job both easier and harder because you’re starting at a level that’s going to take time to create standards around that link to winning consistently.

“But at the same time the expectations haven’t been great for a number of years so it means that people are aware that it will take a bit of patience to get where you want.

“The ownership was prepared to give me plenty of rope to make the necessary steps to rebuild things.”

Connecting local grassroots to the elite game is something that the long-time coach has been passionate about throughout his entire career, and says Sydney’s basketball market had untapped potential.

Molloy led the Flames back to the finals in 2025. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

“There is a lot of basketball talent in NSW and the pathway was very scattered,” Molloy said.

“Kids in college, kids who didn’t think they’d have an opportunity with the Flames, no real connection with the pathway.

“I wanted to get the word out, if you’re local, have talent and want to find out who you are, so to get players like Carla Pitman in the program was really important to show the way to other kids.”

FLAMES GET KNOCKED DOWN, BUT THEY GET UP AGAIN

While the Flames have plenty of reasons to celebrate the success of this season, it wasn’t all plain sailing. They limped into the finals with a heavily depleted roster.

WNBA import Didi Richards suffered an Achilles injury on the eve of pre-season; dual WNBL champion Lauren Nicholson announced her pregnancy; and import guard Celeste Taylor was ruled out with a foot injury just before the finals.

“It was horrible to be honest in terms of what it meant for the Flames year,” Molloy said of their pre-season misfortune.

“We had sky high potential, in some pre-season polls I saw we were ranked number one.

“I felt that Didi (Richards) and Loz (Nicholson) had been our two best performers consistently last season, they had great numbers and formed a great combination with players like Cayla (George) and Tess (Madgen).

Star import Didi Richards was ruled out before the season with injury. Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

Key Flames player Lauren Nicholson announced her pregnancy on the eve of the season. Picture: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

“And fair to say I was pretty depressed … Have we gone from a credible contender to maybe not good enough to make finals?”

But the youthful core of the team around veteran national team star George stayed strong and managed to scrape through to the final four, booking a date with WNBL MVP Sami Whitcomb and her Bendigo Spirit in the semi-finals.

And while they fell to the Spirit in the semis, the fact the team put themselves in this position was a win in itself.

“Unfortunately the injury bug didn’t go away, it just quadrupled and got worse, so I’m nothing but proud of the young players remaining and the small number of experienced players we’ve had who have fought like crazy,” the coach said.

“If you removed Cayla George from our team, individually they had about four players on their roster who have played more WNBL games than our roster combined.”

THE IMPACT OF A CHAMPION

Of course George’s impact can’t be underplayed. The former WNBL MVP and four time champion was exactly the person needed to help Molloy lead the Flames into a new era.

Leadership is in her nature but taking on a team in a rebuild phase proved more challenging than expected, especially without her running mate Tess Madgen, who had retired after the previous season.

Champion Cayla George had to take charge and lead the youth. Picture: Matt King/Getty Images

“(It was) a lot of learning for myself, to be part of a team that does need more guidance than what I have had to give before has been good for me and I’ve enjoyed the challenge,” George told Code Sports.

“As much as it’s been stressful at times for me, taking it head on has been really good for me.

“It’s been a really challenging season, in particular for us this year, I don’t think I’ve ever been a part of a team with so many injuries, where even the injury replacement player is injured too.

“We’ve had inconsistency, a very young group, and they have stepped up.

“I was once that young girl who didn’t have the experience in the big games so to be the vet to help lead us through has been really great.”

Molloy, who coached George to the championship at the Melbourne Boomers never doubted how his captain would step up this season, but knew for the team to progress, it would take more investment than ever before from the veteran.

George and Molloy won the WNBL title at the Melbourne Boomers. Picture: Kelly Defina/Getty Images

“I felt that she would pull the team together, provide the experience we need,” Molloy said.

“Her role became magnified, but I’ll always back Cayla to come through.

“I think it was a little bit confronting for her, the players of a similar experience level had disappeared all at the one time.”

“So what I was particularly proud of her with is that she all of a sudden found herself in a position where she’s been an elite player for such a long period of time and now she’s playing with babies.”

ALIGN THE PERSONALITIES TO ACHIEVE SUCCESS

With the Flames now moving back in the right direction and a position the club feels more familiar with, the challenge now is to keep building towards a championship.

The last coach to lead Sydney to the promised land - Cheryl Chambers - knows the recipe needed for sustained success.

Cheryl Chambers (L) led the Flames to their last title in 2017.

Chambers, speaking to Code Sports from New York, says finding a ”really good balance” of personalities and developing a culture that is embraced from the top is a key factor for winning basketball.

“If you have too many extroverts, it can be a lot to manage, especially for young coaches,” Chambers said.

“You need to get them all on the one page and make it enjoyable, we all want to enjoy the process as well.

“Everyone came together for the first time, it was a real club approach on making sure we had all the boxes ticked.

“It took a bit of building and sometimes you need a lot of planning but you also need a bit of lady luck and we had some of that as well.”

Originally published as How coach Guy Molloy rebuilt the Sydney Flames, from the ground up