Townsville Fire young gun Saffron Shiels’ stunning rise to the WNBL while completing high school
Saffron Shiels had to juggle her Opals and WNBL debuts while completing year 11. Read about her incredible rise and the key match-ups and burning questions ahead of Sunday’s Sydney game.
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The way she carries herself, you’d be forgiven for thinking Saffron Shiels is an experienced professional basketballer.
The Townsville Fire young gun made her Australian Opals debut in 2023 and has looked right at home during her 14 WNBL appearances so far this season.
But Shiels only recently finished year 11 and celebrated her 18th birthday a couple of weeks ago.
The incredible rise from Newcastle junior to international representative has been astronomic.
Shiels grew up watching the Opals generation of former Australian captain Penny Taylor, who retired as a three-time WNBA champion and two-time Olympic silver medallist, and never imagined her own debut would come so early.
She said she had no idea that the call was coming.
“It was so cool. Everyone wants to play for the Opals and not many people my age can say they did it that young,” Shiels said.
“It was such a cool experience.”
Shiels has just started her final year of high school, which she completes online when she can find time around her WNBL commitments.
She studies a mix of subjects including English, business and legal studies – but revealed she had no intention of pursuing a college career in the United States when she graduates.
As an international player, Shiels can forgo four years of an NCAA program and nominate herself for the WNBA draft in the year she turns 20, which is 2026.
In the meantime she will stay in Townsville to hone her skills in the NBL1 North following the conclusion of the WNBL.
Shiels will play alongside Fire squad members Ella Tofaeono and Indiah Bowyer at the Townsville Flames.
It won’t be the first time the young guard plays at Townsville Stadium.
“It’ll be fun. I played here once when I played for CoE (AIS club Centre of Excellence who play in the NBL1 East) and it was a good crowd,” Shiels said.
Shiels made to move to North Queensland in mid-2023, leaving her parents behind as she pursued her basketball dream.
The 188cm rookie has been living in the same building as many of her Townsville Fire teammates and is roommates with Courtney Woods.
She said the handful of occasions her parents have come up to visit her had been special moments.
Shiels got into basketball from an early age, rising through the representative ranks with the Newcastle Hunters, and has enjoyed her recent step up to the WNBL.
“I got into it when I was around six, my mum just put me and my brother into a holiday camp and I’ve been playing ever since,” Shiels said.
“The WNBL is a lot more physical and faster but it’s been a really good challenge.
“Playing against Lauren Jackson was really cool. Even practising against Sami (Whitcomb) and Steph (Reid) and AK (Alice Kunek), training with them every day is pretty cool.”
Shiels’ highlight so far this season came in December when she played 33 minutes against the Melbourne Boomers, scoring a season-high 11 points including her first WNBL three-pointer.
Most of her other games have been brief cameos off the bench where she’s asked to cover the likes of Reid, Whitcomb and Woods while they take a breather.
Shiels said she was just loving soaking up the entire experience.
“Getting to get better every day and playing in front of this amazing crowd, it’s so cool,” Shiels said.
KEY MATCH-UPS
COURTNEY WOODS v LAUREN NICHOLSON
Two great friends go head-to-head on Sunday when Nicholson returns to the Fire Pit after moving back home to the Flames – where her WNBL career began in 2010.
Last year’s championship-winning Fire captain had a standout year and has carried that form into this season, currently averaging 16.7 points-per-game.
That average is an improvement on last year and only behind her breakout 2020 season with Townsville, when she had 18.9 PPG.
“She’s a great player. Our girls know her pretty well,” Townsville coach Shannon Seebohm said.
“We did a good job on her one time this season and then when we played Sydney and lost in overtime, we let her get going in the second half.
“She’s a key but they’ve got a lot of good players so we’re not just focusing on her.”
MIKAELA RUEF v DIDI RICHARDS
This is the revenge game Ruef would have circled in her calendar following the 77-74 overtime defeat last time the two teams met in December last year.
Richards hit a season-high 21 points while Ruef scored a shocking two points in over 35 minutes on the court – the Townsville big’s 14 rebounds being the only saving grace.
Seebohm said it would be a different story on Sunday.
“I think Didi schooled Ruef last time we played, so knowing Mikaela and the competitor that she is I’m sure she’s going to be ready to do a better job,” Seebohm said.
“Didi is a really good athlete who plays with great pace in transition, gets downhill, so we need to be ready to meet her a little bit earlier and contain her penetration a bit better.”
STEPH REID v TESS MADGEN
The battle of the recent debutant and the veteran Australian Opals captain.
Madgen is coming off her second-worst shooting performance of the season – hitting just one of her eight shots – but in the game before that she drained four three-pointers.
In Madgen’s 13 WNBL season – including two in Townsville – the former Australian Opals captain has averaged double digit points-per-game in all but two.
Reid got to see plenty of Madgen during the Opals’ recent trip to Brazil, and she’s no stranger to the 33-year-old’s talents.
“She’s a great leader. She’s a really physical player and she’s poised, so she makes every team that she’d on better,” Reid said.
“When she’s on the floor she’ll lift their momentum.”
BURNING QUESTIONS
How will Seebohm play a potential “dead rubber”?
If Southside beat seventh-placed Adelaide on Saturday afternoon then the Fire’s match on Sunday could be meaningless to the final standings.
Win or lose, Townsville will finish no lower or higher than second place.
That means Seebohm could ring the changes and give his development players a chance to taste big minutes in the WNBL without fear of dropping down the ladder – but is that his style?
The Fire coach said Townsville needed to build momentum heading into finals with a win.
“We’re trying to go out and win,” Seebohm declared.
“We want to win but keep building towards that finals game and keep playing better basketball.
“We know we haven’t played our best recently and I think the girls are well aware of that and we want to make sure that we continue to build each game we have the remainder of this year and play our best basketball when it really counts.”
Where will Townsville’s scoring come from?
After a red-hot start to the season, the Fire have only scored more than 75 points once in their past six games.
Townsville’s 91-83 triumph over the UC Capitals just before the FIBA break appeared to be a turning point but the Fire have exited that two-week break in a slump.
Averaging 65 points in two games against Southside and Bendigo, Townsville needs to get more consistent scoring from its players.
How will the WNBL dominoes fall?
Bendigo, Sydney and Melbourne are all locked on 11 wins with one game to play, while the sixth-placed Perth Lynx are just one win behind the pack.
Perth take on Bendigo on Saturday night while the Boomers play the Capitals.
However the final round plays out, Townsville is set to host game one of the semi-final on Wednesday or Thursday next week.
Seebohm said his side would be ready no matter who they face.
“When it gets to finals, obviously it’d be nice if we make the grand final to have a home game 1, but I don’t think it matters too much,” Seebohm said.
“Once you get to finals it’s four great teams in there and anyone can win in any game.
“So (if) we finish first or second, that’s irrelevant. Right now it’s about us, how we’re playing, and if we keep getting better we’ll be fine.”
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