WNBL free agency: Latest big news on player movement in the Women’s National Basketball League
At 23, Monique Conti’s already one of AFLW’s best ever. She’s a gun on the court, too, joining a new WNBL club amid an AFLW push that could leave her with a big dual-sport decision.
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Monique Conti knows a time looms when she’ll likely be forced to make a choice between her two great loves, basketball and footy.
For now, though, the Richmond AFLW gun says she’ll ride the wave as long as she can, having signed a one-year deal to make the jump from WNBL grand finalist Southside to cross-town rival Melbourne.
Conti’s basketball life has come full circle — she’s juggled the demands of being a dual-sport star since she first pulled on a Boomers’ jersey as a 16-year-old.
With AFLW players pushing to become full-time professional athletes by 2026, Conti says she’ll “cross that bridge when I come to it”.
“I love playing both sports so, until I have to make a choice, I’m not going to,” Conti, the reigning AFL Players’ Association MVP, said.
“At the end of the day, the seasons don’t clash so I’m going to stick to doing what I’m doing and reassess every season.”
BACK WHERE IT BEGAN
Conti becomes the second Flyer to make the switch to the Boomers, following Opal Sara Blicavs to the Boom Box — a move the Tiger, who is locked in at Punt Rd for the next two seasons, once thought remote.
“I didn’t expect that I’d ever be back, if I’m honest, purely because of how my footy’s taken off,” Conti, who also joins former Sydney Flames tall Kheely Froling in purple and gold, said.
“It’s a really good opportunity for me and it’s nice to have a change every now and again. This fits into my mould for what I want in the next couple of seasons.
“I want to take my basketball to another level and being with (coach) Chris (Lucas) and (assistant) Kristy (Harrower) and playing as a point guard with someone like Kristy Wallace is going to improve my game on and off the court.”
It will be a new-look Boomers team with the departures of WNBL MVP Cayla George, who is understood to be in talks to join former Melbourne teammate and Opals captain Tess Madgen in Sydney, while the league’s leading scorer Tiff Mitchell has signed a rich deal in Europe she will take up after the WNBA season.
CONTROLLING THE CONTROLLABLES
So focused is she on getting the most out of her basketball and footy, she has made an effort to stay removed from the troubles plaguing each sport with a single-minded focus on “controlling the controllables”.
The AFL and players union are still negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement for the AFLW and remain at an impasse on a number of key points — most notably season length.
Its pre-season started this week, without any clarity on how long season eight will be. Players want a 12-game season, the AFL wants to maintain the status quo at 10.
Similarly, Basketball Australia and the Australian Basketball Players’ Association are yet to come to terms on a new CBA, with the previous incarnation set to expire on June 30. BA and club owners are at odds over the future of a league that bled more than $5 million last season.
OPALS REALITY
While success has come thick and fast in AFLW — she’s won Richmond’s past four best and fairests — Conti has long-been touted as a potential Opal.
She’s a realist, though, when it comes to achieving that dream.
“It’s always been a goal of mine but, playing football and being a dual athlete, I don’t know how that sits in the basketball world, sometimes,” she said.
“It’d be awesome to get an opportunity like that but it’s not the end of the world for me.
“I’m just approaching my basketball very professionally and working my arse off and we’ll see what happens with that.”
SHINING EXAMPLE
With a wealth of experience at such a tender age — it feels like, at 23, Conti’s a seasoned veteran in both sports — has come a resilience of body and mind that she hopes can be an example to other women and girls with designs on excelling in more than one elite sport.
“I encourage all young girls coming through — you don’t have to make that choice if you don’t want to,” Conti said.
“I’m proud I’ve been able to take on that role of playing two sports at the professional level and showing people they can do it.”
METAL MIND
When she steps outside the lines, you’ll find Conti is “pretty relaxed”.
She’s found a way to detach sport from home life.
“I have the mindset (where) you leave the sport at the club and when I come home, it’s separate,” she said.
“I don’t like to bring my home life to my sport and my sport life back to my home.
“I like to make sure I’m having a healthy balance so I’m mentally OK.”
Her mental state might be steeled, but that hasn’t stopped her from seeking out premier sports psychologist Ed Barlow — something she says other pro athletes can benefit from.
“Even if you’re mentally OK, it’s good to see someone to help you get that balance and they open up a bunch of new avenues you can explore.”
Her two sausage dogs Ziggy and Mirri, help with that too.
ROCK BOTTOM TO BRONZE BOOM: OPALS’ CONTROVERSIAL CLUB SWAP
Opals’ star Sara Blicavs has made a controversial cross-town switch to Melbourne after the best part of a decade representing bitter WNBL rival Southside.
And the Boomers, after the departures of league MVP Cayla George, Opals captain Tess
Madgen and league-leading scorer Tiff Mitchell, will begin their rebuild with a rejuvenated on-court star, resident DJ, self-confessed “plant mum” and new entrepreneur.
She opens up to Michael Randall on the change that had to happen, why she chose to sign with the Boomers for the next two years and how she found silver linings after hitting rock bottom.
TIME FOR CHANGE
Blicavs dropped a 41-point bomb on Melbourne in January at the Boom Box and was part of the Southside team that bulldozed the Boomers out of the playoffs on their way to the WNBL23 grand final, so she’s aware her move might come with a little angst.
But, mentally and physically worn out and, at age 30, right in the sweet spot of her career, she knew it was time for a fresh start after an eight-year stint with the Rangers/Flyers franchises.
“I guess it will be a little bit controversial going from one Melbourne team to the other and technically ultimate rivals,” Blicavs said.
“But I’m at that point where I feel like I have more to give and I’m excited to be with Melbourne.
“Yes, dropping 40 on them, I was like ‘maybe that court was a good court for me’ so, mentally, I thought it’d be a good place to go.”
All jokes aside, the opportunity to play under dual WNBL-champion coach Chris Lucas and reunite with former Bendigo Spirit teammate and Opals legend Kristi Harrower was one the 30-year-old found too good to pass up.
Lucas, more than a decade ago, had tried to recruit a teenage Blicavs out of the Australian Institute of Sport and has helped the likes of Opal Steph Talbot and George lift their games to MVP-level.
“When I was 19 and just starting out he actually flew to Victoria and then came to my house in Sunbury to try to recruit me when he was coaching Townsville,” she said.
“Every time he’s coached one of my friends they’ve always said to me ‘Chris would love to have you’, so I’ve felt like I owe him that chance.”
Blicavs played alongside Boomers assistant Harrower — who has been touted as a future Opals head coach — in Bendigo and is eager to pick the brain of the four-time Olympic medallist.
“Her mind is ridiculous and she is just so intelligent with basketball — I’m hoping she can turn me into a tall point guard,” an only half-kidding 188cm Blicavs said.
BREAK FOR CHANGE
Blicavs hasn’t touched leather since March 22 — the day the Flyers fell to Townsville in game two of the grand final.
It’s the first time she’s taken a step back and had a real break in her career.
The World Cup bronze medal winner said she’s now itching to get back on the floor but she’s firm in staying the course. That meant she had to make the difficult decision to tell Opals coach Sandy Brondello she would miss the selection camp for June’s Asia Cup.
“I’d just turned 30 and I stepped back and realised that I needed a break because I was physically and mentally spent,” she said.
“I was very nervous about telling Sandy but I’m proud of myself because now I’m so excited for the WNBL season and I know I made a great decision, not just for now, but for the longevity of my career.”
She might not be playing ball, but the phones still rang hot as clubs clamoured for her signature — a new experience for someone who hadn’t hit the free agency market in her prime.
“I was very overwhelmed and I felt like throwing my phone off a bridge at times but it was nice to be wanted,” she said.
“You go through stages where you lose a bit of belief in yourself, so I think hearing that coaches wanted me and could see me fitting into their teams made me excited and brought some confidence back.”
ROCK BOTTOM AND A NEW REALISATION
Basketball was once life for Blicavs — it still is, to a point — but a shattering double disappointment in 2021 left her at her lowest ebb, questioning her future.
“I got cut from the WNBA (Phoenix Mercury) and the Tokyo Olympic team within a week of each other,” she said.
“Because basketball was my whole identity I literally hit the point where I felt so worthless and I had no clue what my purpose in life was.”
Support from family and respected long-time manager Bruce Kaider helped her to first process the shock — then come to the realisation basketball wasn’t forever and she needed to direct some of her energy toward preparing for life after the game.
That awareness bore a new “side hustle” — her own women’s underwear line SaraKirsti — and, as fate would have it, she would receive a late call-up to the Tokyo team, courtesy of the whole Liz Cambage thing.
“I just threw myself off the deep end with the business idea and now I think it will make me a better basketball player because if I play a s**t game, I can’t dwell on it, because I have to go and pack orders,” she said.
“Everything has a silver lining, right? I created a business, still managed to go to the Olympics and won a bronze medal at the World Cup.”
DJ PLANT MUM
We’ll come back to that bronze medal, which Blicavs calls her greatest career achievement, in a moment.
She initially missed this writer’s phone call on a dreary Sunday, immersed in the chilled out ambience of Aussie folktronica artist Ry X (she hasn’t played a game for the Boomers yet, but she’s already laid claim to the role of team DJ).
That was as she sat at home, surrounded by greenery.
“I am a plant mum and I take pride in my plants — I think I have 14 in my lounge room alone,” she said.
“My lounge is a vibe. Right now I’m burning incense, I have crystals around me, I’ve got my plants, I’m playing really good music, it’s an outlet. I like to relax, chill out and be mindful.”
Among the foliage is her most-cherished possession — the rose gold medal she brought home from Sydney.
“Honestly, it’s just on my kitchen bench, it’s forever lived there in its little pouch — just in case anyone wants to come over and I’ll be like ‘would you like to look at my medal?’,” Blicavs, who scored 12 points in the bronze medal game in support of Lauren Jackson historic 30-piece.
MAKING HER MARK IN BRO’S NUMBER
It’s well-known Blicavs comes from a famous sporting family — mum Karen and dad Andris both represented Australia, brother Kris was a gun baller and brother Mark is one of the AFL’s most-versatile players at Geelong.
She’s endlessly proud of the sporting connection and has adopted Mark’s No.46 at the Boomers.
“I don’t know why, but I asked his permission first,” she said.
“He said I’ll ‘play better in 46, so you may as well’.
“He’s so confident and it’s his number and he obviously thinks he’s a great player.”
FLAMES AIM TO STRIKE DOUBLE BOOM
—Matt Logue and Michael Randall
The Sydney Flames’ roster revamp has begun with the signing of Australian Opals captain Tess Madgen — and her bronze medal winning teammate and WNBL MVP Cayla George could be next.
Madgen, who missed most of WNBL23 season with the Melbourne Boomers through injury, joins the Flames on a two-year deal — the second a mutual option.
Sydney is also understood to be in talks to sign George, who is playing in the WNBA with the Las Vegas Aces.
The 34-year-old centre led the Boomers to the 2022 WNBL championship and won the league MVP last season, so her signature would be a game-changer for the Flames.
For now, Madgen becomes the fourth player on Sydney’s roster, alongside Kiera Rowe, Emma Clarke and the emergent Tiana Mangakahia, while the Boomers have lost three of their four best players in the two Opals and star import Tiff Mitchell, who will play in Europe.
“I’m super excited to sign on with the Flames for the next two seasons and be a part of that elite organisation,” Madgen, who was limited to just one game last season, due to a knee injury, said.
“Everything I’ve heard from the people around Hoops Capital, as well as in the media, is positive and that they’re going about growing the game of basketball the right way.
“Not only that, but I also love the way they are trying to bridge the gap between men’s and women’s basketball – that equality aspect is important to me, and I respect the similar stance of the whole ownership group and their willingness to create change.
“I’m excited to help close that gap even further during my time in Sydney – this was one of the main draw cards for me coming to the Flames, who I believe can become the number one women’s program in the country.
“To be honest, a lot of stars aligned, and I couldn’t see myself playing anywhere else and hopefully we can bring another championship back to Sydney.”
Tess will become the second Madgen to line up for the Hoops Capital organisation after older brother Ben became a fan favourite with the Kings from 2010-2015.
“Ben obviously did great things during his time with the Kings and always tells me how amazing it is to play in Sydney, so I’m excited to experience that first-hand,” said Madgen, who believes the Flames can also help her prepare perfectly for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
“The Kings have always held a fond spot in my whole family’s heart because of what he was able to achieve there and hopefully I can follow in his footsteps and achieve success with the Flames.”
Madgen reunites with recently appointed Flames coach Guy Molloy, with whom she won the WNBL title at the Boomers in 2022.
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