WNBL: Why Tianna Hawkins will not return to Townsville Fire this season

The Townsville Fire’s championship hopes have taken a major hit just five days out from their opening game. Find out why one of their most important players will not suit up on Saturday.

Tianna Hawkins and Karlie Samuelson of the Fire celebrate after beating the Sydney Flames in Townsville. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

The Townsville Fire’s championship hopes have taken a major hit just five days out from their opening game after it was announced star forward Tianna Hawkins would not join the team for season 2023/24.

Hawkins was the grand final MVP in the Fire’s most recent championship and was named in the All WNBL First Team, leaving a huge void in Townsville’s roster.

“Tianna Hawkins, our marquee import signing, unfortunately will not be joining us for this season,” head coach Shannon Seebohm announced.

“She sustained some injuries over the course of the WNBA season which require additional time off and rest, and the decision was made that she was going to miss too much time and it was going to be too costly to our team to wait for that.

“So that decision was made that she would not be coming which is very disappointing. We obviously love Tianna and hope that she takes her time off and gets her body right and has a great WNBA season next year.”

Tianna Hawkins shoots the matchwinning shot against the Sydney Flames. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

Hawkins averaged over 17 points and seven rebounds last season with a 54.4 shooting percentage, and listed at 191cm she was the second tallest player on the team behind centre Zitina Aokuso (192cm).

The Fire need to fill the space in their roster by December 25 and Seebohm said the club were actively searching for a replacement that could match Hawkins’ contributions.

“It’s really challenging. It was hard to find a player of Tianna’s calibre to begin with, so obviously replacing her with someone like that at this late stage is going to be quite difficult,” Seebohm said.

“We have a few feelers out to some different contacts overseas, and we’re obviously searching within Australia as well if the right player’s around.

“We hope to find someone of quality that’s going to be able to come in and help our team and put us in a position to be able to win another championship.”

Townsville Fire against Southside Flyers in first grand final series game at Townsville Entertainment Centre. Fire's Tianna Hawkins. Picture: Evan Morgan

With Canadian recruit Cassandra Brown still nursing an ankle complaint, Alice Kunek and Mikaela Ruef are the only active specialist forwards in the squad.

However Seebohm remained confident Townsville could continue their 16-game win streak when they face the Bendigo Spirit on Saturday.

“It’s a huge loss, there’s no denying that. Tianna is a great player – she’s probably one of the best import players this club has ever seen,” Seebohm said.

“In saying that, we’ve been able to retain a core group of players from that championship side and I think we’ve recruited really well in the off-season.

“As far as we’re concerned it’s business as usual right now and I’ve got all the faith in the world in the players that we do have to step up and get us off to a good start.”

Originally published as WNBL: Why Tianna Hawkins will not return to Townsville Fire this season