The Perth Lynx kicked off their WNBL27 campaign with a win at home in a championship rematch against the Townsville Fire. Including the Grand Final series, the Lynx were 1-4 against Townsville last season and looked sharp despite the absence of Anneli Maley who was taking a quick sabbatical between WNBA and WNBL season. It was a great display of a new look Lynx team’s potential, with star Aussie guard Georgia Amoore putting up 13 points and seven assists on 40% three point shooting on debut.
“It’s nice to have, absolutely,” head coach Ryan Petrik told The IX Sports about Amoore. “We’re probably the one team that hasn’t overly pursued point guards unless they’ve been elite. We’ve generally played with a hybrid system. So, I think back to [my second year] with Sami Whitcomb, Jackie Young, Marina Mabrey. None of them are really point guards. They’re all kind of combo guards, hence our attraction to Alex Ciabattoni and her game.
“It’s how we play as well, that positionless, point guard-less, almost, style. Unless they’ve been absolutely elite and we’ve had two of them in Aari McDonald and Georgia Amoore. If they’re vanilla, we’d rather just go with a whole bunch of combo guards, but Georgia is certainly on the elite spectrum and therefore we’re rapt to have her.”
It was an up and down offseason for a Perth team who said goodbye to Ally Wilson and Amy Atwell. Both players were instrumental over the past few seasons as the Lynx made multiple deep postseason runs, including two trips to the WNBL Grand Final series. General manager Chris Earl spoke on their departure’s with The IX Sports:
“It’s always difficult when players who have contributed so much to the club need to move on. Ally, Amy and even Han [Xu] have been an important part of the Lynx for an extended period of time and we’re grateful for everything they’ve given to the club and our fans. There’s a personal side to roster changes that you never take lightly. So we respect those contributions while continuing to work through what the team needed to move forward.”
Guard’s Steph Gorman and Alex Ciabattoni echoed the sentiment with The IX Sports.
“It’s always tough to lose great players like Amy and Ally,” Gorman said. “They were a big part of our team and without them we’ve definitely had to adjust. Even though we lost really talented players, Ryan has done a great job of recruiting high calibre players and the change has come with a lot of positives as well.”
“Having two talented athletes such as Amy and Ally leave always was going to leave a huge hole,” Ciabattoni shared. “I think Ryan has done a good job of changing our style of play to suit our new team. I’m not sure you can really replace them completely, but we have a team of incredible athletes who have all stepped into and embraced the challenge of rebuilding.”
Listen now to The IX Sports Podcast and Women’s Sports Daily
We are excited to announce the launch of TWO new podcasts for all the women’s sports fans out there looking for a daily dose of women’s sports news and analysis. Stream on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or anywhere you listen to podcasts, and make sure to subscribe!
There is some semblance of a roster that is being rebuilt and there has been much made of the ups for Perth’s offseason, but there were downs that they were faced with too.
“We probably haven’t had a big chance to consume it all in fairness,” Petrik revealed. “Our first nine were locked for 48 hours. I woke up Sunday morning after an NBL1 semifinal to having the contracts of both [Haley] Peters and [Teonni] Key signed and returned. And then woke up Tuesday morning to [Sami] Whitcomb and [Nya] Lok both like, ‘hey, we need to talk.’ So we haven’t had a lot of time to actually sit back and admire the team we built per se.”
Earl corroborated the story: “Look, the offseason was a whirlwind… To make matters even tougher, when you think you’ve got your roster all locked away. All your contracted players sorted on the Sunday night and then two days later there were a couple of phone calls that we had and we had to find two Australian replacements. So, that was a couple of weeks before preseason, so it adds a lot more challenges. But a massive credit to our entire off-field team, from Ryan, the coaching staff who put together everything. But more importantly, to the organisation and our club owners, to investing and responding in the way we did, to pivot and adapt. And there was a lot of work behind the scenes to quickly find some solutions and that brought us Georgia and Chloe [Hodges] back into the group, so we’re really pleased on where we landed.”
It can be difficult to replace like-for-like Aussie talent for a WNBL team. When it comes to a player like Whitcomb, it’s almost impossible. The acquisition of Amoore was a huge coup for the Lynx and she spoke with The IX Sports upon the conclusion of the Washington Mystics’ postseason, before she had made her way to Perth.
“[Perth] was just, like, explosive offence. Just a high pace, fast paced game. At the start of the year, I had Ally Wilson here with me on [the Mystics]. She spent some time in Perth, although she left. I think even talking to Chloe Bibby, like, that’s one of my good mates, she really enjoyed her time there. I think me going forward in the W, I just needed an opportunity to play a fast paced offence, come off some ball screens, kind of get my bearings back, my swag back. To be able to have that in my back pocket for when I get back over to the States for the next season. And I think this was just the perfect opportunity and the perfect place to be at to practice that as well.”
After missing her first chance at a rookie season with the Mystics in 2025, she has just come off her actual rookie season and heads into a rookie season in the WNBL.
“It actually feels crazy to think about [playing in the WNBL]. I remember being part of development programs growing up and the one thing that stood out to me was the Australian legends that played in the WNBL. For me, as a junior, the way that they made themselves available to us, I think was super inspiring and motivating to me.
“So obviously coming back, I’m super excited to be like, look, I know I took a different pathway than a lot of these people, but, you know, everyone’s pathway is different. I’m just super excited to get back and just be home. I haven’t been home in so long. I think the Australian brand of basketball, you know, it’s something that people know worldwide, especially in the W. We’re great teammates, we work our asses off and we just have a certain sense of humility about us. So I’m excited to get back into those environments. It’s where your roots are, you know, it’s just that hard working mentality.”
She’s averaging 12.5 points, eight assists and two steals, albeit in two games. The other early trend that can be linked to Amoore’s playmaking is the Lynx’ three point shooting. There’s no better example of this than three-and-D specialist Steph Gorman who is 8-14 from deep after two rounds.
“It’s a really fun team, both on and off the court,” she said. “We get along well and I’m really enjoying the pace and energy we are playing with. I’m excited to learn, see my game improve and hopefully go one further this year.”
It’s a renewed perspective from Gorman who was dealing with her first major injury last season. This saw a downtick in three point efficiency from 37.5% in the 2024-25 season to 32.7% last stanza. In between those two season’s she played for the Cockburn Cougars in the NBL1 West and put up astronomical numbers in 2025. She averaged 17 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists and three steals while shooting a white hot 44.6% from three on 9.2 attempts per game. She did all of this on the offensive end and won the DPOY as her team went undefeated through the regular season and through to the championship. Clearly, she had been building over time until it was interrupted last WNBL season.
As for her hot start this year, that aforementioned 8-14 return from three converts to 57.1%, a great start after having surgery on her hip directly following last Grand Final series.
“I’m just feeling happy to be out there this season. It was my first big injury so the last 12 months have been challenging but I’ve learnt a lot. I’ve had the time to get stronger in the gym and I’m putting a lot more time into the mental side of the game. It’s somehow turned out to be a really positive experience and I’m excited to keep showing up day by day.”
The future is hopeful for Gorman and the Lynx and the change in roster seems to be permeating throughout the organisation. Chibba (Alex Ciabattoni) also touched on this.
“This new group are amazing people and obviously very talented. We all have a desire to win and want to do the small things in order to succeed. Hopefully everyone who watches us play can see that. Everyone is happy to do their role, and when they’re called up seem ready to go which is great… Like everyone, the goal is to win a championship and I hope to do whatever is needed from me to try and get there.”
Perth were also able to sign two key imports in Haley Peters and Teonni Key, with the former staying in the WNBL after a season with the Southside Melbourne Flyers.
“I really enjoyed playing here last season,” Peters revealed. “The league is incredibly competitive with tough teams top to bottom. I think that combined with the fact that it’s a shorter season than Europe and a bit less demanding travelwise and lengthwise than a season in Europe. I just felt like it’s the right place for me to be playing at this point of my career. And I was particularly keen when I knew Perth was interested because of how they played last season.”
Perth have long been known as a fast paced team that makes minor amendments around the edges to suit any changes to the roster. Last season, Peters was on a Flyers team that effectively had two other players in the starting lineup who had her playstyle in Isabelle Bourne and Tera Reed. Now, she has sole residency as the Lynx big wing and can complement Maley while she’s off terrorising the glass.
“I’m not sure exactly how to explain it,” Peters explained. “I think of myself and what I do on the court as being pretty consistent, but I think Ryan has built a system and structure here that’s really fast paced and gives players a lot of freedom, and we have a group that plays into that pretty well so it just opens some things up for me to do, especially on the offensive side of the ball. I think it’s a bit less top-down sort of structure and more how can we get the best out of everyone, and so that allows me to maybe have the ball in my hands a bit more or be making reads more which is what I really enjoy about playing.”
Peters recounts coming up against the Lynx last season. “Perth last year were a different beast than any other team we played I think, mostly because of the pace they played with and how fast actions came at you when you were trying to defend them. I just remember them being incredibly hard to guard and keep up with both in transition and the half court, and happy to be part of that this season. Hopefully I can add a bit more to what they have already been able to do here.”
From Perth’s side, Earl was keen to bring Peters across the country. “From our perspective, Haley brings a whole wealth of experience and versatility that really stood out. She’s a veteran and she’s already shown her value in being within our group for the entire preseason already. Having someone with that experience, she’s got WNBA experience, has been around the world and played everywhere, is important, and particularly with some of the younger players we’ve brought into our group. It’s really good for us to have that veteran leadership in someone who’s been there, done that, and she’s just so motivated to help take us to the next level and bring that championship back. She has a lot of variety and versatility so she can play in different positions that suit the players that we’ve got in our team as well.”
That fit extends itself to co-import Key who was one of Amoore’s favourite teammates at Kentucky.
“My old college teammate, Teonni Key, was also part of that [recruitment] presentation. I don’t even think they knew that she was one of my favourite people to play with in college. They were just simply putting up the roster of who was coming in. As soon as I saw Anneli and Teonni I was like, alright, we’re going to have a lot of freaking fun pushing this pace and this tempo. So that was appealing for sure.”
Stellar bigs have always found themselves in Perth under Petrik whether it be Aussie or import. The organisation has changed in feel since Maley arrived ahead of the 2023-24 season, when Gorman also joined the team. Chibba also hasn’t missed a season since then after her tenure had been interrupted by motherhood. During that time they have only had import bigs and an elite class at that. Emily Potter, Laeticia Amihere, Brianna Turner and Han Xu have all graced the starting five role which Key steps into this year.
“We had Lauren Scherf, Darcee Garbin, year two. This is year seven for me now. But we had Darcee in year one and two and we had Lauren Scherf play centre for us in year two and three. Similar again, if we can find an elite Australian we’ll sign them, but if not, it’s just the way the cards have been dealt. In fairness, most WNBL teams are somewhat similar. There’s a lot of import five-position players. Just the lack of size, like there’s not a million 6’4-6’5 elite Australians, they’re very few and far between. And if they are really good, they’re your Ezi Magbegor’s and Alanna Smith’s, they’re a level higher again. So, they’re hard to get in the WNBL, and so we’ve generally had a look overseas.”
It’s worked to great success and this year’s edition already has chemistry with the point guard. The fit of this team, both by design and through osmosis, is exactly the start a title contender wants to have.
“Who you are at the start of the season is never who you’re going to be at the end of the season,” Amoore stated. “When I had my chats with the Perth crew, they obviously saw who they were going to bring in. Playing with someone like Anneli [Maley] who just terrorises the boards and then gets out, fast pace, and runs the lane, that was super appealing to me.”
If Perth’s ended their season like this then there would be a whole lot to like, but there’s 22 regular season games and a postseason between where they are and where they want to get to. This team has been banging on the door of a WNBL championship for years now but it always finds a way to evade them.
“Well, the Perth Lynx have an extended history of doing well when it comes to making finals,” Earl shared. “However, we’ve come so close over these last few seasons and none closer than last year, where we lost in the grand final to Townsville, and we’re so keen to go and take that extra next step and bring a championship back to Perth. So that means being honest about where we’ve fallen short and recognising some of our weaknesses and looking at how we can strengthen those areas. This offseason, it meant making a few changes.
“The focus for Ryan and myself was on building a balanced roster with the talent and experience and depth that suits his style of play and how we want to move forward. Whilst also strengthening some of those weaknesses that we’ve had in previous years and giving us the best opportunity to win a championship. So there were some tough calls that needed to be made, but ultimately, we think it’s for the better and how we can move forward as a team.”
Petrik provided an intriguing lens as to how he viewed his teams roster changes.
“There’s a lot of talk around the league in general about continuity of roster and how continuity helps. In a general statement and as a general thesis, I think that’s accurate. Like, teams that have continuity in sport generally tend to fare better. For whatever reason, I cannot find that example in the WNBL, where that’s been important, especially in the very recent times. So there’s been three programs with a winning record the last three years, and that’s Perth, Bendigo, Townsville. We knocked out Townsville in the Aari McDonald year, in the semifinals. From memory, they had eight or nine players leave in the offseason. They had [Alice] Kunek, Whitcomb, their two imports, Steph Reid, Zitina Aokuso et cetera. From memory, Courtney Woods was the only major piece that returned. And fast forward 12 months, they were in the grand final against Bendigo.
“So then the next example was the Bendigo Spirit, they won the championship with Whitcomb and [Veronica] Burton. Of the players that played, they had [Marianna] Tolo and [Casey] Samuels both play here and there but they essentially both missed the majority of the season. So the only two pieces that they had that came back, that were rotation pieces, were [Kelsey] Griffin and [Abbey] Wehrung. The rest of the roster essentially was brand new. And they got to the semifinals against us. So, there’s a lot of talk in the league about continuity, roster, and all ‘this team’s turned their roster over, they’re in trouble,’ blah, blah, blah. The two most recent examples of Bendigo and Townsville have not proven that to be an indication of future success at all. So we weren’t overly scared of resetting our roster to some degree.”
It’s a huge call that Perth are taking fearlessly and the type of diagonal thinking and decision making that separates the elite teams. Their decisiveness will impact everyone’s fortunes as they embark on another journey to a title. As it stands, they’re the only WNBL team to have four WNBA players on their roster, another promising sign for the organisation. It feels as though the Lynx have thrown everything at a championship or bust season and this is looking like their best shot yet.
