It’s remarkable to think that Nicole Jorre de St Jorre began her SBL/NBL1 West career last century, but she is on the back of the season of her basketball life in 2022 with the Warwick Senators and there are no signs of her slowing down approaching game 450.
Jorre de St Jorre began her career last century at the Swan City Mustangs as a 16-year-old and now this Saturday night she’ll become just the third woman in league history to reach 450 games.
Initially her milestone was set for last Saturday against her former East Perth Eagles team. That would have been fitting before an injury hiccup, but sometimes fate steps in and now this Saturday will be the occasion.
It just happens to be against her longest running foe, and the league's games record holder Casey Mihovilovich when the Senators take on the Mandurah Magic in Mandurah.
Career spent battling with games record holder
One aspect of Jorre de St Jorre’s career you can’t ignore is the wars she’s had with Mihovilovich at the Mandurah Magic.
Mihovilovich is now 544 games into her career and her and Sue Williams are the only two women in league history to have played more matches than Jorre de St Jorre.
For Jorre de St Jorre, there’s an enormous mutual respect there even if it’s war once they hit the floor against one another.
“To be honest I didn’t realise that she was the same age as me. I always thought she was a year younger than me, but when she turned 40 last year two months before I did, that’s the first time I realised,” she said.
“But Milo is Milo, and she’s always going to do Milo things. She’s just a phenomenal player and I look up to her so much. She’s always got things to say especially around finals time.
“I think we’ve played against them a couple of times and knocked them out now a couple of times, and after each series she was always is so encouraging afterwards.
“We’re always going to have our battles because we’re both point guards, but that’s just the way we’ve grown up playing against each other and I do have a lot of respect for her.”
What does it mean to reach 450 games
What makes the journey the more incredible, is that after 449 games and at 41 years of age, Jorre de St Jorre is still as fit as ever, as motivated as ever and still helping her team as much as ever.
Jorre de St Jorre had the experience of her career last year becoming a championship captain not only as the Senators won the NBL1 West title, but also then went on to claim the National Championship in Melbourne.
She remains the perfect point guard on a team full of weapons including Nat Burton and Karly Turner inside, the versatile Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard, and then Stacey Barr and Chloe Forster in the back court.
When Jorre de St Jorre thinks about reaching the 450-game milestone, it’s the teammates she gets to still influence that make it mean the most.
“I guess it seems like I’m old when you think about it, but it has been a very long journey that’s for sure,” Jorre de St Jorre said.
“It’s exciting but especially coming off those wins last year with the National Championship and the finals here, I feel like I’ve still got a lot to give and keep teaching a lot to the young kids.
“I’m grateful that I can still be around to encourage them and teach them a bit. So I guess I look at it that way really.”
The ability to make your teammates better
What has made Jorre de St Jorre such a popular, respected and important teammate over her entire career is the example she sets for her teammates, and the way she just makes them better.
Whether it’s helping them show the work and dedication it takes off the court, whether it’s setting the example on the floor, and just helping them improve their game, it’s something she’s always taken great pride in.
That’s why she looks at two of her teammates now at the Senators in Clinch Hoycard and Forster, and can’t be more proud to see them not only be the NBL1 West players they are, but to be full roster members of the Perth Lynx in the WNBL.
“I’d like to think I’ve helped them in some way,” she said.
“I think with the connection we have in our team especially when they start out as juniors and come into the club for the first time, you’d like to think that you’ve taught them something along the way.
“But I mean they are their own people still and are only going to get better by the more they keep playing, and put the work in themselves. It is nice to be around them though.”
That’s also why Jorre de St Jorre is happy to keep playing because her teammates simply wouldn’t want any other point guard helping to set them up.
Whether it’s knowing to get the ball to Barr, Forster or Hoycard when they are hot, or getting to Burton or Turner at the rights spot in the block, what she prides herself on the most is helping her teammates thrive.
“I’d like to think I’m still helping my teammates and it’s a nice feeling. When you’ve got the connections like we do especially with a bit of a younger group, I feel like you’re all on the same page,” Jorre de St Jorre said.
“I mean Stacey is just coming off that 51-point game and when you’re on the court we all just find a way to get her the ball because we know she’s got the hot hand. That’s what we’ve taught each other.
“I remember Chloe coming into our team when she was only 15 and to see where she is now, she’s a completely different player. To watch her grow like that is just something phenomenal.”
What keeps you going still
Ultimately what keeps Jorre de St Jorre still playing is the fact that her teammates still want her, the club still wants her and she still feels like she’s contributing to the team and the club in so many ways.
“It’s not that it’s too hard to walk away because I could find so many other things to be doing with my weekends than playing basketball,” she said.
“But the girls encourage you still be around so it’s not like I’m forcing myself on them, and I feel like we have such a good connection. We hang out quite a bit and we’re best mates, and then with some of the younger girls, they absorb anything that you teach them or show them.
“In the end, it could be a coaching role that I go into but at the same time I’m just enjoying being around them and being able to show them in a way how they can better, or helping them in any way I can.”
Reflecting on journey at other clubs
Jorre de St Jorre started her SBL career at the Swan City Mustangs back in 1999 before coming to the Senators up until the end of 2002.
She would return to the league at the Joondalup Wolves in 2006 but it was a move to join the Eagles in 2010 that just seemed an obvious one for her to play alongside some of her closest friends.
Jorre de St Jorre spent the next eight years with East Perth including a Grand Final appearance in 2011, but there were some decidedly lean years along the way.
That ended up taking a toll so she joined the Senators once again in 2019, but still still has no regrets about those years.
“The good thing was that I had a lot of friends who had played at East Perth which was the initial reason I went there, and I wanted to have more fun with the girls that I hung around with to start with," she said.
“But there were a few very long, long seasons there at East Perth when we were losing that many games in the end of my time there so it did become pretty hard. I know we got into a Grand Final that one year, but there were more tough years than good ones.
“So when Emma Berryman asked me to come to Warwick, I just thought that I had to do it and that it would be the best thing for me.
“I thought it was also an opportunity to finish at somewhere that I came to when I was playing under-14s after crossing from Swan Districts. So it was a very easy transition because I had that connection to the club already and had people there I wanted to play with, and finish my career with.”
Coming back to Senators best ever decision
Once Jorre de St Jorre decided to return to Warwick Stadium, the moment she walked back in the door and pulled on the Senators colours, she knew it was the right decision.
Just winning games again was fun and they would go on to reach the Grand Final in that first year, and then came the ultimate in 2022.
Not only did the Senators win the NBL1 West and National Championships, but Jorre de St Jorre was the captain in the undoubted highlight of her remarkable career.
“It really was and I knew in my heart that when I left East Perth and walked back into Warwick I knew that I felt a bit back home. Everyone made me feel so welcome and that’s what the club is. It’s just been a fun ride so far coming back especially last year,” she said.
“People talk about it now and I still think about how we actually did that. It was absolutely amazing and it was such a good feeling, but it feels almost surreal still.
“I’ve played in three Grand Finals and that one last year we won here was very, very different to any of the other two that I played in.
“I don’t know why, it was just that the nerves were a lot easier to settle and the girls just had each other’s back. We just had a feeling that it was our night, it’s hard to explain.”
On the back of that breakthrough NBL1 West championship win for the Senators, they went to Melbourne the next week for the first ever National Championships.
By Saturday night, Jorre de St Jorre had nothing left in the tank, but she picked herself up on the Sunday to help the Senators to claim the national title which she’ll never forget.
“Then the next week, we didn’t even expect to win any games when we went over to Melbourne,” Jorre de St Jorre said.
“We just wanted to go over and try our best, but when we started winning, we just knew we had one more game to go on the Sunday.
“Three games in three days is hard on anybody but I’m 41 so it does get harder, and on that Saturday night when all the girls were asking me what’s wrong. I literally just didn’t know how I would get up to play in that last game with the way I was feeling.
“I didn’t know how I was going to do it but we’d done everything we could with ice baths and massages, but then the next morning I just told the girls that it’s only one more game, so let’s just fight through the pain. It’s hard to explain how we did it, but we just did it and we did it having fun.”
Chance to reflect as you get to 450 games
Not everybody is ready to reflect on their career until it’s officially over, but Jorre de St Jorre is always someone to look back to be able to appreciate where she’s currently at.
So that means that she makes the most of every moment and appreciates where she is especially to still be part of a Senators team building momentum again this season as reigning champions considering those rough years she had earlier in her career.
“I think you do take the chance to reflect and I have a lot of my friends who have been around who I’ve played with along the way. So it’s nice when you have a milestone like this and they can all come down, and watch you play and be there for it,” Jorre de St Jorre said.
“It’s always nice to see faces of people you’ve played with over the years who have retired now so that gives you that reminder of things that have happened along the way.
“I always like to reflect no matter what and I think it’s always nice to remember the things you’ve been through especially some of those tough times at East Perth when we wouldn’t win any games.
“Then you appreciate where we are now coming off those championships and we’re still around the mark this year not even halfway through the season.
“So I remember those years of not winning a game so it helps you appreciate the position you’re in now so I do look back at things and realise that 450 games is a long time.
“But now that I’m 41 and I do think age is just a number so as long as you’re still able to contribute, and are enjoying it and teach the kids, then there’s no reason to stop just because of your age.”
Thinking about the future
Jorre de St Jorre is probably tired by now of being asked each season if it’s going to be her last her not, and once again it’s a decision she won’t make until the dust is settled.
“A lot of people do ask if I’m going to keep playing next year as each season goes on. Even last year, the club was asking me questions but I just told them I couldn’t give them an answer while the season was still going,” she said.
“I’ve always felt you need to see how you feel once the season is over and you’ve had a bit of a break before you decide if you want to keep going, and it depends how your body is holding up too each year.
“I’d like to say that I keep myself pretty fit but the rest of it is hard work to keep going. I can’t really give an answer on if I’ll keep playing until it’s the end of the season and I can see how my body is tracking. That’s what I keep saying to everybody.”
