Must-Watch players for the River City Rebound Series

Feature image via: DiscoveryOne_Photography

The NBL1 North Champions, the Northside Wizards, are set to host a WNBL preseason tournament by Basketball Queensland, with the reigning champions the Townsville Fire, Adelaide Lightning, Sydney Flames and Perth Lynx all descending upon Brisbane. 

Every team features a wealth of NBL1 talent, with the Fire and Lightning featuring an entire roster of NBL1 alumni. 

Check out some of the must-watch players for the River City Rebound Series below: 

Townsville Fire

Coming off both the WNBL and NBL1 North championships, Courtney Woods will be the fan-favourite player for the Series. Representing both her Townsville Fire and the Northside Wizards on their home court, the conference MVP will be the star going into Thursday night’s action. 

After averaging 24.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 6.6 assists, Woods will return to the court where she claimed Finals MVP in August to entertain her Wizards fans one more time before heading up to Townsville for the WNBL season. 

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Honourable mention: Jessica McDowell-White 

Sydney Flames 

After averaging 20 points per game for the Hobart Chargers, Paige Bradley is going to Sydney for her debut season in the WNBL. 

The import guard has been a scoring force in the NBL1 South for the past two seasons, dropping five 25+ point games this season against some of the best teams in the conference. 




The Flames have re-tooled this offseason, bringing in a new coach and a whole new set of star players – with Bradley fitting in as an elite scoring punch off the bench. 

Honourable mention: Lara McSpadden

Perth Lynx

After an NBL1 West championship season, the WNBL rookie will be one of the must-watch players for the Lynx in the Series.

Not only did Steph Gorman add a championship to her resume, but she finished 2023 by being awarded the Defensive Player of the Year and being named Finals MVP – dropping 19 points, making five triples and playing lockdown defence on conference MVP Alex Sharp. 

Stephanie Gorman is the @NBL1_West women's Finals MVP ?

1?9? points, 3? assists, 2? steals and a LOCK DOWN performance to give the Cougars the title ?

?: Sports Imagery pic.twitter.com/QcoGC8EJ91

— NBL1 (@NBL1) August 11, 2023

Coming into the Lynx squad, the 23-year-old two-way threat will be an x-factor in winning games all season for Perth.

Honourable mention: Ashlee Hannan

Adelaide Lightning 

After playing under Lightning coach Nat Hurst in the NBL1 East with the Canberra Nationals, Isabelle Bourne proved she was a WNBL talent and will make her debut with Adelaide. 

After averaging 19.5 points, 7.6 rebounds and three assists for the Nationals, she was awarded a spot on the NBL1 East Women’s All-Star Five team. 

Dropping a career-high 40 points against the Centre of Excellence, the 22-year-old is a scoring machine every game and will fit comfortably within the Lighthings’ group knowing the system coach Hurst likes to play. 

Isabelle Bourne puts up 4??0?? points ?

Watch the #NBL1East via https://t.co/NEk1I7kIKG or the NBL1 App ?&? pic.twitter.com/5qdC9eavU0

— NBL1 (@NBL1) June 8, 2023

Honourable mention: Tayla Brazel

All the games will be live-streamed on Basketball Queensland's YouTube channel.