Are the UC Capitals finals bound in 2025?

For WNBL26, the UC Capitals are betting on two things: size and experience.

As a result, Head Coach Paul Goriss made recruiting veterans and height a priority, and it has resulted in a clear finals contender on paper.

“We had a very, very young group and their improvement went from zero to 100 after Christmas,” he said. 

“Just being able to knock on the door of the playoffs was impressive. But our intentionality this off-season was about getting more experience, getting more size. Being able to get Zitina (Aokuso) Sara (Blicavs), Kadi (Sissoko) and Teige (Morrell) as a legitimate front court – we've got legit size, legit depth and some versatility.”

‍Related: Is Kadi Sissoko the WNBL’s next Unicorn?

With the four additions of local and international talent, the Capitals have increased their positional size in two key areas of the court with the 5’11” guard in Munger and 6’3” forward in Morrell.
‍

Both Munger and Morrell are coming off record-breaking NBL1 seasons with both players making history as both women claimed their third conference MVP Award. Munger has won three in a row (2023-2025) and Morrell is the only player to win the award across different conferences (2021 Central, 2024 and 2025 West). 

Munger started her journey in Australia 2023 with the NBL1 East’s Newcastle Falcons and has been there since, while Morrell has played in three different states since 2019. 

Goriss explained to WNBL Media how valuable it is not only to the club, but basketball in general, to have a majority of his team playing in Australia during the off-season. 

“The NBL1 is such a great competition, especially on the women's side, where there are a lot of WNBL players who play in the off-season. It's a great opportunity for the players to continue to work on their game,” he said. 

“I think it's a massive coup to stay in Australia and play for 12 months of the year. It's also just being able to keep an eye on them and keep in contact about how they go and working on their game.” 

Goriss used Nyadiew Puoch as an example who is currently playing for her junior club, the Dandenong Rangers, in Victoria. While acknowledging a “fine line” between what he would like Puoch to work on and what the Rangers’ coach needs from her, Goriss explained he wants the WNBA draft pick to focus on her perimeter game and three-point shot. 

With his two American recruits having career-best seasons in the NBL1, Goriss explained you can’t dramatically change your role between competitions. Playing two completely different ways will not benefit a player's development in the long run, using what they do well in NBL1 will be critical for Goriss’ game plan for next season. 

“The level is a lot higher in WNBL with the standard of players and the imports coming in too. They've got to be themselves on the court, what they do in NBL1 is usually what they're really good at and then being able to translate that is important,” he said.

“It's my job to… put them in places on the court to play to their advantages. That's one thing that we try and do here at the Caps, I'm going to put you in positions to be successful, but we're also going to continue to work on your game to take it to another level.”

With eight of his 10 contracted players based in Australia and only one player who will have WNBA commitments overlapping (Melbourne), the medal-winning Opals coach explained how valuable it is to play 12-months a year in Australia. 

“The pathway for basketball in Australia is one of the best pathways for sport in general in this country,” he said. 

“Having everyone here and on time is going to give us that lift. I'm really excited about what kind of style we can implement with this group.” 

With a roster balanced with rising stars and proven veterans, are the UC Capitals bound for the top four this season? Their WNBL26 campaign starts on Ootober 18th against the Southside Flyers, see the full fixture here. 

‍