The Townsville Fire are an Australian professional basketball team competing in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). The Fire are based in Townsville, Queensland, and play their home games at Townsville Entertainment and Convention Centre.

The team was established in 2001. In 2014, James Cook University became the team's principal partner and naming rights sponsor.

The Fire are five-time WNBL champions, winning in 2015, 2016, 2018, 2023 and 2026.

History In May 2001, Townsville Basketball were granted a WNBL license for the 2001–02 season.

In 2011, the Fire were close to folding under the weight of financial pressures.

The Fire reached four straight WNBL Grand Finals between 2012–13 and 2015–16, winning back-to-back championships in 2015 and 2016. Their victory in March 2015 was the city's maiden national premiership.Side earn top city honours The Fire returned to the WNBL Grand Final in 2017–18 and won their third title in four years.WNBL: Townsville Fire claim third title in four years with win over Melbourne Boomers The team won their fourth championship in 2023, and fifth championship in 2026.

Season-by-season records Season Standings Regular season Finals Head coachWLPCT Townsville Fire 2001–02 8th 3 18 14.2 Did not qualify David Herbert 2002–03 2nd 15 6 71.0 Lost Semi Final (Canberra, 67–68) Lost Preliminary Final (Sydney, 78–83) David Herbert 2003–04 5th 12 9 57.0 Did not qualify David Herbert 2004–05 6th 7 14 33.0 Did not qualify David Herbert 2005–06 6th 12 9 57.0 Did not qualify David Herbert 2006–07 6th 10 11 48.0 Did not qualify David Herbert 2007–08 6th 10 14 41.6 Did not qualify Peter Buckle 2008–09 3rd 16 6 72.7 Won Semi Final (Adelaide, 91–78) Lost Preliminary Final (Bulleen, 68–79) Peter Buckle 2009–10 4th 14 8 63.6 Won Elimination Final (Bendigo, 84–73) Lost Semi Final (Canberra, 39–60) Peter Buckle 2010–11 7th 10 12 45.4 Did not qualify Peter Buckle 2011–12 4th 13 9 59.0 Won Elimination Final (Sydney, 85–78) Lost Semi Final (Dandenong, 66–77) Chris Lucas 2012–13 4th 13 11 54.1 Won Semi Final (Adelaide, 60–53) Won Preliminary Final (Dandenong, 78–64) Lost Grand Final (Bendigo, 57–71) Chris Lucas 2013–14 3rd 16 8 66.6 Won Semi Final (Melbourne, 78–73) Won Preliminary Final (Dandenong, 74–71) Lost Grand Final (Bendigo, 83–94) Chris Lucas 2014–15 1st 17 5 77.7 Won Semi Final (Bendigo, 82–63) Won Grand Final (Bendigo, 75–65) Chris Lucas 2015–16 1st 17 7 70.8 Lost Semi Final (Perth, 72–91) Won Preliminary Final (South East Queensland, 91–71) Won Grand Final (Perth, 2–0) Chris Lucas 2016–17 4th 14 10 58.3 Lost Semi Final (Sydney, 0–2) Claudia Brassard 2017–18 3rd 14 7 66.6 Won Semi Final (Sydney, 2–0) Won Grand Final (Melbourne, 2–1) Claudia Brassard 2018–19 6th 9 12 42.8 Did not qualify Claudia Brassard 2019–20 8th 5 16 23.8 Did not qualify Shannon Seebohm 2020 2nd 9 4 69.2 Lost Semi Final (Southside, 93–106) Won Preliminary Final (Melbourne, 65–62) Lost Grand Final (Southside, 82–99) Shannon Seebohm2021–22 6th71041.1Did not qualifyShannon Seebohm2022–23 1st17480.9Won Semi Final (Perth, 2-0) Won Grand Final (Southside, 2-0)Shannon Seebohm2023–24 1st14766.6Loss Semi Final (Perth, 0-2)Shannon Seebohm Regular season 274 221 55.3 4 Minor Premierships Finals 19 15 55.8 4 WNBL Championships

Players Current roster

Former players Gina Stevens, (2002–2004) Jodie Datson, (2002–05) Natalie Porter, (2004–2006) Rachael McCully, (2004–2007, 2008–2015) Rohanee Cox, (2005–2010) Jennifer Crouse, (2005–2009) Kelly Wilson, (2005–2008, 2016–2018) Aneka Kerr, (2008–2010) Jo Hill, (2009–2011) Nadeen Payne, (2010–2012) Shanavia Dowdell, (2011–2012) Jessica Foley, (2011–2013) Suzy Batkovic, (2013–2019) Karlie Samuelson, (2022-2023)

Coaches and staff Owners Townsville Fire Limited (2011–present)

Head coaches Townsville Fire head coaches Name Start End Seasons Regular season Finals W L PCT G W L PCT G David Herbert 2001 2007 6 59 67 46.82 126 0 2 0.00 2 Peter Buckle 2007 2011 4 50 40 55.55 90 2 2 50.00 4 Chris Lucas 2011 2016 5 76 40 65.51 116 10 4 71.42 14 Claudia Brassard 2016 2019 3 37 29 56.06 66 4 3 57.14 7 Shannon Seebohm 2019 Current 4 14 20 41.17 34 1 2 33.33 3

References

External links Townsville Fire official website