Albury Wodonga Bandits is a

NBL1 East The NBL1 East, formerly the Waratah League, is a semi-professional basketball league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2021, Basketball New South Wales and the National B ...

club based in

Albury Albury () is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of the Murray River. Albury is the seat of local government for the council area which also bears the city's name – the ...

, New South Wales. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 East. The club is a division of the overarching Border Basketball Club, the major administrative basketball organisation in the

Albury–Wodonga Albury–Wodonga is the broad settlement incorporating the twin Australian cities of Albury and Wodonga, which are separated geographically by the Murray River and politically by a state border: Albury on the north of the river is part of New So ...

region. The Bandits play their home games at the Lauren Jackson Sports Centre. For sponsorship reasons, the two teams are known as the Southern Vale Homes Bandits.

Club history

Men's team

In 1984, a team known as the Wodonga Border Bulldogs entered the South Eastern Basketball League (SEBL). Based out of the Victorian city of

Wodonga Wodonga (Pallanganmiddang language, Waywurru: ''Wordonga'') is a city on the Victoria (Australia), Victorian side of the border with New South Wales, north-east of Melbourne, Australia. It is located wholly within the boundaries of the City of ...

, the Bulldogs' home venue was the Wodonga Sports and Leisure Centre. The Wodonga stadium was the original home court in 1984 before the venue split games with the newly constructed Albury Sports Stadium the following year. The Bulldogs' final game they hosted at the Wodonga Sports and Leisure Centre was on 25 August 1985 before changing their name to the Albury Wodonga Bandits in 1986 and re-locating to nearby Albury. Not a lot of success came for the Bandits over their first 17 seasons in the SEBL/SEABL/CBA/ABA. That changed in 2001 when coach Leigh Gooding and players Allen McCowan, Matt Sheehan,

Russell Hinder Russell Hinder (born 10 July 1979) is an Australian former professional basketball player who played 13 seasons in the NBL. In 1997, he attended the Australian Institute of Sport. Hinder attended the University of San Francisco before transfer ...

, Nick Grylewicz and Nick Payne helped lead the Bandits to championship success in the ABA's East Conference. The Bandits next tasted success in 2012 when they not only won the SEABL's South Conference title, but took home the SEABL National Championship after defeating the East Conference champion Dandenong Rangers in the grand final. In 2015, the Bandits returned to the SEABL Grand Final after winning the East Conference Championship, but couldn't claim National Championship honours after losing to the

Mount Gambier Pioneers Mount Gambier Pioneers is a member club of NBL1 South based in Mount Gambier, South Australia. The club fields both a men's and women's team. The club is a division of Basketball Mount Gambier, the major administrative basketball organisation in t ...

Women's team

In 2006, an Albury Wodonga Bandits women's team entered the SEABL. After missing the playoffs in each of their first three seasons, the Lady Bandits qualified for the post-season for the first time in 2009 behind coach Kennedy Kereama and star import duo

Lisa Wallbutton Lisa Wallbutton (born 14 January 1986 in Henderson, New Zealand) is a basketball player for New Zealand. She won Outstanding Young Player in the 2004 and 2005 seasons, and MVP at the 2005 NZ U23 tournament. She debuted for the Tall Ferns (New Z ...

and Toni Edmondson. Heading into the 2014 season, the Lady Bandits had a 39–153 win–loss record. In 2019, following the demise of the SEABL, the Bandits joined the

NBL1 South NBL1 South is a NBL1 conference based in South East Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2019, Basketball Victoria partnered with the National Basketball League (NBL) to create NBL1 to replace the South East Australi ...

. For the 2022 season, the Bandits joined the

References

External links

Official website
{{NBL1 East South East Australian Basketball League teams Sport in Albury, New South Wales 1984 establishments in Australia Basketball teams established in 1984 Basketball teams in New South Wales