Albury Wodonga Bandits

Club history

The Albury Wodonga Bandits began life as the Wodonga Border Bulldogs, a team that joined the South East Australian Basketball League in 1984. They played their home games at the Wodonga Sports and Leisure Centre. The next year, games were shared between that venue and the new Albury Sports Stadium. The Bulldogs played their last home game at the Wodonga centre on 25 August 1985, and in 1986 the team was renamed the Albury Wodonga Bandits and moved to Albury. For 17 seasons, the men’s team struggled. Then in 2001, under coach Leigh Gooding and players Allen McCowan, Matt Sheehan, Russell Hinder, Nick Grylewicz and Nick Payne, they won the East Conference championship. A women’s team joined the SEABL in 2006. After missing the playoffs for three years, the Lady Bandits made the post-season in 2009, coached by Kennedy Kereama and led by imports Lisa Wallbutton and Toni Edmondson. By the start of the 2014 season, the women’s record was 39 wins and 153 losses. In 2012, the men’s team won the South Conference title and the overall SEABL championship. In 2015, they won the East Conference championship but lost the SEABL Grand Final to the Mount Gambier Pioneers. After the SEABL ended, the Bandits joined the NBL1 in 2019. They played in the NBL1 South in 2021 and moved to the NBL1 East in 2022. That same year, the women’s team, featuring Lauren Jackson and Unique Thompson, won the NBL1 East championship. In 2024, the Bandits women became the first team in NBL1 East history to finish the regular season undefeated, but they lost two straight finals games and were eliminated from the playoffs.