Is Saffron Shiels the WNBL's next big thing?

Shannon Seebohm says she could one day be the best player in the league. With several stars departing Townsville, the stage is set for the 17-year-old to step into the spotlight.

Photo credit: FIBA

Let’s play a game: You’re the GM of a WNBL team, and you can pick any player in the league to build your team around. Forget any financials, and focus on the future. Where do you start?

Do you take Jade Melbourne, arguably the league’s most exciting young player? Is is Izzy Borlase, a teenage MVP finalist fresh from her first All-Star Five nod? Do you opt for experience, and build around former a former MVP in Cayla George, Steph Talbot, or Anneli Maley?

Or, do you pick a player based entirely on upside, and where they could be in five years? If you did, you might have landed on Nyadiew Puoch or Shaneice Swain, but here’s another consideration: Saffron Shiels, the 17-year-old who recently wrapped her rookie season averaging just two points per game for Townsville.

She might not be everyone’s first pick, but according to Shannon Seebohm:

“She has the chance to develop into the best player in the league one day.”

It’s a bold proclamation, but one the Townsville coach didn’t shy away from making when the Fire signed the teenager to its roster last season. The crazy thing is, that day might be closer than you think.