New Home, New Chapter: Tolo on her WNBL return
After playing in Europe the last three years, Marianna Tolo decided it was time to return to Australia and join a new club for the first time. She’s loving Bendigo and excited for this new season.
There comes a time when you just know that a change is on the cards, and it’s not always out of necessity or because something has gone wrong. No, sometimes it’s as simple as the stars aligning.
That was true for Marianna Tolo when she decided it was time to return to Australia to play basketball - to return to the WNBL.
A four-time WNBL champion with the UC Capitals, a WNBL Defensive Player of the Year award recipient and now an Olympic medallist, Tolo had been playing in Europe (most recently with Spar Girona in Spain) the last three seasons and had done it all overseas. But at 35 years of age, and having forced her husband, Dan Jackson, to follow her around Europe the past few years, she felt she owed it to him to now follow his career.
Jackson was offered the GM role with the WNBL’s Bendigo Spirit. With him moving back to Australia, Tolo began to weigh up her options, ultimately deciding to join him in Bendigo.
“He couldn’t say no to that opportunity after not having worked, following me around Europe the last couple of years. So, that was a good opportunity for him, and it made me stop and think about whether it was time to come home,” Tolo told The Pick and Roll at Wednesday’s WNBL season launch at the new ‘Reimagined’ Foot Locker store in Melbourne.
“I definitely considered playing overseas, maybe somewhere in China again. But, it just felt right. [And] having Kelsey Griffin in the team – who’s a close friend of mine, Kelly Wilson, Abby Wehrung, Micah [Simpson] – who I’ve all played with before, and then also having Kennedy [Kereama] as coach, who I played NBL1 with at Knox, it kind of started feeling right.
“Then once the dust settled from my European season, I knew it was time and it was the right decision for me.”
The WNBL has long been considered one of the best women’s basketball leagues in the world, and has only grown in terms of quality and coverage since Tolo last played here in the 2020 hub season.
The strength of the league has resulted in new TV broadcast deals, broader coverage locally and abroad, as well as a higher calibre of imports playing here year after year. That has also led to more Australian players making their mark overseas both in the WNBA and in some of the strongest European powerhouse clubs and leagues.
But for Tolo, having played both in the WNBA and in Europe, she’s excited to rejoin the league at a time when she thinks it’s probably never been more competitive.
“It’s so cool to see how far the league has come and you see the players that are going overseas now and they’re doing really well in Europe. And it’s testament to the players and the talent that we have here,” said Tolo.
“And the growth of the league over the last few years that it’s been more visible, and people are actually respecting it as it should be now. So, I think it’s going to be a really tough league. We have eight teams and any team can win it.
Of course, one thing that will be different for Tolo will be not playing in Canberra. She had previously played every one of her WNBL seasons there either with the AIS or the UC Capitals.
But this season, she’ll be playing against the Caps for the Spirit. And she won’t have long to wait as the two teams will meet in round 2 at the AIS Arena. Tolo can already tell it is going to feel quite strange being on the opposition team there.
“It really is,” she admitted.
“I love playing at the Arena [AIS] though, so I’m really looking forward to that and I’ve heard it’s sold out already. And if playing overseas at the Olympics in Lille against France was anything to go by, you can beat a home team that’s got a huge crowd.
“But, I can’t wait to go there. It’s going to be a weird feeling playing against the Capitals after being with them for so long, but it’s a new chapter of life and it’s great to see players like Jade Melbourne taking over ownership of that team and to really drive that for them. So yeah, a soft spot for them for sure.”
Does that mean Tolo might have something extra in store for Jade Melbourne when they meet? Some extra hard screens maybe?
“Oh we’ll see,” she laughed.
“I’ll try and get the hands out ready to block her, but she’s pretty crafty so I don’t know if that’ll happen.”
Credit: WNBL & Speak Communications
Tolo’s focus though, is on her new team. This Bendigo Spirit roster has been revamped this offseason under Tolo’s husband Jackson and Head Coach Kennedy Kereama.
Aside from re-signing Kelly Wilson and Casey Samuels, they’ve added young talent in Ash Hannan and Opal Bird, along with Tolo and her Opals teammate, Sami Whitcomb, and rounded out the new signings with WNBA talent Veronica Burton.
Combining those additions with Kelsey Griffin and Abby Wehrung gives Kereama a stacked roster. Not only that, there is a lot of veteran experience and more importantly, WNBL championship experience on the team.
Tolo knows that having such depth and experience is great, but the fact that she’s played with a lot of those players before makes it all the more exciting for her.
“We have a team that has won many championships collectively, which is special and not always easy to get,” Tolo acknowledged.
“So, to have all the experience of the likes of myself, Sami, Kelly, Kelsey, you know – the older heads in the team, then plus Abbey, Casey. They’ve also had a core few of them for the last couple of years so I think that will help.
“It’s shaping up really nicely. We’ve got a good spread of youth and veterans, of size and speed and strength. So, I think the puzzle pieces are all starting to fit together.
“And I firmly believe that it’s not the team that’s the best at the start of the season that wins – it never is. It’s the ones that can better and better as the season progresses and find ways to adjust, and then come good when it matters most.”
Tolo is also acutely aware that there has been a long drought of success in Bendigo. The Spirit made three straight grand finals from 2013 through 2015 under Bernie Harrower, winning the first two. But there’s been no success since Harrower left in 2015. Tolo is excited that this group could be the ones to change that.
“Bendigo hasn’t made the finals in ten years, but I think it’s about time.”
And the competitiveness that’s been shown amongst that group in preseason training to date is something Tolo knows will help them as the season progresses.
But more than that, this team has fun together. And that’s especially true of Tolo and Griffin, who have been friends for a long time and know how to strike that balance between making each other laugh and helping each other work. And to this point, they haven’t had to stop each other from having a good time in order to get serious.
“You know what? We do have a lot of fun and I think practices have been so fun because it is competitive and we really get into each other,” Tolo explained.
“Even like Kelsey’s shooting free throws to win the game for their team and I’m like, ‘No pressure.’ And then she just puts that smile on her face and then the eyes set in, and you know she’s not gonna miss.
“But when we are able to compete against each other while still having a good time, I think that’s really good for us and that will help us grow. We’re all competitive and we’re gonna go at each other at practice, and I think that will help us in the long run.”
One thing that may help Tolo specifically, is that she’s been away from the WNBL for the past three seasons. She’s been playing overseas where she’s really seen it all, but she’s also become a much more skilled and consistent player.
However, Tolo thinks that her biggest advantage may just be that her opponents haven’t seen her play for three years, aside from watching her with the Opals.
“I honestly think it’s a bit of an advantage when you haven’t been in the league for a while,” she admitted.
“People might forget what you like to do or what you’re like day in day out. Because being with the Opals, people have seen those games recently, but a [league] season is different. Playing week after week, a couple times a week, there’s a whole different environment and it brings a whole set of challenges of whether you can adjust game after game and week on week, and get better.
“I think for me, playing overseas I’ve been that back to the basket big which doesn’t always happen anymore. It’s kind of a lost art and not sure if the WNBL has had much of that the last couple of years. And so that’s what I’ll be looking to take advantage of, for sure.”
Credit: FIBA
It’s been a period of change for Tolo, but one that she’s embracing. As she gets to know Bendigo more and more, she’s already enjoying engaging with the people and the town.
Setting up her new home with husband Dan, Tolo has been shopping for things on Facebook Marketplace and encouraging anyone she interacts with there to come to a Spirit game this season.
She also can’t wait for that first home game at Red Energy Arena on November 2nd as she and her teammates have done a lot of community engagement since she’s arrived.
“I’m loving Bendigo so far,” she said.
“I love country towns. You know I grew up in Mackay and I think it’s a similar size, so it’s really nice to feel that close-knit community. I don’t know many people in Bendigo, but every time I go out there’s friendly people out there and people that I do know saying ‘hi’.
“So, it’s really cool and really special, and I can’t wait to play at Red Energy Arena in front of the fans this season.
“We’re trying to get out into the community a lot more this season with clinics and promotions, because we understand that we need to inspire, not just anyone to come to the game, it’s about inspiring the next generation of basketballers, the next generation of sports stars – whatever that may be.
“And we want to make an impact in the right way, and I think that will transfer to people coming to the game.”
It’s been a long time coming for Tolo to return to the WNBL, but it felt like the right time and Bendigo feels like the right fit for her. If she and her teammates can turn the Spirit into a winner again, then her new home and this new chapter, could become a favourite stop in her incredible journey.