List of ABA National Champions

The Australian Basketball Association (ABA) National Finals was the finals series of the ABA contested between the best teams from the affiliated conferences. The National Finals were held every year between 1981 and 2008 except for 2001, when the event was cancelled due to the collapse of Ansett Airlines.[1][2]

The ABA's roots can be traced back as far as 1965, and had a rich history until its demise in 2008. The ABA had a sole South/East conference from 1981 to 1985, then separate South and East conferences from 1986 to 1993. A South/East women's conference was introduced for the first time in 1990. In 1994, a North conference was included, which was followed by a Central conference in 1998, a Big V conference in 2000, and a Waratah conference in 2001. By 2001, the ABA consisted of six men's conferences and five women's conferences.

The ABA National Finals became known as the Australian Club Championships (ACC) in 2007 and continued on as such in 2008. Following the 2008 season, Basketball Australia's Competitions Commission took over the management of all state-based leagues and competitions from 2009 onward, thus disbanding the ABA and leaving its affiliated conferences to become independent leagues.

Men

South Eastern Conference roots

Years	South Eastern Conference Champion	Ref
1965–70	Melbourne Church of England	[3]
1971–80	League abandoned due to annual Australian Club Championships

ABA National Champions

	South/East conference
	South conference
	East conference
	North conference
	Big V conference
	Waratah conference

Year	Venue	National Champion	GF result	National Runner-up	MVP	Ref
1981	Albert Park	Geelong Cats	97 – 88	Frankston Bears		[4]
1982	Albert Park	Frankston Bears	89 – 87	Melbourne Tigers		[4]
1983	Albert Park	Melbourne Tigers	114 – 102	Bulleen Boomers		[4]
1984	Coburg	Bulleen Boomers	109 – 108	Chelsea Gulls		[4]
1985	Kilsyth	Kilsyth Cobras	98 – 87	Bulleen Boomers		[4]
1986	Bendigo	Newcastle Hunters	124 – 117 (OT)	Sydney City Slickers		[4]
1987	Devonport	Adelaide Buffalos	124 – 102	Newcastle Hunters		[4]
1988	Broadmeadows	Bendigo Braves	121 – 118	Bulleen Boomers		[4]
1989	Kilsyth	Ballarat Miners	125 – 119	Bendigo Braves		[4]
1990	Boronia (Knox)	Bulleen Boomers	128 – 101	Ballarat Miners		[4]
1991	Boronia (Knox)	Knox Raiders	81 – 79	Ballarat Miners		[4]
1992	Boronia (Knox)	Sydney City Comets	117 – 90	Ballarat Miners		[4]
1993	Keilor	NE Melbourne Arrows	124 – 113	Murray Bridge Bullets		[4][5]
1994	Bendigo	Ballarat Miners	104 – 81	Cairns Marlins	Eric Hayes (Ballarat)	[4][6]
1995	Liverpool	Ballarat Miners	101 – 86	Frankston Blues	Grant Keys (Ballarat)	[4][7]
1996	Devonport	NW Tasmania Originals	101 – 88	Knox Raiders	Dave Biwer (NW Tasmania)	[4]
1997	Geelong	Suncoast Clippers	80 – 78	Cairns Marlins	Billy Ross (Suncoast)	[4][8]
1998	Gold Coast	Cairns Marlins	88 – 74	Frankston Blues	Chris Sneed (Cairns)	[4][9][10]
1999	Canberra	Geelong Supercats	98 – 78	Kilsyth Cobras	Rodney Walker (Geelong)	[4][11]
2000	Bendigo	Hobart Chargers	76 – 75	Kilsyth Cobras	Ben Harvey (Hobart)	[12][13][14]
2001	Not held[lower-alpha 1]
2002	Bendigo	Hobart Chargers	98 – 93	Australian Institute of Sport	Andrew Beattie (Hobart)	[16]
2003	Bendigo	Mount Gambier Pioneers	127 – 113	Ballarat Miners	Kurt Russell (Mount Gambier)	[16]
2004	Geelong	Cairns Marlins	104 – 100	NW Tasmania Thunder	Aaron Grabau (Cairns)	[16]
2005	Geelong	Bendigo Braves	102 – 98	Sydney Comets	Jason Cameron (Bendigo)	[16]
2006	Newcastle	Geelong Supercats	94 – 80	Dandenong Rangers	Ash Cannan (Dandenong)	[16]
2007	MSAC	Cairns Marlins	110 – 98	Dandenong Rangers	Aaron Grabau (Cairns)	[17]
2008	MSAC	Rockhampton Rockets	103 – 99	Hobart Chargers	Ryan McDade (Rockhampton)	[18]

Results by teams

Teams	Win	Loss	Total	Year(s) won	Year(s) lost
Ballarat Miners	3	3	6	1989, 1994, 1995	1990, 1991, 1992
Cairns Marlins	3	2	5	1998, 2004, 2007	1994, 1997
Geelong Cats/Supercats	3	0	3	1981, 1999, 2006	—
Bulleen Boomers	2	3	5	1984, 1990	1983, 1985, 1988
Bendigo Braves	2	1	3	1988, 2005	1989
Hobart Chargers	2	1	3	2000, 2002	2008
Frankston Bears/Blues	1	3	4	1982	1981, 1995, 1998
Kilsyth Cobras	1	2	3	1985	1999, 2000
Sydney City Slickers/Sydney City Comets/Sydney Comets	1	2	3	1992	1986, 2005
Melbourne Tigers	1	1	2	1983	1982
Newcastle Hunters	1	1	2	1986	1987
Knox Raiders	1	1	2	1991	1996
North-West Tasmania Originals/Thunder	1	1	2	1996	2004
Adelaide Buffalos	1	0	1	1987	—
North East Melbourne Arrows	1	0	1	1993	—
Suncoast Clippers	1	0	1	1997	—
Mount Gambier Pioneers	1	0	1	2003	—
Rockhampton Rockets	1	0	1	2008	—
Dandenong Rangers	0	2	2	—	2006, 2007
Chelsea Gulls	0	1	1	—	1984
Murray Bridge Bullets	0	1	1	—	1993
Australian Institute of Sport	0	1	1	—	2002

Women

ABA National Champions

	South/East conference
	North conference
	Central conference
	Big V conference
	Waratah conference

Year	Venue	National Champion	GF result	National Runner-up	MVP	Ref
1990	Boronia (Knox)	Dandenong Rangers	92 – 56	Sturt Sabres		[4]
1991	Boronia (Knox)	Dandenong Rangers	110 – 64	Bayside Blues		[4]
1992	Boronia (Knox)	Knox Raiders	92 – 69	Bayside Blues		[4]
1993	Keilor	Frankston Blues	100 – 85	Broadmeadows Broncos		[4]
1994	Bendigo	Knox Raiders	99 – 79	Frankston Blues		[4]
1995	Liverpool	Launceston Tornadoes	110 – 96	Adelaide Opals		[4][7]
1996	Devonport	Knox Raiders	86 – 85	Launceston Tornadoes		[4]
1997	Geelong	Frankston Blues	98 – 69	Townsville Sunbirds		[4]
1998	Gold Coast	Kilsyth Cobras	87 – 69	Knox Raiders		[4]
1999	Canberra	Southern Districts Spartans	79 – 69	Norwood Flames		[4]
2000	Bendigo	Bendigo Braves	77 – 56	Nunawading Spectres	Kristi Harrower (Bendigo)	[12]
2001	Not held[lower-alpha 1]
2002	Bendigo	Kilsyth Cobras	103 – 94 (OT)	Sturt Sabres	Jessica Mahony (Sturt)	[16]
2003	Bendigo	Bendigo Braves	91 – 66	Forestville Eagles	Larissa Cavanagh (Bendigo)	[16]
2004	Geelong	Frankston Blues	69 – 66	North Adelaide Rockets	Erin Phillips (North Adelaide)	[16]
2005	Geelong	Ballarat Miners	77 – 53	Knox Raiders	Andrea McMahon (Ballarat)	[16]
2006	Newcastle	Ballarat Miners	69 – 66	Bendigo Braves	Karen Ashby (Ballarat)	[16]
2007	MSAC	Townsville Flames	92 – 49	Hume City Broncos	Rohanee Cox (Townsville)	[19]
2008	MSAC	Townsville Flames	73 – 57	Sydney Comets	Cherie Smith (Townsville)	[18]

Results by teams

Teams	Win	Loss	Total	Year(s) won	Year(s) lost
Bayside/Frankston Blues	3	3	6	1993, 1997, 2004	1991, 1992, 1994
Knox Raiders	3	2	5	1992, 1994, 1996	1998, 2005
Bendigo Braves	2	1	3	2000, 2003	2006
Townsville Sunbirds/Flames	2	1	3	2007, 2008	1997
Dandenong Rangers	2	0	2	1990, 1991	—
Kilsyth Cobras	2	0	2	1998, 2002	—
Ballarat Miners	2	0	2	2005, 2006	—
Launceston Tornadoes	1	1	2	1995	1996
Southern Districts Spartans	1	0	1	1999	—
Sturt Sabres	0	2	2	—	1990, 2002
Broadmeadows Broncos	0	1	1	—	1993
Adelaide Opals	0	1	1	—	1995
Norwood Flames	0	1	1	—	1999
Nunawading Spectres	0	1	1	—	2000
Forestville Eagles	0	1	1	—	2003
North Adelaide Rockets	0	1	1	—	2004
Hume City Broncos	0	1	1	—	2007
Sydney Comets	0	1	1	—	2008

See also

• List of SEABL champions

Notes

1. The 2001 National Finals were scheduled for Bendigo, however the demise of Ansett saw the difficult decision taken to cancel the Finals. The decision was made only as a last resort after all contingencies were evaluated.[15]

References

1. Whalen, Patrick F. "Experience Conquers Youth". chargers.customer.netspace.net.au. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
2. Magnay, Jacquelin (23 October 2004). "Ansett's slam dunk on sports companies". SMH.com.au. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
3. "FLASHBACK 21: SEBL Finals, Sept.20, 1986". BotiNagy.com. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
4. "ABA PREMIER AND RUNNERS-UP CLUBS". ABABasketball.net.au. Archived from the original on 7 April 2001.
5. "FROM THE VAULT - 1993 CBA FINAL - MURRAY BRIDGE vs NE MELBOURNE". SEABL.com.au. 18 January 2011. Archived from the original on 23 February 2017.
6. "FROM THE VAULT - 1994 CBA GRAND FINAL - BALLARAT v CAIRNS". SEABL.com.au. 14 October 2010. Archived from the original on 24 March 2017.
7. "1995 CBA Mens Final Frankston Vs Ballarat". YouTube.com. 7 October 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
8. Peacock, Harold (14 January 1998). "CBA champions reload". reocities.com. Archived from the original on 15 June 2017. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
9. "1998 CBA Mens Finals Homepage". oocities.com. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
10. "1998 CBA National Final Frankston Vs Cairns". YouTube.com. 23 October 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
11. Ractliffe, Damien (12 June 2019). "Geelong Supercats: 1999 imports Rod Walker, Clyde Jordan in town to celebrate 20-year championship reunion". geelongadvertiser.com.au. Retrieved 21 January 2020. SUPERCATS great Rod Walker says the camaraderie of the 1999 championship team made flying back to Australia for the 20-year reunion a no-brainer. The star American import played an unbelievable finals series for the Supercats to help his side win the Australian Basketball Association title in 1999, to claim the most valuable player of the series.
12. "2000 Australian Basketball Association National Champions Final Four Results". ababasketball.net.au. Archived from the original on 18 October 2000.
13. "FROM THE SEABL VAULT - 2000 ABA FINAL - HOBART vs KILSYTH". SEABL.com.au. 19 November 2010. Archived from the original on 22 January 2017.
14. "Harvey eyes fourth SEABL title". BendigoAdvertiser.com.au. 11 August 2005. Retrieved 26 June 2017. That encounter was the 2000 ABA national finals in Bendigo when Harvey was named MVP as he led Hobart to a thrilling one-point victory.
15. "Basketball Australia Annual Report 2001" (PDF). clearinghouseforsport.gov.au. p. 25. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
16. "ABA National Champions". SportsTG.com. 26 May 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
17. "Marlins celebrate national title win". ABC.net.au. 27 August 2007. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
18. "Rockets are number 1". TheMorningBulletin.com.au. 1 September 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
19. "Road to the National Finals: ACC National Champions". ABABasketball.net.au. Archived from the original on 19 March 2012.

External links

• ABA National Champions 1981–1999
• ABA National Champions 2002–2006
• ABA National player awards