WNBL draw: Canberra Capitals to play at Tuggeranong after convention centre clash

The WNBL has finalised the fixture list for the 2023-24 season, with game details and dates to be published on Wednesday morning.

The Canberra Times can reveal the Capitals will play the bulk of their games at the National Convention Centre again, but they will return to their spiritual home at Tuggeranong for the first time in more than six years.

The Capitals will start their campaign with a clash against Adelaide at home on November 5, and then finish the season at the convention centre against the Melbourne Boomers on February 24.

The seven-time champions had been hoping to play at the AIS Arena this season after being shutout of the best basketball venue in Canberra since the 2019-20 grand final triumph.

But delays to the $8-10 million worth of safety improvements required to open the doors again have consigned the Capitals to the convention centre and a move to the deep south.

It will be the first time they have played at the venue since 2017, although they did schedule finals games to be played at Tuggeranong two years ago before the WNBL forced them to forfeit due to a COVID-19 outbreak.

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The Capitals had spent $30,000 upgrading the lighting at Tuggeranong to ensure the venue was ready for a national broadcast.

And while the players and coaches regularly used the Tuggeranong facility as a training base last season, the convention centre schedule clash and AIS Arena unavailability is set to reignite the indoor venue debate.

The Capitals compete with conferences, exhibitions, concerts and other events for convention centre booking dates, which can become problematic around finals given the unknown nature of where and when games will be played.

They have managed to secure regular-season bookings at the convention centre for almost every game of the past five years, but they were unable to secure the venue for two matches next season.

The clash comes as Australian Sports Commission boss Kieren Perkins says work at the AIS Arena is moving at an "epically glacial pace" due to pressure on the building industry and increasing costs.

It was hoped the arena would reopen by the end of this year, but the timeline has been pushed back to mid 2024, with the ACT government expected to take over operational duties of the venue.

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr wants the AIS Arena to be a long-term home for the Capitals, with plans to build a separate 7500 indoor arena in the city for WNBL grand finals, marquee international matches and concerts.

"The reality is that our city misses out on most of touring artists who do the east-coast route because we lack a suitably-sized indoor arena," Barr said.

"In discussions with promoters and the ticketing agencies, I asked a very simple question: What does Canberra need to do to get back on that touring route to have artists come to our city?

"The clear response was that we lacked a big enough indoor venue ... a venue more focused in its design on supporting live music. I'm going to draw a particular distinction between the role of the AIS Arena as a sports arena.

"We want to [use the new venue] for live music, with enough space in the design that you could drop a sports court in for a grand final of the WNBL, or the Australian Diamonds, Opals or Boomers are in town when you need more than 5000 seats."

The full WNBL fixture list will be published on Wednesday morning, with the Capitals hoping to lift themselves off the bottom of the ladder after a disastrous 2022-23 campaign.

The Capitals won just two of 21 last season as they struggled with injuries in Kristen Veal's first season as coach.

They have recruited strongly to add key players around Jade Melbourne, but they lost rising star Shaneice Swain to the Sydney Flames while Canberra junior Isabelle Bourne has signed with the Adelaide Lightning.

Sunday, November 5: Capitals v Adelaide at National Convention Centre, 5.30pm

Wednesday, November 8: Capitals v Southside Flyers at National Convention Centre, 7pm

Wednesday, November 15: Sydney Flames v Capitals at Sydney, 7pm

Saturday, November 18: Townsville Fire v Capitals at Townsville, 7.30pm

Saturday, December 2: Southside Flyers v Capitals at Melbourne, 5pm

Sunday, December 10: Capitals v Townsville at National Convention Centre, 5.30pm

Friday, December 15: Capitals v Melbourne Boomers at Tuggeranong, 5.30pm

Thursday, December 21: Capitals v Adelaide at National Convention Centre, 7pm

Wednesday, December 27: Perth Lynx v Capitals at Perth, 6.30pm

Saturday, January 6: Southside Flyers v Capitals at Melbourne, 7pm

Thursday, January 11: Capitals v Perth Lynx at National Convention Centre, 7pm

Sunday, January 14: Bendigo Spirit v Capitals at Bendigo, 3.30pm

Friday, January 19: Sydney Flames v Capitals at Sydney, 7pm

Thursday, January 25: Bendigo Spirit v Capitals at Bendigo, 6pm

Sunday, January 28: Adelaide Lightning v Capitals at Adelaide, 3pm

Wednesday, January 31: Capitals v Sydney Flames at National Convention Centre, 7pm

Saturday, February 3: Capitals v Townsville Fire at National Convention Centre, 5.30pm

Thursday, February 15: Capitals v Bendigo Spirit at Tuggeranong, 7pm

Sunday, February 18: Perth Lynx v Capitals at Perth, 3.30pm

Saturday, February 24: Capitals v Melbourne Boomers at National Convention Centre, 2pm

Semi finals: February 28-March 7

Grand final: March 10-16

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