Bendigo Lady Braves set sights on Ballarat Rush

Last year's SEABL south conference grand finalists begin their 2015 campaign against a new-look Ballarat Rush.

An always intriguing contest between the arch-rivals has been made even more so, with the appearance of seven members - on opposing sides - of the 2015-16 version of the Bendigo Spirit.

Kelly Wilson, sister Andrea Wilson and SEABL stalwart Jane Chalmers will don the blue and yellow of the Lady Braves.

The Rush have been bolstered by the inclusions of former Lady Braves guard Kerryn Harrington, American Joy Burke and forward Ashleigh Spencer.

They join Spirit teammate Molly Mathews, who is in her third season for the Rush.

Rarely in a SEABL contest would so many players be so well known to each other.

The Lady Braves, under coach Jonathan Goodman, will start the season in the east conference.

While some division rivalries might have changed, the hunger and drive to atone for last year's grand final loss remains, according to recruit Keely Froling.

Despite a restricted preparation, Froling was confident the Lady Braves had the right blend of players to again challenge for a conference title.

"The team is coming together - we haven't had long to prepare but we are already meshing well," she said.

"The short preparation isn't ideal, but I think we have enough experience and we get along well enough that they won't show much.

"We'll certainly get better and better as the year goes on."

The Lady Braves will tonight be without star forward Elyse Penaluna, who is in Canberra for an Australian Opals pre-Olympic camp.

But there will be plenty of familiar faces on-court for the opener tomorrow night, including Elise Strachan, Alex Strawhorn and Kelly Wilson, who is fresh from leading the WNBL in assists (5.46 per game), to go along with her 11.4 point average.

Wilson led from the front in the grand final, with 26 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

She will surpass 200 SEABL games this season after she played her 300th WNBL game late last year.

Froling, has had less than two weeks to settle into Bendigo, after arriving from Texas, where she spent the past two years with Southern Methodist University.

The 20-year-old said she was excited to be back in the SEABL after stints with Canberra and the Centre of Excellence before her departure for the US.

“It’s my first SEABL match in a while. Last time I was really young, but I loved the competition,” she said.

“It’s been hard keeping track of things being overseas, but I’ve tried keeping up as much as possible”

"There will obviously be a bit of rivalry out there, with the (Spirit) girls all knowing each other. It will be interesting.”

Froling believed the team was capable of making a strong bid for championship honours.