NBL1 Women's Head Coach Matt Hunt Re-Signs
The Norwood Flames are delighted to announce that we’ve resigned Women’s Head Coach Matt Hunt for the 2027 NBL1 Season.
Matt Hunt had his first season with the Flames last year, he brought with him multiple years of coaching experience in Darwin, including being an NBL1 North assistant coach with the Darwin Salties. Coach Hunt described his coaching philosophy as someone who focuses on fostering positive culture through hard-work and continuous learning. He believed in fast-paced offence which aggressively attacked inside. His experience and mindset were more than intriguing for the Flames and we were excited to bring him in as our Women’s Head Coach.
The NBL1 Central season was highly anticipated for fans of the Flames. From star import talents like Dara Mabrey and Cali Clark, a well of young talent waiting to be tapped into and a newly signed head coach to unlock everything, the Flames were poised to be an exciting team.
Hunt wasn’t dealt a perfect hand though; as early in the season Mabrey who was averaging over 20 points per game left for a WNBA training camp position. Despite this, the Flames women were still very strong, bringing in Ally Becki shortly to fill the gap left by Mabrey and continuing on to finish 3rd in the NBL1 Central Standings. Hunt led his team to the 3rd best point differential in the league, bringing dominance on both ends of the court. His coaching helped 2 of his players obtain All-Star 5 selections – both Ally Becki and Cali Clark! Cali also won the Lorraine Eiler Medal under coach Hunt.
A deep post-season run saw the Flames reach the preliminary finals, just falling short of a Grand Final appearance. We were super impressed with the NBL1 Women’s squad led by Matt Hunt and were ecstatic with Hunt’s performance as head coach. We are more than happy to have the opportunity to be re-signing Matt Hunt and are looking forward to what he can bring us in the 2027 NBL1 Central season.
“I’m incredibly excited to be continuing this journey with Norwood Flames. What we’ve built over the past season — the culture, the connection and the belief within our group — is something I’m extremely proud of.
There’s still so much more we want to achieve. I’m grateful for the opportunity to continue leading this program, developing our players and building something that our club and community can be proud of.
I can’t wait to get back to work and keep pushing this group forward.” – Coach Matt Hunt on returning to the Flames for 2027.
Go Flames 🔥🔥
