Aussie juniors now 'bleeding green and gold'

• Peter Lonergan is the General Manager of the CoE and Performance Pathways for Basketball Australia
• Australia won six gold medals across FIBA Asia Cup tournaments in 2025, along with a silver at the FIBA U17 Women's World Cup
• The Crocs and Sapphires have won every Asia Cup since joining in 2017

The man in charge of Basketball Australia's elite pathways believes the opportunities being part of the Asian region presents the country's best juniors isn't "cheapening" the green and gold jersey, it's igniting more passion in it.

Australia joined the Asian region in 2017 and has had unprecedented success ever since with the Crocs (boys) and Sapphires (girls) winning all four gold medals, while the Boomers men recently completed a three-peat and the Opals women winning their first earlier this year.

The move has provided more chances for Australia's youngsters to represent their country at FIBA events, starting from the Oceania Cup at under-15s, to the Asia Cup at under-16s and under-18s with world cups at the under-17 and under-19 age groups. The change is significant from what it was previously, including when former Boomers guard Jason Cadee was a junior, with the first opportunity to play international basketball then being at under-19s for the Emus or Gems.

Speaking to Cadee - a former Emu himself - on 'Cut to the Jase', BA's general manager of the CoE and performance pathways Peter Lonergan said elite talents are now "bleeding green and gold" from a younger age.

"Well (it) wasn't all that long ago. know, when (Cadee) was on the Emus and it was the best of three qualification series in Oceania against New Zealand," Lonergan told Cadee on basketball.com.au's latest podcast.

"Now we basically have 15, 16, 17, 18s and 19s national teams through Oceania, Asia and then World Cup. So the good thing is it's more opportunities, more players are getting to wear the green and gold.

"Some of the older people and more established people, probably me included, said, you know, is it cheapening the green and gold?

"But it's going the other way. There's a passion for the green and gold, just like there was when you were an Emu and then into the Boomers. Now, 15-year-olds, they're bleeding green and gold, and that's just been a positive."

Following a year of gold medals with the Crocs, Sapphires, Boomers, Opals and Gangarrus 3x3 teams all achieving Asia Cup glory within seven months of each other in 2025, Lonergan said they have taken steps to ensure the next generation understood what it meant to wear the green and gold.

"I think the coaches do a good job in making sure they understand the gravity of it and that they're part of something bigger than themselves," he said.

"A lot of the camps, we have Opals and Boomers greats come in. We had Tess Madgen, Dave Anderson, Nathan Jawai, Jenna O'Hea, Kathleen McLeod, that's just a few names that we've had in recent camps just to talk about lived experiences, what it means to talk about not taking it for granted.

"So there's a lot of investment in making sure that the jersey still has that same cachet and the same, I guess, honour that it did 10, 15, 20 years ago."

Lonergan also mentioned tapping in to coaches, former players and others with "lived experiences" in the green and gold has been a focus for the pathway in recent times.

"A term we've really tapped into is lived experiences," he said.

"We want to talk to as many people as we can with a lived experience. In other words, they've played or they've coached in the green and gold. They understand not only the honour and the cache of it, but the hard work and challenges that come with it.

"Just recently with the Crocs in Mongolia, Vandy (Greg Vanderjagt) was the head coach, a former Emu and Rhys Carter was an assistant coach. Jenna O'Hea's involved in our coaching setup and now Renae Garlepp, formerly Renae Camino, obviously was just the coach of the tournament for the Gems.

"We're trying to get them into coaching, not at the expense of others, but just build those things."

See Lonergan on the full episode of 'Cut to the Jase' in the video player above.