"Where I belong": Blicavs on WNBL comeback

• Sara Blicavs has signed to make her WNBL comeback with the Canberra Capitals
• She is a two-time WNBL champion and played for the Opals at the 2020 Olympic Games
• Blicavs is also a contributor for basketball.com.au

Sara Blicavs’ remarkable comeback from spinal surgery will continue in Canberra, with the two-time WNBL champion signing with the Capitals for the 2025-26 season.

Blicavs joins a Canberra squad that looks set to rise up the ladder, and the addition of the Opal forward will provide a major boost to a young and exciting core.

Having already locked in superstar Jade Melbourne, along with rising stars Nyadiew Puoch and Monique Bobongie — Canberra has sent a message to the rest of the league by signing Blicavs and fellow Opal Zitina Aokuso through free agency.

Blicavs’ decision to join Canberra, a place she’s familiar with after starting her WNBL career in the nation’s capital with the Australian Institute of Sport in 2009, came down to finding an environment that checked all the boxes.

“I think for me, just after my back surgery, I'm all about playing with good people, no egos, having fun, and just being in a good team environment,” Blicavs told basketball.com.au.

“To be honest, that was Canberra for me. Getting to play for Paul Goriss, I think he's a legend of a coach, he just knows his stuff.

“I'm also looking forward to moving interstate and kind of focusing solely on basketball. A part of me felt like I had to actually leave Victoria to excel.”

You get the sense the trio of Blicavs, Melbourne and Aokuso is going to cause plenty of headaches for oppositions across the league.

Melbourne is the type of point guard that players love to play with — she’s unselfish, pushes the pace and is fiercely competitive. Aokuso is currently tearing the NBL1 West apart after returning from Europe, averaging a near triple-double of 22.4 points, 12.9 rebounds and 8.8 assists per game. Blicavs meanwhile has taken up right where she left off prior to her spinal surgery, already forcing her way back into the Opals squad after an impressive start to the season with the Melbourne Tigers in NBL1 South.

“Playing with Jade, she's a phenomenal point guard, but an even better human, so that's going to be a lot of fun,” she said.

“Then to get to play with Zitina, I think will be awesome. The way the team is shaping up, I'm just really excited by it.”

Having not made the WNBL playoffs in three years, Canberra is clearly making moves to return towards the top of the table where they so often have been over the years, boasting nine WNBL Championships.

Blicavs is excited by the team’s prospects and looking forward to providing a veteran presence.

“I think when the rest of our signings get announced people are going to be like, this could be the team to beat, so to be a part of that environment is awesome,” she said.

“Knowing you're going into a team where you’re hopefully going to be winning a lot of games, challenging a lot of teams and having a good shot at the championship is really cool.

“While I didn't watch many WNBL games last season because I was having a really good break, the ones that I did, I watched a lot of Canberra, and they're super young, super fast, and I feel that I fit in really well, just through experience, being a vet and helping in that way. I think the team is going to mix really well.”

The journey back from spinal fusion surgery in March last year has made Blicavs thankful just to be playing again. She had doubts that she’d ever get back to this point, so is enjoying the ride, which has included returning to her junior club and pulling on the green and gold once again.

“I didn't think I would be here, so I’m very grateful and humble,” she said.

“I do get overwhelmed a little bit with just how amazing my journey has been to be able to be back playing.

“Playing at the Melbourne Tigers, it's a sense of nostalgia for me because I played the majority of my juniors there. Being back at MSAC, it’s like being a kid again where basketball is really fun, and that's how I'm playing at the moment, I'm just really enjoying it.

“To be a part of the Opals [for recent the Trans-Tasman series] was a shock to me. When I got there, I was kind of emotional because I never thought I'd be back in that team, especially this early either, but I actually felt really comfortable there.

“I felt like this is where I belonged and I love the higher intensity of playing at that level. I'm just really excited for what's to come with that.”

What’s to come is the 2025 FIBA Women’s Asia Cup in July. Selected as part of the 12-player team that will head to China, Blicavs will play a vital role for the Opals in a squad that features a great mix of youth and experience.

“Again, the intensity will go up another level and it will be a good test for me,” she said. “I've only played probably 12 games all up in the last couple of years, so going from that to then playing China, who are one of the best teams in the world, I'm really excited to see how I'll match up against them. I’m just grateful to play basketball, so any game I can play, I'm happy.”

With the Asia Cup now less than a month away, Blicavs will continue to ply her trade in the NBL1 South in preparation. The league has been vital in her comeback, allowing her to prove to herself and others that her back was ready for the rigours of the game.

“The league itself has just grown incredibly, this is the hardest NBL1 season I've had my whole entire life,” she said.

“The calibre of players that are in the NBL1 South is just incredible; the imports, the WNBL players, every team that you're playing, every game, every week is tough.

“It’s great competition and great for me to build my confidence. I wanted to see how my body and my back would go and right from the get-go, it was fine, so now it's about getting rid of that rust and finding my old ways again. It's feeling really good, so I'm very grateful for the NBL1.”

I think it’s fair to say the rust is well and truly gone. Over the weekend, Blicavs played a back-to-back for Melbourne, against Knox and Hobart, and averaged 22 points and 8 rebounds on 46.2% shooting from deep.

Her ability to stretch the floor and knock down long-range shots is going to be huge for the Capitals, and with Melbourne at the controls, Blicavs will get great looks.

Over the past three seasons, Canberra has doubled their win total each year; from two in 2022-23, to four in 2023-24 and eight in 2024-25. There’s no doubt the Capitals are on the up and with the addition of Blicavs, you get the sense that win total is going to rise again in 2025/26.

About the Author

Hayley Wildes is passionate about all things Australian women’s basketball and loves to highlight the stories of players from all levels and competitions across the globe. From our own backyard in the WNBL, to the WNBA and the Opals, and everything in between, Hayley has you covered.