Frankston move all that Aussie was promised

Featured image: Trent Moore Sports Photography

Aussie Shelley was knocking on the door both for an NBL1 South Grand Final berth and an NBL opportunity at Mount Gambier Pioneers, but a move to Frankston Blues has him ticking off the first and he is playing career-best basketball too.

Considering Shelley's parents Carolyn and Phil both played professional basketball and older sister Jaz has turned into a star as an NBL1 South and NBL1 East MVP the last two years, it was hard for Aussie to do anything else but play the sport as well.

And now the Gippsland product who spent a year at college at West Texas A&M University before spending the past three years in the NBL1 South at the Pioneers, is playing the basketball of his life with the Blues in 2026 and is a big reason why they have the Grand Final for the first time.

Shelley is delivering career-best numbers with 16.6 points, 4.0 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.0 steals a game with Frankston with the 24-year-old now preparing for Saturday night's Grand Final with Frankston against Mitch McCarron, Sam Short and the Eltham Wildcats at the State Basketball Centre.

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Frankston had to battle back on the road from being down 12 to the Melbourne Tigers in the preliminary final on Saturday night as well, but went on a stirring run in the fourth quarter to do that.

That got them into a first Grand Final in the NBL1 and also for Shelley after three near misses with Mount Gambier, and then to top off his weekend he played for Melbourne United against the B League United Japanese team in an NBL pre-season hit out on Sunday.

"It was good and obviously it was great to get the win on Saturday and that was a hard fought one so it was good to pull through on that one," Shelley said.

"Then Sunday was a pretty cool experience and they needed some numbers for the pre-season so it was pretty cool to play with those guys and in that system."

Grand Final Preview

Not only are Frankston now in a first NBL1 South Grand Final having last made a preliminary final in 2024 and reaching the championship game at the National Finals in 2022, but now they are attempting to win a first title of any kind since the conference championship in the SEABL in 2009.

They are taking on an Eltham Wildcats team having only won an NBL1 South championship in 2024 and with plenty of big game experience led by Mitch McCarron and Sam Short, and then led by captain Sam Whelan and possessing TJ Weeks, Zak Cunningham, Harrison Hornery and Ovie Magbegor.

But having just beaten the regular season champion Melbourne Tigers on the road, Shelley is confidence the Blues will be up for the challenge come Grand Final night.

"It's just a similar approach to last week and they're obviously a great team, physical and really smart with Sam and Mitch who are two great guards that keep them all on track," Shelley said.

"They did beat us by a fair bit in the regular season but we're a completely different team now, but you do still always make sure you remember that for a bit of extra motivation.

"It's just the same approach for us, though, and we know we've been pretty good this year identifying what team's strengths are and how we'll adapt defensively to mitigate what they like to do.

"So we'll trust our film and I'm sure Harmsy and our coaching staff will come up with a really nice scheme, and it's our job as players to follow that.

"That might not work at all times during the game, but sometimes it will and we just have to make sure when it doesn't work, we stay together as a group and figure it out together and hopefully we end up with the result in the end."

Big effort to beat Tigers on the road

Having missed the finals in 2025, the Blues have reloaded for 2026 and went on to win nine of their last 11 games of the regular season to end up in fourth spot at 15-7.

They then beat the Knox Raiders at home and Melbourne Tigers on the road to book in their Grand Final spot, but that win over the Grand Finalists of last year when down most of the night was huge in Shelley's eyes.

"They (Tigers) definitely create a pretty cool home environment there, but I think our fans did a pretty good job too in the little section that they had to keep us going and they were pretty loud the whole game," Shelley said.

"They're such a well drilled squad obviously and have been together for a while, and Gazey's got them all on the same page.

"Then to be down 11 at half-time and be able to just come through and chip away, and keep doing the right things and slowly get that lead back down was good. Then to pull it out in the last quarter was pretty special."

Means a lot to Frankston

Shelley might be in his first season with Frankston, but already he has brought into the culture at the club and knows what the Blues mean to the local community.

He is now excited just as much for the fans who offer great support that they now get to cheer them on in the Grand Final as he is for those long-time servants at the club from the coaching staff down.

"Obviously it's my first year here but I know they have a pretty strong local core and a lot of the guys have played a lot of their juniors here," Shelley said.

"Harmsy (Andrew Harms) and Jacko (Adam Jackson) the coaches have been here for ages and so has Waz (Adam Walsh) our film guy.

"All these guys have been here for so long and obviously it's a very strong club, and a very big club in the state, so it would be just amazing to get them their first chip in NBL1. That would be a pretty special thing to do."

Depth of the Blues shining through

As much as the Blues have some guns who are shining and the arrival of Jeremy Combs has coincided with their run of winning 11 of the last 13 games leading into the Grand Final, Shelley has no doubt how deep they are is key to their success.

So while Combs, Dibaji Walker, Shelley himself and Jack Stanwix are all playing crucial roles, captain Lucas Barker, Kynan Philippe, Tom Garrett and Corey Hastings who are just as crucial and Shelley is high on how deep their team is.

"Our team's been awesome and one thing that has been a bit underrated with us has been our depth," Shelley said.

"Everybody is just always ready to come in and do their job, and make an impact, and that's one through 10 or 12 or however many we have.

"There's been very few occasions where we haven’t had everybody on the same page and ready to contribute in any way they need.

"And then with Jeremy coming in and adding in that 20 points a game guy, it just makes everybody's life a little bit easier as well so once he came in he was that last piece that we needed.

"Now everybody's on the same page and knows what they need to do to contribute to winning, and the lack of ego and willingness to win has been awesome especially the last half of the year."

Wanting to return to Melbourne

After those three seasons playing with the Pioneers, once Richard Hill retired as coach having been in charge since 2012, Shelley also felt the time was right for him to move on and return to Melbourne.

He didn’t initially imagine that being with Frankston until he said down with coach Andrew Harms and assistant Adam Jackson, and now to be playing his best ever basketball and to be in a Grand Final, he made the right call.

"I moved to Mount Gambier just for a change of scenery and Richo obviously has a very good reputation and he definitely lived up to it when I was there," Shelley said.

"He was amazing to play for after doing a good job recruiting me and he sort of told me all the things I wanted to hear about what it would be like by playing there, and he lived up to all that.

"But when he retired, I'm originally from Melbourne obviously so it just seemed right to come back home with my family and partner and everything here.

"So I met with Harmsy and Jacko pretty early in the off-season and they sat down with me, and I had a really good chat with them.

"Up until then, I never really pictured myself playing for Frankston because we had a bit of a rivalry with them at Mount Gambier, but that changed once I sat down with them.

"They were great blokes and clearly had very good basketball minds and had a very clear picture for me that was easy to see that it could lead to success both with the team and personally for me.

"They didn’t really give me a choice once I heard that pitch, I was pretty quick to sign on and I'm loving it now that I'm there. The whole club is just such a good environment to be part of and it's been a really great experience so far."

Amazingly similar last two years for sister

Aussie isn’t the only member of the Shelley family currently playing outstanding basketball but he is a little surprised that sister Jaz isn’t also playing in a Grand Final this Sunday in the NBL1 East at the Norths Bears.

On the back of playing at Geelong United last year in a team that was undefeated in the NBL1 South until the Grand Final, her Norths team in 2026 also hadn’t lost a game until Saturday night's preliminary final at home to the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles.

The positive is she has been the South and East MVP winner the past two seasons and now looks set to play a big role in the WNBL at the Sydney Flames, but her brother might be recommending a regular season loss along the way for her team in 2027.

"I told her both years that you need to make sure you drop one along the way and you can't go through undefeated because it just puts too big a target on your head," Shelley said.

"But seriously, she's obviously been playing awesome and I know the work she puts in and I think the biggest thing for her has been mentally just understanding that she's a very good basketball player.

"Sometimes that has been a struggle for her just to realise how good she is and how dominant she can be. She's started to figure that out now and understands she's put the work in and is trusting that a bit more, and that's stood out in her game.

"Especially shooting wise, she just shot the absolutely piss out of it this year (41 per cent from the outside) and that's all because of the work she's put in and unlocking the mental side has been massive for her."