Morley joins Eagles with unfinished business

Jonelle Morley brings with her a wealth of basketball knowledge, experience and success, but also had a feeling of unfinished business in the NBL1 West women's competition as she takes on the role with the East Perth Eagles.

Morley certainly is as well versed within the competition as anybody which dates back to her own playing career where she played 172 games across the Warwick (then Stirling) Senators and the Cockburn Cougars up to the end of 2008.

She has moved into coaching since and that has been highlighted by the tremendous success she had with the Senators including winning an NBL1 West championship in 2022 and then a week later topping it off winning the NBL National Finals in Melbourne.

Morley has now spent the past two seasons working with the Joondalup Wolves to gain further coaching experience in the men's program, but she always had a desire to return to the women's competition.

And for so many reasons, she jumped at the chance to coach the Eagles in 2026 and beyond once approached for the role.

"Obviously when I finished up at Warwick and headed to Joondalup, I went into the men's program and was doing a little bit of work in the first year across both the women's and men's program," Morley said.

"Then I was an assistant within the men's program with David Morrell in that second year and whilst I really enjoyed that opportunity to work as an assistant because it's important to see the game from different aspects, and to see the men's style of the game.

"I definitely was really looking forward to heading back across to being a head coach and as much as I loved being on the men's side, getting back to the women's game.

"I feel like I had some unfinished business and a few doors opened for me, and the timing was right, and I felt that when Eagles reached out that it just felt like the right option at the right time, and like it's a fresh start, and it's really exciting what they're building not only in the women's program but as a club in general. There's some amazing things happening at the club right now."

While Morley spent her playing career mostly with the Senators and then had great success coaching there and has since been involved at the Wolves, the Eagles have always been a local club for her and her family.

So from that sense, it is a natural fit for her to come on board at East Perth, but beyond that, she likes what the Eagles are building both at NBL1 level and with the connection with the community which is something she couldn’t wait to be part of.

"I definitely think it's a club that's growing and is looking to grow, but I think an exciting part of that growth is maintaining that community and family feel," Morley said.

"I think it has a really happy medium of both having that community and family feel whilst being a club that is definitely looking to grow its profile, and not only that but with the development that's happening.

"That's started to develop the young male pathway really well over the last couple of years and what I think is really exciting is the growth that we're seeing in the young female pathway now as well.

"I think all of those things for me is what I saw and I saw an opportunity to be a part of something that is really in its infancy, but definitely starting to grow and expand whilst also maintaining that really healthy community and family feel to it.

"That appealed to me a lot and given I live in the area, my kids have lots in the area and I have family associated with the club, all of those sort of things came together for me at the right time."

In fairness to the Eagles, it is a club that hasn’t been shy in appointing female coaches to be in charge of their women's team over the past 15 years with Narelle Henry, Tanya Fisher and Megan Thompson all having time in the role before Morley now takes over in 2026.

But across the NBL1 West as a whole, still by 2026 Morley is just one of three female head coaches along with Sue Williams at the Willetton Tigers and Jaymi Worthington at the Goldfields Giants.

Morley hopes that the number continues to grow, but also wants more females encouraged and embraced to be involved coaching at all levels including in the men's competition.

"This needs to happen across both women's and men's basketball as well, and while there's three women's head coaches this season around the league, there are a number of female coaches that work across as assistant as well both in the women's and the men's side of the game," Morley said.

"I think from my perspective it's around recognising the advantages that it can bring to a program, and what a female coach can bring into the game.

"I recognise that there's three of us that are head coaches at the moment and I really hope that only continues to grow and expand, but I think it's the work of the whole basketball community recognising the benefits having female coaches in the system can bring to both the women's and men's game.

"There's definitely some great work happening both at Basketball WA and across a number of the teams that have various scholarships and things that they're providing.

"I certainly was a coach that was approached not only by Eagles but by a number of clubs, and that might have been purely because I was a female and I know of a couple of female colleagues who were the same.

"I think that's a really good sign that there's a want to bring more females into head coaching roles in the league, but we also have to start working at WABL levels to engage and provide more confidence to female coaches. I do certainly think that's work that's happening at the moment already."