The Geelong Venom are an Australian professional basketball team based in Geelong, Victoria. The Venom compete in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) and play their home games at Geelong Arena.
Beginning as the Bulleen Boomers in 1984, the team underwent a name change in 2013 to Melbourne Boomers. In 2024, the Boomers' WNBL licence was transferred to Geelong United Basketball. In 2025, the team underwent a rebrand from Geelong United to Geelong Venom.
History Bulleen-Templestowe Basketball Club (BTBC) was established in 1969. In 1984, BTBC secured a licence to join the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL), marking the debut of the Bulleen Boomers.
The Boomers were first coached by Trevor Cook, with the initial team including Michele Timms and Samantha Thornton. The club first qualified for the WNBL finals in 1989 under the guidance of coach Paul Deacon, and, after progressing to the same stage the following year, missed the playoffs until 1996. In coach Lori Chizik's first season, Bulleen finished third in the regular season before bowing out in the semi-finals. Chizik led the Boomers to the 1999–2000 preliminary final, marking the club's best-ever result to that point. Cheryl Chambers then took over in 2001–02 and steered the club to two finals appearances, including the 2004–05 preliminary final. Katrina Hibbert and Hollie Grima formed the backbone of the Boomers during the 2000s. Hibbert won back-to-back League MVP awards during the 2004–05 and 2005–06 seasons.
Bulleen made four straight WNBL grand finals between 2008–09 and 2011–12, winning their first championship in 2010–11 behind Desiree Glaubitz, Sharin Milner, Liz Cambage, Rachel Jarry, Jenna O'Hea and coach Tom Maher.
In 2013, BTBC changed the team name to Melbourne Boomers to target a wider area of population and boost crowd numbers. The team also changed its colours from blue and gold to purple and gold, and moved their home games to the State Basketball Centre in Wantirna. In 2014, Deakin University joined as a naming rights partner. In 2016, a new ownership group took over the Boomers' license from BTBC.
In the 2017–18 season, the Boomers reached the grand final but lost to the Townsville Fire. In the 2021–22 season, the Boomers won their second WNBL championship under coach Guy Molloy.Boomers look forward to celebrating championship seasonStrong steady hand to lead WNBL Champions
In March 2024, Geelong United Basketball (GUB) and a consortium of local private investors from Geelong expressed interest in acquiring the Boomers' licence after the Boomers' ownership group looked to transfer its licence. Two months later, the license was officially transferred to GUB, with the team moving to Geelong under a new brand Geelong United. In the 2024–25 WNBL season, Geelong United finished in seventh place with a 6–15 record.
On 1 July 2025, GUB rebranded the WNBL team as Geelong Venom.
Home venues The franchise has had a number of home venues, including Sheahan's Road Basketball Centre, Keilor Basketball Stadium, Melbourne Entertainment Centre, the Veneto Club, State Basketball Centre (2013–2023), and Parkville Stadium (2021–2024).
With the move to Geelong in 2024, the home venue shifted to Geelong Arena.
Season-by-season records Season Standings Regular season Finals Head coachWLPCTBulleen Boomers19849th51327.7Did Not QualityTrevor Cook198510th31516.6Did Not QualityTrevor Cook198612th51920.8Did Not QualityTrevor Cook198711th31715.0Did Not QualityTrevor Cook198810th51722.7Did Not QualityTrevor Cook19894th16866.6Loss Semi-Final (Nunawading Spectres, 68-69)Paul Deacon19903rd17770.8Loss Semi-Final (Nunawading Spectres, 69-89)Lori Chizik19916th111150.0Did Not QualityLori Chizik19926th101050.0Did Not QualityLori Chizik19937th71138.8Did Not QualityLori Chizik19948th51327.7Did Not QualityLori Chizik19957th61233.3Did Not QualityLori Chizik19963rd14477.7Loss Semi-Final (Perth, 58-75)Lori Chizik19979th51327.7Did Not QualityLori Chizik19987th3925.0Did Not QualityLori Chizik1998–995th111052.3Did Not QualityLori Chizik1999–003rd111052.3Won Semi-Final (Perth, 61-60) Loss Premliminary Final (Canberra, 66-80)Lori Chizik2000–016th71433.3Did Not QualityLori Chizik2001–026th61528.5Did Not QualityCheryl Chambers2002–036th61528.5Did Not QualityCheryl Chambers2003–046th7943.7Did Not QualityCheryl Chambers2004–052nd16576.1Loss Semi-Final (Dandenong, 59-63) Loss Premliminary Final (Sydney, 71-79)Cheryl Chambers2005–064th13861.9Loss Semi-Final (Canberra, 62-67)Cheryl Chambers2006–075th12957.1Did Not QualityCheryl Chambers2007–085th111345.8Did Not QualityCheryl Chambers2008–092nd17577.2Loss Semi-Final (Canberra, 52-60) Win Preliminary Final (Townsville, 79-68)
Loss Grand Final (Canberra, 58-61)Cheryl Chambers2009–101st21195.4Won Semi-Final (Sydney, 72-55) Loss Grand Final (Canberra, 70-75)Tom Maher2010–111st19386.3Won Semi-Final (Canberra, 71-67) Won Grand Final (Canberra, 103-78)Tom Maher2011–122nd15768.1Won Semi-Final (Adelaide, 73-70) Loss Grand Final (Dandenong, 70-94)Tom Maher2012–135th101441.6Did Not QualityTom Maher Melbourne Boomers2013–144th141058.3Loss Semi-Final (Townsville, 73-78)Guy Molloy2014–156th111150.0Did Not QualityGuy Molloy2015–168th81633.3Did Not QualityGuy Molloy2016–177th51920.8Did Not QualityGuy Molloy2017–184th12957.1Won Semi-Final (Perth, 2-0) Loss Grand Final (Townsville, 1-2)Guy Molloy2018–192nd15671.4Loss Semi-Final (Adelaide, 0-2)Guy Molloy2019–203rd15671.4Loss Semi-Final (Canberra, 1-2)Guy Molloy20204th9469.2Won Semi-Final (Canberra, 78-68) Loss Preliminary Final (Townsville, 62-65)Guy Molloy2021–221st12570.5Won Semi-Final (Adelaide, 2-0) Won Grand Final (Perth, 2-1)Guy Molloy2022–233rd15671.4Loss Semi-Final (Southside, 1-2)Chris Lucas2023–243rd12957.1 Loss Semi-Final (Southside, 1-2)Chris Lucas Geelong United2024–257th61528.6Did Not QualifyChris LucasRegular season 431 430 50.1 3 Minor Premierships Finals 11 19 36.6 2 WNBL Championships
Players Current roster
Former coaches Cheryl Chambers Guy Molloy
Former players
Lindsay Allen Rebecca Allen Stella Beck Liz Cambage Carley Ernst Michele Timms Allison Tranquilli Debbie Slimmon Samantha Thornton Katrina Hibbert Sharin Milner Desiree Glaubitz Hollie Grima Rachel Jarry Alice Kunek Jenna O'Hea Ashleigh Karaitiana Antonia Farnworth Madeleine Garrick Kalani Purcell Izzy Wright Ezi Magbegor
References
External links
Geelong Venom's WNBL website Old Melbourne Boomers website