The Australian Women’s basketball teamwas at the 1984 pre-Olympic Tournament in Cuba and were playing Cuba for the right to go to the Olympics. With six minutes to go in the game the Australianswere sixpoints up and all of a sudden the stadium started to chant, applaud and clap.....but the Australians had the ball? It was a weird feeling for the Aussies. Was the Cuban crowd now supporting Australia? At this point the game was stopped by the referees as the court became full of papers thrown from the crowd in applause of who had arrived at the game.Fidel Castro had made an appearance for the last couple of minutes in support of the team representing Cuba for the LA Olympics. Such was the effect that the Aussies soon found themselves one point up with six second to play. A centre line “hail Mary” shot from a Cuban delivered a winning basket to see the Australian Women’s Team Olympic dream of going to the 1984 LA Olympics dwindle from existence.
Robyn Maher remembers. “This was the most devastating moment of my career. I can still see this shot disappearing into the basket.”
However the story did have a happy ending when Basketball Australia CEO Bob Staunton called Robyn and told her that some Soviet nations were boycotting the Olympics and the Australian Team would be going to the 1984 LA Olympics after all.
“This moment I think is the most memorable and proud moment of my career, even more than winning the first ever medal for Australia. We went to the Olympics for our first ever Olympic journey and the Australian Women’s Team has never looked back...........a pioneering moment and one that I was proud to be part of,” concludes Robyn.
Robyn Maher (nee Gull) was born on October 6th 1959 in Ballarat, Victoria. When she was at primary school the Ballarat Basketball Association Stadium had just been built and to raise teams for the Association a teacher recruited the school netball team and entered them into the basketball competition. Robyn was now a basketball player. She was in grade 6 at the time.
In her early junior coaching Robyn credits Dawn Jose, Pam Mann and Pam’s husband Ken as being major influences. Ken in particular recognised Robyn’s potential and coached her individually before school.
Robyn played for the Ballarat Association representative teams from Under 12’s through to Under 18’s. At that time there were no Victorian Country teams. As a result Robyn did not get the opportunity to play for Victoria until her last year in Under 16’s.
The next year 1975 she played on the Under 18 State side which won the Australian Championships. In the following year she played for he first Under 18 Victorian Country team to play at the National Championships.
As Robyn was playing each Wednesday night with Ballarat in the Victorian Championships in Melbourne she was being exposed to a high calibre basketball and was being seen by the State’s top coaches. As a result she was recruited by Dandenong to play in the Victorian Championships before she made the move to the “Telstars” Club coached by then Australian Women’s Team Assistant Coach Ray Tomlinson. The “Telstar” team Assistant Coach was Tom Maher. At “Telstars” Robyn not only received excellent coaching but was able to train and play with stars such as Sharon Deacon.
Robyn’s first taste of international basketball occurred in 1978 when she was selected on the Australian Women’s Basketball Team to tour China and then Europe. Robyn comments, “The tour to China and Europe was a great learning experience for me, not only from a basketball point of view but also as a life experience. The seeds of being with team-mates, facing world class opposition and being in foreign countries made me more determined than ever to be successful in my sport.”
In 1979 Robyn played at her first World Championships when the Australian Team came 4th in the World Championships held in Korea. This was a tremendous result for Australian basketball and clearly started Australia on the road to success on the world stage of women’s basketball.
In 1980 she was a member of the Australian Women’s Team that played in the Moscow Olympic Games Qualification Tournament held in Bulgaria. Unfortunately, although they played well, the Australians failed to qualify for the Olympic Tournament in Moscow. The draw was a most unfair system and the Australian Teams pool made their qualification very difficult.
In 1981 Robyn was selected on the Australian Women’s Team to tour to China.
In 1982 Robyn played for Australia when it won the Oceania Championships. She also played for Australia in a tournament in Chinese Taipei.
Robyn’s next international experience was with the Australian Team in the 1983 World Championships held in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The team secured 11th place.The result was a disappointment for the team but they had learnt a lot against the best in the world.
In that same year Robyn played on the Australian Team that won the first ever Commonwealth Basketball Championships which were held in New Zealand.
The next year 1984 was a challenge as the Australian Team attempted to be the first Australian Olympic Women’s Basketball Team. The team toured to China for seven games and then travelled to the 1984 Olympic Qualification Tournament which was held in Cuba.
The Australiansplayed very wellin Cuba and had some close games (such as the game against Cuba) but failed to qualify. Robyn returned home with her Olympic dream shattered. Then some of the Soviet countries boycotted the LA Olympics and the Australian Women’s Teamwere now in the 1984 Olympic Games.
Robyn and the team played very well in the six teams1984 LA Olympic Games Basketball Tournament. In their very last game Australiadefeated world power Yugoslavia to obtain fifth place in the world. In doing so they became Australia’s first Women’s Basketball Team to win a game in an Olympic tournament. Robyn played in every game with her highest score of 13 points in the game against Yugoslavia.
The inaugural Australian Games were played in Melbourne in 1985 and Robyn was a member of the Australian Women’s Team that won the Gold Medal. Australia then went on to win the Oceania Championships before heading to Europe for a twelve match tour.
In 1986 Robyn was a member of National Women’s Team totour Europe. Robyn was then selected for her third World Championships when she played for the Australian Team in the1986 World Championships held in the Soviet Union.The Australian Team finished in 9th position.
Robyn played for the Australian Team that toured to Europe in 1987 for eleven games, and then to the USA and Canada for seventeen games.
The National Team with Robyn as a member continued its1988 Olympic campaign with a match against Japan, five matches in Australia against Canada and the Seoul Goodwill Tournament before heading to Malaysia for the 1988 Olympic Qualification Tournament.
Only six teams from Olympic Qualification Tournament would compete in Seoul as the Olympic tournament was now for twelve teams as against only six teams in the LA Olympics. The Australians finished 6thin Malaysia and thereby gained the last place available in the Olympic Tournament.
In the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul the Australian Team recovered from a poor start when they were heavily beaten by the hosts Korea, but then went on to inflict defeat on the Soviet Union who to this time had never lost a game in the Olympics. The Australians created Australian basketball history when they qualified for the semi-finals.
Robyn was a major force in this drive to the semi-finals as her defence, offense, steals, rebounding and sheer determination were leading and inspiring the team. In the crucial game against the Soviet Union Robyn top scored with 20 points, led the teams in rebounds, steals and assists as well as playing dynamic defence. She was at the top of her game.
Unfortunately the Australians lost on the buzzer to Yugoslavia in the Semi Final where the winner went to the Gold Medal game. In the Bronze Medal game Australia was defeated by the Soviet Union. The Australian Team, behind Robyn’s drive and play, were now given the world wide respect they deserved and sowed the seed for the great performances of the Women’s National Teams for the next twenty years.
In 1989 Robyn captained Australia against Japan in Australia. In 1990 she was a member of the Australian Team on an eleven match tour of Europe and in the Seoul Goodwill Tournament.She was then selected on the Australian Team to play in 1990 World Championships held in Malaysia. The Australians finished a very meritorious 5th in the World Championships. In doing so Robyn and the team had confirmed that the result in Seoul was no fluke.
In 1990 Robyn also played for Australiain the Goodwill Games in Seattle.
She captained the team again in the series in Australia with the USSR, China and Korea. Later that year Robyn was on the Australian Team that undertook a twelve match tour to the USA. By this stage Robyn was the permanent Captain of the team.
The 1992 Barcelona Olympics were the target the next year. The National Team played China in a six match series and then played Italy on the way to the 1992 Olympic Qualification Tournament in Spain.
Unfortunately for Robyn Olympic and the team glory would have to wait for four more years as the Australian Team failed to qualify for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.They played very well but lost a game in overtime to Brazil before losing their last game and thereby failing to qualify for the Olympics Games on percentages.
A series against China and Russia in Australia in1993 was the only international basketball for Robyn and the Australian Team that year.
Australia had been awarded the 1994 Women’s World Basketball Championships so preparation for the Australian Team and Robyn was a key that year. Robyn led the AustralianTeam (now called the “Opals”) in a three game series against Japan, in five games against Russia and three games against Bulgaria before playing in the Pre-Oz94 Games (Australia, Brazil, France, Canada, and the USA).
In the World Championships with Robyn as Captain the Opals were very close to winning their first ever medal at Olympic or World Championships but finished an agonizing 4th in front of their home fans. Again Robyn was a mainstay of the team.
Later that year (1994) she led the Opals on a six match tour to China. In 1995 she led Australia against Korea (five games) and in the Oceania 1996 Olympic Qualification Tournament which they won. Robyn finished a very busy year with five games with the Opals against China in the Goldmark Cup and a six game tour to Europe.
In 1996 Robyn led the Opals in six games in the World Challenge held in Australia and then in two Pre-Olympic Tournaments (Canada and the USA) before arriving in Atlanta for the 1996 Olympics.
In the 1996 Atlanta Olympics the Opals led by Robyn played brilliantly to win Australia’s first ever Olympic medal when they won the Bronze Medal. The “medal bubble had been burst” for all Opals teams to follow.
The question now for Robyn was whether she could make the team to play in the Sydney 2000 Olympics four years away. She would be 41 by those Olympics. There is no doubt that her spirit, determination and passion would get her there, but would she hold up to the physical challenges?
In 1997 Robyn led the Opals against Japan, Russia, to win the Oceania World Championships Qualification Tournament, in the USA Invitation Tournament andthe V1 Golden Cup (Brazil) to round out the year.
She was determined to get to another World Championships (her 6th) and 1998 played for the Opals against Brazil, Japan, on a tour to Slovakia and Portugal and was selected to lead the Opals in the 1998 World Championships in Germany.
Again the Opals performed magnificently and won their first medal (Bronze) at a World Championships and demonstrated that their Bronze in the Olympics was no “flash in the pan.”
Sydney 2000 was near, and yet so far for Robyn. In 1998 she played for Australia in the Maher Cup (named after her and her husband Tom the Opals Coach) against China, then in the Goldmark Cup versus the USA. In 1999 she played for the Australian Team in another Maher Cup, this time against Cuba.
The Maher Cup in 1999 was Robyn’s last game for the Opals. Sydney 2000 was just that bit too far away.
She was able to retire from International Competition with Bronze Medals at an Olympics and World Championships.
Robyn had played in six World Championships and three Olympics. If the Opals had qualified for Moscow and Barcelona she may have had five Olympic rings to her credit. She also played in seven Oceania Championships.
When Robyn retired she had played for Australia for an incredible twenty years. She was named the Basketball Australia “International Player of the Year” in 1988, 1990 and in 1991. She had played 374 games for Australia and had captained the team in 174 games.
Although she was only 5 feet 10 inches (179cms) in height, Robyn played well above her size. She was a ferocious rebounder and drove to the basketball, especially along the baseline, with great courage and determination and was a tenacious defender. Her leadership was second to none and she inspired team after team at the international and WNBL level.
Olympian Julie Nykiel says of Robyn.“She was the toughest and most dedicated player I have ever seen, and it was fitting that she was Captain when Australia won its first medal (Bronze) at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.....a just reward for a world class player”
Fellow Olympian Kristi Harrower comments. “Robyn Maher was one of the toughest players I have ever played with and against.”
While Robyn was inspiring Australian women’s basketball at the international level she established a fabulous record in the Australian Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL). She won tenWNBL titles (Nunawading 6, Hobart 1, Perth 1, Sydney 2) including leading the Nunawading Spectres to six titles in seven years. She played in 13 WNBL Grand Finals and played 369 games in the WNBL. She finished her WNBL career as the all time leader in steals (614), second in assists (1,044), third in points scored (4,517) and won the WNBL MVP Award in 1983 and 1987. In 1999 the WNBL Defensive Player of the Year Award was named in her honour.
After she retired from playing Robyn continued her love affair with basketball and continued to coach and work in Association basketball as well as travelling the world with her husband Tom who has coached women’s Olympic basketball teams from Australia (1996, 2000), New Zealand (2004), China (2008) andGreat Britain in the 2012 Olympics.
There is no doubt that Robyn Maher has been one of the greatest Australian women basketball players of her era and perhaps of all time.
Robyn Maherwas inducted into the Basketball Australia Hall of Fame in 2004.