Canberra Capitals face 'reality' of Lauren Jackson's WNBL 2022-23 return

Capitals young gun Jade Melbourne and veteran Brittany Smart were Canberra's representatives at the official season launch in Victoria on Wednesday where, understandably, there was one name on everybody's lips - Lauren Jackson.

"Everyone talks about LJ," Melbourne told The Canberra Times.

"[Capitals coach Kristen Veal] mentioned the other day casually about getting a shot up over Lauren Jackson, and it's crazy that's actually a reality this year.

"Now it's not long till game one, the hype around the league is unbelievable. There's a real buzz, and everyone is super keen to hit the ground running."

This season Capitals legend Jackson will make a remarkable WNBL comeback at 41 years old with the Southside Flyers, as well as juggle her existing Basketball Australia role as head of women's basketball.

Amidst all the attention, Melbourne was able to have a short and sweet catch-up with Jackson at the launch, while also doing her best squeezing useful intel from her rivals before the Capitals' season tips off at home against Bendigo on Friday, November 4.

"You've got to do the rounds and make sure you're not saying too much about your team too," the 20-year-old said. "It was cool mingling with everyone and finding out how their teams are going.

"Everyone has had a very consistent preparation and overall everyone is very confident with the system that their coaches have put in place."

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The Perth Lynx and Melbourne Boomers will be the season-opener on November 2 in Western Australia, with the Capitals to begin their campaign a few days later.

Jackson will face her former team in round six on December 18 in Canberra and it's one that Veal and the Capitals have circled on the season schedule.

"It'll be awesome for the league to have someone of her calibre back," Melbourne said of her Opals teammate.

"It's going to bring in people and it's just really exciting."

Melbourne urged Capitals fans to show up as they have in previous seasons, as this WNBL season is expected to see crowds return to pre-COVID numbers.

"We don't have a huge amount of games at home to start off but once we get momentum, you don't want to miss out," she said.

"We thrive off the fan energy, so the more people we can get in the venue... they seriously are like our sixth man, so we can't thank them enough and we want to see them continue to come out."

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