Anneli Maley

Born in Melbourne, Anneli Maley began playing both volleyball and basketball during her school days. Ultimately sticking with basketball, at the age of 15 Anneli moved to Canberra to attend the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) for high performance training.

In 2013 and 2014 Anneli represented Australia at the FIBA Oceania Junior Championships in both years, winning gold at both tournaments. At the FIBA U19 World Championships in 2015, Anneli won bronze.

Returning to Melbourne after playing two years in the South East Australian Basketball League, Anneli was set to join the Nunawading Spectres in 2016 but pulled out due to mental health issues after being diagnosed with depression and anxiety.

"I promised myself that I wouldn't step foot on a basketball court until I knew that it was something that was going to bring me joy," she said.

Returning to basketball again in late 2016, Anneli joined the Adelaide Lightning for the 2016-17 WBNL season.

It was also in 2017 where Anneli got the opportunity to take her skills overseas, joining the University of Oregon. Winning both conference titles, Anneli had a fantastic breaktout year and played 36 games.

Transferring to Texas Christian University in 2018, Anneli played half a season with the Horned Frogs, before returning to Australia where she signed with NBL1 team Diamond Valley Eagles.

From 2019 to 2021 Anneli played for both the Southside Flyers and the Sydney Uni Flames before eventually joining WNBL club Bendigo Spirit, winning the WBNL most valuable player award in her first season.

Since 2022 Anneli has been balancing opportunities to play in 3x3 tournaments for the Gangurrus while still advancing her traditional basketball career.

Anneli had a four-game stint with the Chicago Sky in the WNBA in 2022, made her Opals debut and was part of the bronze-medal winning Aussies at the FIBA World Cup in Sydney.

In 2023 Anneli represented Australia again at the Asia Cup where she claimed bronze and moved to join the Perth Lynx. Named captain for the 2023-24 season, Anneli most notably broke the team's 20-rebound record in a game that had stood for 21 years.

In 3x3, Anneli won gold at the 2024 FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup and most impressively was part of the first Gangurrus team to win a FIBA 3x3 Universality Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Alongside what became her Paris 2024 teammates Lauren Mansfield, Marena Whittle and Alex Wilson, they recorded victories against Kenya (22-9) and no.2 seed Canada (21-16) in the group stages set up a high intensity semi-final against Brazil (18-16) and a nail-biting rematch against Canada (19-16) in the final. It was their last chance to qualify, as they were not eligible to participate in the final Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Hungary. The win was extra special as she got to celebrate alongside her fiance Lauren.

In Paris Anneli and the Gangurrus rebounded from an opening loss to Canada with four-straight wins.

Entering the 'play-in' games as one of the top six teams after the group stage in Paris, the Gangurrus needed to win a rematch against Canada to advance to the semi-finals. Canada were too good, winning 21-10.

Anneli also comes from a sporting family with her father Paul having played 270 games in the NBL, whilst her brother was drafted by the North Melbourne Football Club.