Australian forward Anneli Maley’s Phoenix Mercury stint is over almost as quickly as it began after the Perth Lynx rebound machine was waived by the club on Sunday.
The move came less than a week after the Melbourne-born forward earned a second WNBA opportunity by joining the Mercury following her pre-season campaign with the New York Liberty.
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Maley appeared in Phoenix’s season-opening win against the defending champion Las Vegas Aces, finishing with one point and two rebounds in six minutes as the Mercury spoiled Las Vegas’ ring ceremony with a 99-66 victory.
But while her official WNBA box score in 2026 reads modestly, the 27-year-old’s body of work across the past 12 months remains impossible to ignore.
“I’m just trying to try really hard,” Maley said after recording the only triple-double of WNBL26 with 18 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists against the Sydney Flames.
Those words have become a fitting summary of a turbulent year that included an Opals omission, a heartbreaking WNBL championship loss with the Perth Lynx, a standout Liberty pre-season, and now another abrupt WNBA roster change.
Maley impressed during New York’s pre-season campaign, producing 13 points and six rebounds in 24 minutes in the Liberty’s 79-67 win against the Connecticut Sun on May 4. She shot 3-from-5 from the field and 6-of-6 from the free throw line before being waived at final cuts.
Days later, Phoenix handed her another opportunity as the Mercury reshaped their frontcourt depth around a roster that includes Opals veteran Sami Whitcomb.
The Perth Lynx star entered the WNBA season in career-best form after shattering the all-time NBL1 single-game scoring record in April. Playing for the Perth Redbacks, Maley erupted for 65 points and 17 rebounds against the Willetton Tigers while posting an extraordinary 85% true shooting percentage.
Despite leading WNBL26 in rebounding at 14.4 boards per game, Maley was controversially omitted from the Australian Opals squad for the 2026 FIBA World Cup qualifiers.
Perth Lynx head coach Ryan Petrik admitted he was “shell-shocked” by the decision after the Lynx defeated the Adelaide Lightning 109-82 in December.
“Do you want the diplomatic answer or the brutally honest one? I’ll get fired if I give the brutal one,” Petrik said.
“I’ll say again – shell-shocked. I’m not sure what else she’s meant to do. We’ll leave it there.”
Maley thrived alongside Chinese international Han Xu during Perth’s WNBL season, regularly impacting games as a rebounder, connector and transition playmaker. In one dominant performance she finished with 19 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists.
“She’s playing really, really well. I think all of us are a little bit shell-shocked that she wasn’t in that Opals squad, because her form has been elite,” Petrik added.
“Everyone who made that roster is really talented, so I’m not taking anything away from them.
“But if you’re picking on form, with how she’s playing and with us sitting where we are on the ladder despite being at half to three-quarter strength most of the season, I’m not sure what else she’s meant to do.”
Maley now returns to the uncertainty familiar to many fringe WNBA players – waiting for the next roster opening while continuing one of the strongest stretches of basketball of her career.