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When Marianna Tolo accidently busted Kelsey Griffin's finger at training last year the pair could never have forecast a broken bone would make their unique bond even stronger. Born on the same day, July 2, but two years apart, the duo have both won five WNBL titles, played in three together across two clubs and on Sunday when their Spirit host Perth will notch up 250 games and achieve life membership together. While they reach the milestone together, their journeys have taken different routes. In the WNBL and internationally. Both have represented, and won medals with, the Opals but never played on the same national team. Tolo made her WNBL debut in 2006 as a teenager with the AIS, built her game with Canberra where she won two titles for the league's most successful franchise, missed a season and a half through injury and spent seven years playing abroad. Arriving at Bendigo in 2012 as an import and injury replacement player, Griffin is now in her 14th consecutive season but has also missed sprinklings of games through injury. Ironically, last year's mishap, on the eve of a season where they'd go on to win their third title together, sidelined Griffin for the first six games. When she returned she was level on games with Tolo.  "It did take a bit of sabotage, with the pass that broke her finger," Tolo laughed. "I was underneath the basket, taking a dribble and threw this really hard pass, Kelsey accidently on instinct stuck her finger in the passing lane and I broke it. She missed a few games, the stars aligned and here we are." If Griffin didn't believe in serendipity before, she does now. "It's like storybook stuff, right?" she said. "It's special for a lot of reasons but because our journeys have been so different, we've made decisions in our careers for very different reasons, our leadership styles are very different, as people we're very different but our values are the same. "There's lots of different ways that you can come to the same conclusion and our friendship personifies that, as well as our co-captaincy, and it's cool now our milestone game is a representation of that too, it feels very fitting." Tolo was playing overseas when Griffin announced herself with Bendigo, guiding them to their first, then second title, with best-on-court performances in both the 2012-13 and 2013-14 victories over Townsville. They navigated an escape room before they teamed up on court, Griffin was doing rehab at the AIS in Canberra when Tolo invited her to join the outing with friends. With Griffin moving to Canberra in a major recruiting coup and Tolo recovering from a second ACL, they had to wait until midseason to play together for the first time. They'd go on to form a formidable front court duo and, as co-captains, help deliver the Caps back-to-back championships in 2018-19 and 2019-20. Their last Canberra season together was in the 2020 north Queensland hub before making moves. Tolo headed back overseas for three years having campaigns in France and Spain while Griffin played another season in the nation's capital before making a triumphant return to Bendigo.  In 2024-25, they reunited. In signing with Bendigo, Tolo played for a WNBL club outside of the ACT for the first time. Come March, they won their fifth respective championships and third together. They agree that as teammates and people they've brought out the best in each other. "Tolo's the ultimate teammate, she's prepared to do whatever is required to make teams win but she also cares so much about people as individuals, as humans, first and foremost. She doesn't get rattled, she's always solid, nothing fazes her," Griffin said. Tolo adds: "As a teammate, Kelsey is so caring, wants to get the best out of everyone and she's compassionate and really understanding of where everyone is in their stages of life. She's been on a journey herself with her career and so she wants to help makes the processes as easy and as joyful as possible for those around her." Gippsland Regional Indoor Sports Stadium seems the most unlikely of places for the powerhouse pair to reach their shared accolade but their club's commitment to taking the WNBL to country Victoria will see their milestone celebrated 317km from their home base. It's fitting really, while their journeys have been starkly different but often intertwined and on Court 3 at Traralgon, the league greats and great mates will again reach the destination together.
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