Spirit celebrate Tolo pregnancy news

A MILESTONE 250th WNBL game in last weekend’s stirring win over Perth Lynx will be the last this season for Bendigo Spirit co-captain Marianna Tolo following confirmation she is pregnant with her first child.

The three-time Olympian and her husband, Spirit general manager Dan Jackson, informed the club during the early stages of the pregnancy, with Tolo sharing the news with her teammates several weeks ago.

The news was unveiled publicly by the Spirit on Thursday afternoon.

Still confident that she could perform and contribute to the team on-court, Tolo – a five-time WNBL champion – has already provided fans with many memorable moments so far this season.

From her buzzer-beating match-winner against Canberra Capitals in round four, to a 15-point, six rebound game on the road against Adelaide Lightning last week, Tolo has made every post a winner in her 12th season in the league.

Fittingly, to conclude her time on-court for the 2025-26 season, Tolo played her 250th league game against the Lynx las Sunday, sharing the limelight with her great mate and co-captain Kelsey Griffin, who reached the same milestone.

The pair automatically qualified for WNBL life membership, with the Spirit marking the occasion in style with an emphatic 29-point win.

With the news of her pregnancy made public, Tolo – a key in the Spirit’s drought-breaking WNBL championship win in 2024-25 – admitted to a sense of relief.

“To get to game number 250 – alongside KG – and for us to get through with a good win …we really couldn’t have asked for much more for our milestone game,” she said.

“Within myself, there have been a few questions over the past few weeks about ‘how many more games do I have in me’, but I’ve always made the decision knowing 100 per cent within myself that my body has felt good, I’ve pulled up pretty well after each game, and I feel that I’m still contributing to the team.

“I’m thrilled I’ve played as much as I have this season, especially playing alongside some of the new girls to the squad like Izzy (Borlase), Meg (McConnell), Polly (Olivia Pollerd) and Kelsey (Rees).

“But I know the time is right now for me to take more of an off-court role for the rest of the season.”

On behalf of Spirit ownership, SEN Teams CEO Richard Simkiss congratulated Tolo and Jackson on the announcement.

“We are absolutely thrilled for Marianna and Dan,” he said.

“We will obviously miss her on-court, but we know that Marianna contributes to this team in so much more than her on-court role, so we know we’re incredibly lucky to still have her around the club until we get to meet the newest member of the Spirit family.”

Jackson said he and Tolo were incredibly thankful for the support they have received during what has obviously been uncertain time.

“We were very open with Simmo (Richard Simkiss) and Kennedy (head coach Kennedy Kereama) with where things were at from the very beginning, and they and the entire organisation have been nothing but supportive in letting Tolo manage the early stages of her pregnancy in a way that worked best for her,” Jackson said.

“We’re obviously very excited for this next stage for our family, but also really excited about the club culture we’re continuing to build at the Spirit, and whether she’s playing or not, Tolo will still be a big part of that.”

The Spirit, minus Tolo, return to the court on Friday night in Sydney against the Flames.

They will be back in Bendigo for a Sunday clash against the Lightning at Red Energy Arena,

Currently second on the ladder behind Townsville Fire (7-1), the Spirit head into their clash against the Flames at 5-2.