CARLY Boag could be excused for forgetting what it's like to play in a losing basketball match having come straight from winning the WNBL championship with the Sydney Uni Flames to an undefeated start to the SBL season with the Mandurah Magic.

Sydney Uni won their last eight games of the regular season in the WNBL before then beating the Townsville Fire in two games in the semi finals and the Dandenong Rangers in two in the grand final series.

Boag was part of that title-winning team with the Flames who won their last 12 games overall of the 2016/17 season.

She then joined up with the Magic for the second round of the 2017 SBL season and has gone on to play in wins over the Lakeside Lightning, Kalamunda Eastern Suns and Cockburn Cougars.

That sees the Magic currently sit on top of the Women's SBL with a 4-0 record heading into Saturday night's clash with the South West Slammers at Eaton Recreation Centre.

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The combination of winning the WNBL championship and a perfect start to her stint with the Magic have made it a dream couple of months for the 25-year-old originally from Tamworth.

"It was obviously nice winning the WNBL championship so to win that and come over here and be part of our winning start has been great," Boag said.

"The teammates and the whole community have been so nice and welcoming that it makes it that much easier to settle in quickly. It's good to have some teammates who can help out and who are playing well, so already this is a good team to be part of."

Looking back on the WNBL championship at the Flames, it was something that Boag will cherish forever both for the ultimate success and for the teammates she got to play with.

It wasn’t without its challenges either for Sydney Uni who had some early injury hiccups and Leilani Mitchell came to the rescue.

It didn’t always go to plan for Boag with her perhaps not always getting the court time she was hoping for, but she still made a strong contribution to the ultimate triumph and couldn’t have been more proud to be part of it.

"It was good obviously. We lost some players early on but at the same time we were able to fill in those spots pretty quickly and it worked out well obviously because we won the championship," she said.

"It was just nice being part of that and learning a lot still from people like Belinda Snell and Leilani Mitchell.

"It was a good environment to be in and you learn a lot and make some lifelong friendships at the same time. My sister was part of that too and Sydney is kind of like home for us so it just all turned out really good."

While that WNBL title is still fresh in her mind and rightfully so, her focus has turned on to trying to achieve similar success now with the Magic.

Mandurah has never won an SBL title despite grand final appearances in 2005, 2006 and 2009.

In each of coach Randy Miegel's three seasons in charge they have been supremely competitive too before being eliminated by the Lakeside Lightning, Rockingham Flames and Perry Lakes Hawks.

Based on the start to the season with the four wins there's no reason the Magic can't set their sights on big things now in 2017.

The arrival of Boag along with Nici Gilday and Kelly Bailey to a squad still including Casey Mihovilovich, Emma Klasztorny, Bree Klasztorny, Rachel Halleen, Kasey Miegel, Emmah Gardner, Rachell Pettit and others gives them all the tools needed.

Boag is hoping to turn that into some success with a club she's already feeling well and truly a part of.

"It would be nice to be part of a group that can help the club finally achieve that success but obviously there's a long way to go and there's a lot of other good teams in the league," Boag said.

"Everyone's goal is to go out there and win it and that's what we are aiming to do this year. We want to win it but at least we want to give ourselves the best chance to do that.

"Even our bench is deep as well so it's nice to have those girls being able to come on and have the opportunity to help out. When I played in Queensland we had a veteran like Casey so it's nice to have to someone who has been around for that long who can provide that leadership.

"The chemistry with the whole team is there and it doesn’t matter what age anyone is, we all pitch in and try to win and so far it's been so good."

The 6'2 forward did spend her four years in college at Minot State University in North Dakota before spending a season in France with Leon Tregor Basket 29.

She then joined the Sydney Uni Flames for each of the past two WNBL seasons and in between played in Queensland for Bundaberg Bears.

But she was after a fresh challenge this WNBL off-season and making the move west appealed to her. She then heard good things about the Magic and Miegel, and couldn’t be happier with the decision so far.

"It was a few things and I've only heard good things about the club and WA. One of my teammates is actually good friends with Randy so she talked good things about him which made me want to play for him," she said.

"Knowing that he had a good reputation with people I knew was a good indicator that I was coming to an environment I'd enjoy. We came to terms and I was glad to sign up and now to see that it's a great team to be part of."

Making the move to WA certainly wasn’t a concern for Boag either considering she has already spent four years in the United States, a year in France and time in Queensland.

Being away from home was something she was used to and coming west was something she wanted to experience.

"I wasn’t worried about it all and it's something I'm pretty used to now. I went to college and played in Europe and have played in Queensland and Sydney, so I'm used to being all over the place," she said.

"I'm also lucky that my oldest brother lives in Kalgoorlie so I do have him and some other friends over here. It's not a total foreign place for me but it is a place I haven’t been to a lot so I saw it as a good opportunity to experience another new city in my life."

There was the chance that Boag's twin sister Christina would sign with an SBL team in 2017 as well, but that didn’t quite happen.

"That would have been nice if my sister could have played over here too. Our agent (Vlad Alava) actually lives in Perth so it would have been great if we both played in WA this season but she ended up going back to Queensland," Boag said.

"We've been apart before so it's not something new for us even though it would have been good to spend some time together. We're still close and we are each other's biggest fans so I'm watching her games and she's watching mine. It would have been nice to explore Perth with her but it wasn’t to be."

Photo by Mick Cronin