An intense recruiting effort saw the Capitals signing Kelly Wilson from Townsville, Kelsey Griffin from Bendigo, Kristy Wallace from the Baylor Lady Bears basketball, and Opals Marianna Tolo and Leilani Mitchell. Kia Nurse, a no. 10 draft pick in the WNBA and a two-time NCAA champion with the University of Connecticut was brought in from Canada. They joined Capitals Lauren Scherf, Keely Froling and Maddison Rocci. The team was impressive on paper, but were carrying a host of ailments: Griffin had played just six games in 2017/18 after surgery and hamstring problems; Mitchell had missed the 2018 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup on account of a leg injury; and Tolo and Wallace had torn an ACL.&lt;ref name="Preview 2018/19"&gt;&lt;/ref&gt; Goriss retained Carly Wilson as an assistant coach. She was joined on the coaching bench by Phil Brown, a veteran development coach who helped over 30 players become Olympians, including Lauren Jackson, and Penny Taylor, and Bec Goddard, an Australian football coach who had led the Adelaide Crows to the AFLW premiership in 2017, but had returned to Canberra to coach the Canberra Demons in the NEAFL. The Capitals adopted the slogan: "Go Big".