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Season 4 Episode 1 - Movers and Shakers + Will Mayfield!
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We are SO BACK!
You can tell we were eager to return and have a lot to talk about given the near 2.5 hour episode...eeek! Our bad.
This episode we talk movers and shakers - the biggest singings of NBL1 East (so far).
We also chat to just a tradie reppin' his city, Will Mayfield from the Canberra Gunners
Recommended
Transcript
Welcome to Season 4 & Social Media Shoutouts
00:00:32
Speaker
Wow, would you believe it? We're back and back again. Welcome back. It's season four of East Got Game, where we give you the X's, the O's and the insights of NBL One East.
00:00:44
Speaker
Thanks for joining us tonight live on YouTube and Instagram. And remember to follow us on Instagram and Facebook at East Got Game, or you can continue to find our episodes on your preferd preferred streaming platforms. And while you're there, check out Cut to the Chase podcast featuring the Bankstown Bruin himself, Jason Caddy, and It's a Coal World, a podcast by Beck Cole, both of them brought to you by basketball.com.au. All right, Lockie, it's been a long time between
Off-Season Recap: Commentary Highlights
00:01:18
Speaker
drinks, my friend. How are you?
00:01:20
Speaker
I am great, Squint. It has been the best part of seven months since the Canberra Gunners won the NBL1 National Championship down at Tuggeranong. And it's been a long off season. It's been a fun off season, but it's been a long off season waiting to our get back in the shark tank, get back to the home of hoops for some NBL1 and particularly some NBL1 commentary.
00:01:44
Speaker
Look, and I can selfishly say that we were there at NBL1 Nationals on commentating duties, but also the icing on the cake was being able to see the Gunners win the national chart title on home court, donning our brand new Canberra jerseys, thanks to Coach Herrick for them. Yeah, so it's been a while. We're ready to get back into it. But it seems like you've had a pretty eventful off-season if your merchandise in the background is anything to go by.
00:02:13
Speaker
Oh, you mean this thing? Yeah. um Well, I did some other stuff. I commentated Australian handball national championships. So the Olympic sport of handball, not the when you're playing in the schoolyard. You know, been knocking around some A-League soccer, bit of WNBL. And then, yeah, last month I went off to Italy for the Winter Olympics.
00:02:37
Speaker
That looked awesome. It looked like you had such a great time at the Winter Olympics. I'm stoked that you got to go. I know that you were really looking forward to it for a long, long time. ah But yeah, I think NBL One East is just around the corner and it sounds like you're getting back in the commentary box.
00:02:54
Speaker
I am. I'm back for Sutherland and Comets this season. So we've got all 10 Sutherland home games and six Comets home games. And watch this space. We've got a few new commentators at Comets this year. So building building a bit of a stable of commentators. But I will say I've already been in a bit of NBL1 East action because I did bump into the Brindabella beacon himself, Glenn Morrison, at Singapore Airport on his way back from his... arm tour of Europe after playing in Sweden.
00:03:25
Speaker
ah Sadly, he told me he didn't get an extra legroom seat from Singapore to Sydney, which for the big man must have been ah must have been painful. I mean, did anyone tell them who he is? He's the Brindabella beacon.
Commentary Milestones and Career Reflections
00:03:38
Speaker
I think that's an automatic exit row seat for him. I think he should just be given the pilot seat if he really if he really wants it.
00:03:45
Speaker
I trust him. like yeah Yeah, we put trust in him to close out games. We can trust him to land a plane. 100%. hundred percent ah Great. So you'll be 16 home games under your belt again. um I dare to ask how many games you've actually commentated now in NBL1, but ah I'm also getting into the commentary box again. But the sad realisation is that it will be my, i mean, so bittersweet, I should say. it will be my third season commentating NBL1 North, which I'm very humbled and privileged to do.
00:04:19
Speaker
But the sad part is it means at the end of this season I would have commentated more North Conference games than East Conference games. And that that's that's something that i wasn't prepared for emotionally.
00:04:32
Speaker
No, no. I do know that I have commentated at least 100 NBL1 games because we celebrated that last year. I think I'm about 170 games ah across the football.
00:04:47
Speaker
Including one last year at Sydney Uni. Well, hopefully when you get to 200 games, you become a life member like they do in the WNBL.
00:04:59
Speaker
Just putting it out there. Just putting out there. Just an idea you know, maybe just a socials post like you do 100 games or 50 games for players, you know, 200 games commentated by Lockie France.
00:05:13
Speaker
ah But nonetheless, we have the podcast here to keep us grounded in the NBL One East.
2026 NBL1 East Season Preview
00:05:20
Speaker
Again, another season that's shaping up to be huge for our conference and we're getting very excited to get stuck into it. 11 days away to tip off. But for this episode, we're just going to be covering some of the biggest signings and movements ahead of this 2026 season. And then next week we have also a very special episode with another guest.
00:05:42
Speaker
We'll be talking signings this episode. We'll also have a very special athlete interview ah to close out the episode. So, Lockie, you ready to get stuck into it? 100%. Always ready to chat some NBL one. That's why we're here.
00:05:57
Speaker
Oh, good. And keep in mind, as we said, 11 days to a tip off. There's a lot of rosters that still need some spots to be filled. I feel like the conference is getting better at announcing signings in due time. But as we were talking about yesterday, ahead of the 2025 season, some clubs were still posting their announcements literally the night before the first round. Let's hope it doesn't come to that again. So all of the signings that we're going to be talking about today is obviously based on what we certainly know and has it been officially announced on platform. So yeah.
00:06:31
Speaker
Let's go team by team. ah The first one, obviously, on the top of the list in alphabetical order is the Aubrey Wodonga Bandits. Great to see you Unique Thompson back in the women's program. And another big signing for the men's program I'm excited about is Majook Bajook.
00:06:49
Speaker
He's jumped over the bottom south to the east. that's That's a massive signing, and I mean that literally and figuratively because... I mean, three-time and NBL champion. He's been around the he's been around the traps as Majuk Majuk. You know, long NBL career, and he's 33 now. I mean, that that shook me, saying that he's 33. But, yeah, he's definitely been around the traps. And that's a really, really good sign for Oroo Wadong because I think everybody...
00:07:17
Speaker
um including themselves, would say that they are fairly underperformed in 2025, finishing second bottom with just five wins. So, yeah, definitely i are definite'ly a big signing for them and ah and a good place, you know. i mean, he was, you know, pretty early in the in the piece and bringing him in a song alongside bringing back Kev Blalock.
00:07:40
Speaker
They're going to have the r the paint locked down. Yeah, it's not too often that we are privileged with having import signing for multiple seasons, A, in the same conference and B, at the same club for that conference. But, you know, we've seen people like Sydney Hunter, who recently moved to NB01 Central. She signed multiple years with Maitland.
00:08:01
Speaker
ah Blalock's coming back, which is great. Mandrell Worthy was announced today going from Maitland to Newcastle, so or at least he's staying in the east. But pinching Majuk Majuk from south is awesome because ah as much as we love the east, we are usually starved for true centres.
00:08:19
Speaker
So it's going to be interesting to see how other teams are going to match up against Majuk Majuk, not just in his expertise, but his size. I mean, he's ah he's a textbook centre. He is. He's ah is he sick he's listed at 6'11 and 112 kilos, according to Wikipedia, and I'll ahll believe every centimetre and kilogram of that.
00:08:41
Speaker
So, yeah, huge from Aubrey. I'm sure they'll be very keen to ah perform even better than last year. that Their roster last year looked really exciting on paper, but, yeah, just couldn't get it together on court, unfortunately.
00:08:54
Speaker
And we mentioned Yannick Thompson is coming back for the women's team for Aubrey Wodonga Bandits. She was MVP up here in NBL1 North. I mean, she's got to be an early pick for NBL1 East MVP for 2026.
00:09:11
Speaker
Definitely. um i mean, obviously, Munger is... defending MVP and always right up there. And she's so dominant. She's such a dominant part of the Newcastle, everything Newcastle do.
00:09:23
Speaker
But um like you if you need goes off as regularly as she's expected to, she'll be right in the conversation. I mean, it goes without saying. Yeah, and but and Unique not only is coming off an MVP performance up in the north, but near MVP performance in a debut WNBL season. She was really the saviour for that Sydney Flames team in a lot of situations. ah So she's just right in the high right now, and the Bandits are going to reap all the benefits.
00:09:53
Speaker
They certainly are. Well, they if there's one team that knows how to use, if one coach that knows how to use your knee, Thompson, it is Sammy Mack. um But how good is it that like going to find NBL one import in the WNBL and they're not just like, ah oh, they're better than the Aussies kind of signing, they're a proper import that we've, you know, Aubrey scouted, obviously Renee would know about it from a time in the East. And how good, i love it.
00:10:21
Speaker
I love seeing... imports stick around in Australia as well.
Team Insights: Maitland Mustangs
00:10:26
Speaker
Because then they get permanent residency and then they don't count as an import anymore. That's right. And then we can keep them for longer.
00:10:33
Speaker
Yeah. And next on your list, with without going in alphabetical order, I think one of the big teams at the forefront of a lot of fans of NBL 1 East's mind is the Maitland Men.
00:10:48
Speaker
Oh, my God. Talk about loading up. I know. mean, they're outs. I mean, they and obviously Worthy and Hunter are out, and they haven't announced Christian Little yet, so...
00:11:01
Speaker
this late in the piece, but they're starting five this season's shapes to be Will Cranston-Leon, Mason Bragg, Rain Smith, Billy Parsons, Miles Cherry.
00:11:13
Speaker
The end. i That's just so stacked. Like, Rain Smith, like, literal boomer. Rain by name, rain by nature.
00:11:27
Speaker
Legit, like 39% or 37% college career three-point shooter, 38.5% three-point shooter in NBL this year. um And does all his work from the three-point line, which is going to be so beneficial for Cranston, Lowne and Bragg to just know that they've got that spot-up shooter. They can just bury anything.
00:11:54
Speaker
Be interesting to see as well, like i Cranston Lowne and Bragg are pretty similar in a way that they're very quick, very crafty, able to create for themselves and certainly for others. Like they would have as many points as assists, some outstanding games. So on paper, having those two and then rain in the mix might seem like a little bit too much, too many cooks spoiling the broth. But I think as individuals, I don't think any of them are going to care who's scoring 30 on the night. They just want to win. 100%. And like will Will has said as much, and I think that's the whole Maitland thing.
00:12:32
Speaker
I mean, Maitland culture. And, I mean, a lot of teams say that, oh, we don't care who does the scoring. We just want to win until you get out there and some guy's trying to go off for 50 and they get blown out because he gets stopped dead every time. And it's not something I've ever seen from Mason Bragg or Will Cranston Lowne.
00:12:48
Speaker
If they go 20 7 points and assists or 7 20 points and assists, they don't care. points in assist they don't care And they've got Myles Cherry then to play with as well. If for some reason the three of them and even, you know, the likes of Parsons and the talented local bench from the Mustangs are not having a great day from the arc, they've got Myles Cherry who's consistently getting double doubles under the rim.
00:13:13
Speaker
Yeah, 62% around the – so inside eight foot last year. And –
00:13:22
Speaker
And 3.1 offensive boards for a team last year that actually finished in the bottom half of the league in offensive rebounding. So we're talking about all the scoring and ball movement that the Mustangs have added.
00:13:36
Speaker
Myles Cherry is going to really shore up a couple of areas where they might have been lacking last season. And I'm pretty confident as well, if it wasn't last season, perhaps the season before where Cherry, I think, took at least 90% of his shots inside the paint.
00:13:53
Speaker
Yeah, that yeah ah that sounds pretty – that sounds like him. Yeah, they're pretty on brand for him. Yeah, well, actually, no, last season, 191 shots inside eight foot, one of ten between eight foot and the arc, and one of three from three-point range.
00:14:13
Speaker
Looks like yeah it's like he's dangerous from the corner three spot.
00:14:18
Speaker
He's one of three. he He's one of one from the corner. There's no doubt that he he doesn't know his role. The man knows his role he does and he does it well. and He doesn't stray from because he doesn't need to because he doesn't need Yeah, so that's going to be super exciting. I imagine that Rain Smith is going to be ducking in and out between the Mustangs' responsibilities and Boomer's responsibilities throughout the season too. Hopefully that won't disrupt too much of the the chemistry and the stability of the team. I can't imagine it that it would given that. The Mustangs are one of the great teams in the East that are able to maintain a core um group season in, in season out.
00:15:01
Speaker
And I feel like it's like when a couple of years ago with Sutherland women, it was like as long as we got into the finals and Panousas and Nicholson and everyone was there then, they could make a run. And they did to the grand final and almost won it And that's the thing.
00:15:16
Speaker
If Maitland come third, fourth, fifth because you know Smith's out for a couple of games and they drop a couple when he's on, if he comes back for finals, they're back to where they were and they can make a run. You just got to be in it. It's got to be in the mix.
00:15:31
Speaker
Got to be in the mix. That's it. That's it. Heading for another season with a five-way tie for third spot or a three-way tie for fifth spot. No. I not shouldn't put that out in the universe.
00:15:43
Speaker
No. It'll happen. There'll be a three-way tie somewhere. There always is. Easy. Easy. It's always exciting. and We always get what we ask for. Yeah. ah But another team, ah perhaps as your notes very well put it, perhaps overshadowed by the Maitland News but some massive names, is the Bankstown Bruins. And side note, I would like to give props to the Bankstown Bruins organisation and social media team for releasing their roster in such due timing. um But, yeah, who's standing out for you in this roster? Yeah.
00:16:19
Speaker
Well, the standout player in this roster, everyone they signed, is Alex Higgins' teacher. But the standout move is getting Anthony Mundine III from Comets.
00:16:31
Speaker
Because you've signed very good player who's been at Comets for a long time and you've weakened another East team in the process who were already reeling from not having Bawali Bales and probably Dave Ohickey by the looks So, but yeah, I think we've got to talk about Alex Higgins-Titcher because he is now, well, he played in the summer league and he's also now a legitimate and NBL player. I know he was injured this year, but like he's playing 15, 20 minutes every time you get every time he suits up.
00:17:02
Speaker
So he's just gone forward in leaps and bounds and he's very good at leaping and bounding. Yeah, he is. ah And in the green and gold as well for the Gangaroos. Yes.
00:17:17
Speaker
um So it's kind of cool. Like this feels like a great fairy tale story in a sense for us as East fans, knowing that we got to watch him from the inaugural season.
Bankstown Bruins: Key Roster Additions
00:17:27
Speaker
we got to see him win defensive player of the year, not soon after. And he's just absolutely flourished ever since then.
00:17:35
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, yeah. Went up to Cairns, played NBL 1 North as well. And now, Back in the East. You know, people were saying, he doesn't play in the East anymore. Why are you hyping him? Now he's back and we're going to hype him some more.
00:17:48
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. Because he was he was grown here. Like we saw him, you know, grow as an athlete and as a player. And sure, he's taken his talents elsewhere. He's still, you know, East at heart.
00:18:00
Speaker
Oh, bless. um And because that Bankstown roster is, yeah, looking pretty deep. They've also got Nico Timonera joining them. Young guns like Jesse Edwards is back. Zeke Evans has jumped over to Bankstown Bruins. Angus Lake is back at Bankstown Bruins after his stint with the ah Sutherland Sharks. The one person that's not on this list that I was waiting to see is obviously Hayden Blankley, but I think you told me off air a couple of days ago that he's unfortunately injured.
00:18:31
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, I think he did his knee over in ah over in China or Hong Kong, wherever he was playing, I don't quite remember. I think he posted the other day, he's doing so much swimming rehab, he's going to be Aquaman by the time he's ah back on court.
00:18:48
Speaker
and um And they also got they got a Elijah Kamu from our Gold Coast. Have you watched much of him? The name's certainly familiar. I think he's going to be a pretty solid guy like ah in that 3-4 spot for them. um Yeah, really interesting interesting move. I'd love to learn a little bit more about what conversations we had to ah to lure him over down to the east.
00:19:13
Speaker
but um Perhaps there must be a connection with Cadiz perhaps because Cadiz spent so much time playing for the Gold Coast Rollers. He did, yes. There's always connections. if yeah If you can't figure out why a player's joined, just think think of other players at the club who might have a way to get him there.
00:19:35
Speaker
There is always, it's a very small basketball world. as big as the As much as it is a world game, it's a very small basketball world. It is. And they also, they've picked up an import in Tedrick Wolf, who's been playing in Norway and averaging 26 points per game on 65% shooting from two-point range.
00:19:56
Speaker
Standing six foot five. So very interested to see what he can bring. Might hopefully see him at the Blitz this weekend. Hopefully see all these guys at the Blitz this weekend. Yeah, yeah. It'll really interesting to see who shows out, who shows up for the Blitz, ah what teams are going to be um testing using that preseason opportunity.
00:20:18
Speaker
Well, they do have the, I think they have some compulsory sessions ah during the blitz, the players have to go to. So even if they're not playing, they might still be around the traps.
00:20:31
Speaker
Still might, still might learn a little bit from our players who aren't announced. yeah as a kid Keep your eyes peeled for the scoops because sometimes people will pop up on their Instagram story, their roster, and and very kindly tag them all, which helps us nerds in this podcast game that are desperate to know the rosters. So thanks for putting up stuff like that on socials. You know who you are.
00:20:59
Speaker
Should we ah talk about the Bankstown women while we're on the subject of the Bruins? Absolutely. Let's talk about the Bankstown women. And I should say props before to Bankstown for their announcements. And I do appreciate sincerely how the announcements of their roster between the men's and the women's program are really even because sometimes you'll see clubs just do men and then a drizzle of women.
00:21:24
Speaker
Bankstown all over it. ah say Back and forth. I think they've announced... do Just looking at the roster track of pretty much even numbers. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Numbers that include Davida Dale.
00:21:38
Speaker
They got her this year. Woo! They were meant to have her last year, got injured. And now, i mean, she was Defensive Player of the Year in 24 in the Women's League. Mm-hmm.
00:21:49
Speaker
um average So she averaged 17.9 points per game for Comets, 5.2 assists, 9.7 rebounds, and 5.6 steals.
00:22:00
Speaker
And so many of them were just like NFL intercept style of players trying to throw passes to the corner. And in the end, like I'm talking as a commentator for Comets, you got frustrated at the opposition for throwing the pass even though you want Comets to win the game.
00:22:20
Speaker
It's like, stop it. the You can see it unfold in front of you. It's almost like predicting the future and and going in slow motion where the path is already in the air and you're just like, no, but you can't do anything to stop it.
00:22:36
Speaker
Pretty much. um And a good thing I know one thing i noticed about Bainstown is their re rebounding rate was actually quite low last season.
00:22:47
Speaker
And are you think of a team like Aubrey Wodonga last year, their rebounding rate wasn't great. And Sammy Mack said to himself, yeah, but we shot like a billion threes a game. are we going to rebound when everybody's on the perimeter?
00:22:58
Speaker
Well, Bankstown weren't shooting a lot of threes, but obviously with Shiloh there, they were shooting them, but they weren't shooting them massively. They were actually pretty low and they were low in rebounding. So it wasn't a style of play thing. And to get a guard that pull pulls the ball down 9.7 times per game, in addition to everything else she can do, that's massive.
00:23:18
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Yeah. So, yeah, it's going to be a great return for Davida Dale back into the east as well. It'd be interesting to see if she can reclaim the Defensive Player of the Year title.
00:23:32
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, it's a yeah pretty stacked field generally. But i'm I'm very interested to – because her running mate this year will be Talia Tukai.
00:23:45
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Yeah, how do you think that's going to play out on court, those two together? I think it's going to be hell for opposition backcourts. That is the main thing. um I was noticing going through rosters, and there's been a few announcements since, so it's not as bad. I feel like there's a few rosters, probably a fair number of rosters, where you think they go, like, pretty good one to seven, and then you're like, maybe there's a bit of a drop-off on some of them.
00:24:11
Speaker
And Bankstown could win games, almost purely through getting the opposition in foul trouble. Mm-hmm. Talia Tupaya took 60% as many free throws as she had field goal attempts last year.
00:24:30
Speaker
that She was just bullying people for inner west. I know she had the absolute keys to the offense, but still... That's an outrageous statistic. Like that is so impressive where she's like, look, you're not going to give me a clean shot.
00:24:47
Speaker
I'll just do it from the line instead. Exactly. And she shoots 84% of the line. That is easy money. Easy money. Yeah. That is like buying a vending machine and just watching the cash roll in. Yeah.
00:25:03
Speaker
And, you know, 50% around the rim, 37% from three-point range. thirty seven per percent from threepoint range She's just, she's totally too far. I mean, she's she's an opal and a torfin.
00:25:15
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Not a lot of people can say that. No. Now, moving on, i know you've got Comet's men down on the sheet first, but alphabetically we've got to go to Canberra Gunners now and the Canberra Nationals, I beg your pardon. Limited announcements from them. i mean, as the roster tracker on the NBL1 East website stands, the Gunners have announced Morrison, Byatt, Wardlow, and new import Darnell Hoskins Jr. And the women...
00:25:48
Speaker
ah Jasmine Butzos is back. Kylie McAllister's back. Zara Funnell is stepping up. And they've nabbed Katie Jones. that's That's so massive for them. I mean, we all saw what Katie could do last year. She was elite alongside Riley Lopfer for Aubrey Wodonga. And she just immediately makes the team so much better. Yeah.
00:26:13
Speaker
Just bringing in a massive, massive piece of the backcourt to just control the play. I mean, um you know, she can play the she's played the one a lot here. She's played the two a bit overseas in Germany where she is at the moment, and she'll probably miss a few rounds because her team's just good in Germany. They make playoffs and the season keeps going.
00:26:33
Speaker
I'm not angry that they made the cup final, semifinal, that I missed their game in Germany. Not at all. ah Moving on. But, you know, she can slot in. You know, whoever else they sign for the backcourt, Katie's just going to be able to compliment whoever that is so well.
00:26:48
Speaker
And what's a girl got to do to get a WNBL contract? Like, she's literally now moving to Canberra where there is a team. Someone's got to at least give her a DP position, surely. Right.
00:27:01
Speaker
she's living in canberra they have a wmbl team just do it please Oh, this just hot off the press thanks to our good pal Caleb Fogarty, who, as we know, absolutely crushes it as the NBL 1A social media manager. He's just popped in the Instagram live chat that Callie Bourne was just announced for the Canberra Nationals as well. We love it.
00:27:28
Speaker
We love We love Welcome back, Callie. And this is obviously on the back of Will Mayfield and Zach McDermott being announced today for the Gunners. Yeah, so I've added a few, but I think for the Gunners, we're going to expect very much the same. I mean, the main thing is going to be Derek Emelofonwu out going up to Mackay and then you import Darnell Hoskins in.
00:27:53
Speaker
um
00:27:56
Speaker
Glenn was saying to me, he he can't remember the last time he if he's ever played with two imports because they've got Ed Wardlow and now they've got Darnell. It's just Canberra don't generally have two imports, but I think...
00:28:09
Speaker
Maybe the are they're coming around to it, you know. But um yeah I think it's only a matter of time until we see, you know, Tui, Pender, um Ted Bigwiller, Will Rice, guys like that probably get announced over the next few days and return most of the same core.
00:28:30
Speaker
Lockie Smith surely back with his mullet. Oh, yes.
00:28:36
Speaker
And, yeah, so they Canberra, both teams shaping up to be looking pretty good. The women's team already core players like Butzos is back. Always great to have Carly McAllister back, guaranteed double-double. The pairing with Katie Jones and Carly McAllister is going to be sweet poetry in motion on that pick and roll.
00:28:56
Speaker
Oh, yeah. So good things. Good things coming for the Gunners. Now, the Central Coast Crusaders, they have started to... announce a lot of their roster. um A couple of, one big standout for me from the women's program, which I'm sure is going to be also your standout, delightful standout.
00:29:16
Speaker
ah The men, so they got Garrick Young back, which is great. So also able to retain a successful import in their men's program. Aaron Redhead has returned home from the haunt his stint at the Hornsby Spiders. They've got obviously the local core in Cassidy, Schwade, Gunderson, Bailey,
00:29:34
Speaker
And little gun mini Gunderson. Mini Gunderson, yes. They've got they've got Gunderson 1 and 2, Hayden and Lachlan. Now Lachlan's the middle of the three Gunderson boys that's now coming up from Youth League. ah But who who do you think, who have I left out of the that men's roster that we should be getting excited about?
00:29:55
Speaker
It's got to be our boy Reif, doesn't it? Our boy Reif. Oh, I was really happy to see that Sharif Saipaya is making the move to Central Coast Crusaders. I know that Coach Miko is going to look after him very well, and I hope that he thrives in that system down there. A lot of run and gun. They love to run and gun down there. They love to shoot the three ball. Sharif is going to do a great job being able to create for his teammates, which I think – They were probably missing a little bit of last season, but Sharif, out onto the coast.
00:30:30
Speaker
And they got an import over from the west in AJ Wilson and half his highlights were running the floor and dunking. So when you want get someone who can get out and run and a team that wants a guy who can get out and run?
00:30:41
Speaker
Happy days. Now, as good as this ah existing and roster is for the men's program, I am a bit worried they won't have as much enough rim protection because I think Lino has won't be returning to Crusaders as far as I know So that may be a bit of an issue for them, but we'll see we'll see how we go. The roster isn't fully announced yet.
00:31:05
Speaker
Yeah, that's i mean that's yeah was what we keep saying. Yeah, the team's still got a few aces sleeve. As for the Crusaders women, obviously Danica Rowe is back, which is great after having her second baby. So congratulations to her.
00:31:22
Speaker
um But also Tristan Black. Tristan, I love Tristan so much.
00:31:30
Speaker
She's ah certainly announced a great signing. She's had the most most of her success before it was NBL1, when it was still Waratah Championship League with the Norse Bears winning you know, however many chips that she was able to win under that in that program. And won at Hornsby.
00:31:49
Speaker
And won at Hornsby, correct. morningine that was my first That was the first grand final I ever went to.
00:31:56
Speaker
<unk>by Who did they play against? They played Casey Samuels, Jamie Samuels and Hills up at Maitland. And Casey Samuels played four games that weekend. Hills made the grand final in Youth League and Warratah Champ and she played all four games.
00:32:12
Speaker
Yikes. But Hornsby got over the top of them in the grand final. Awesome. Yeah, so Tristan Black is back. That's a huge get for the Crusaders. ah I mean, i know that she's going to be as productive as possible on court, but even just for the culture signing, she's going to be setting a really good example for some of the existing players, some of the new players coming into the program like Bridget Williams and Kiza Maltezo.
00:32:39
Speaker
But there's a lot of young youth league players that they're starting to integrate into this program. So So having someone like Tristan is going to set a very good standard and culture, hopefully for the sustainability of that program too.
00:32:53
Speaker
Yeah, 100%. Yeah. I mean, anytime you talk about bringing youth league players through, you need, yeah, you need culture fits, exactly as you said. Could not have said it better. I mean, you know, no Muffy, Muffy Loda this season.
00:33:09
Speaker
Jazz Simmons didn't get on the court last year, but she's gone. Yeah. yeah i mean a lot of experience um not returning by the looks of things yes and and jazz forcadia is obviously not returning because she is about to have her first baby
00:33:27
Speaker
hey we we love the next gen of our favorite hoopers we certainly do Now, Centre of Excellence, nothing is officially listed on the roster tracker, but I think from some social media posts and their official website, you can kind of garner who's going to be around. But as we say, with every season with the COE, it's always going to change from the start of the season to the end of the season with some kind of ah World Cup in between to interrupt the season.
00:33:55
Speaker
Yeah, I think they play like three games and then don't play another NBL one game for a month or something. I think probably that happens twice throughout the year. And but they only carry 12. So, you know, any injury or a couple of injuries and suddenly you've got people flying in and then half the team graduates with six weeks left in the season anyway. And they'll look good to start with.
00:34:17
Speaker
They'll look good. They'll look good to start with. Yeah. ah Now, next on your list, do you want to keep going alphabetical order or do you want to jump to the next one? Yeah, we may as well. we're We're already here. It's easy to scroll down the roster tracker that way.
00:34:30
Speaker
Yes. Hills Hornets. Again, another program that has been able to retain a lot of local talent and add some key pieces. Tell me about the men's existing roster at the moment.
00:34:43
Speaker
So they've got Meek Payne coming back, Liam Moss coming back, Paph Mamoysia, Jacob Foy, Saxon Orsini. So, you know, that's ah that's a real good solid core. It's, you know,
00:34:55
Speaker
Just a few local boys and a couple of guys who have been there for a while. You know, Paif and Meek, obviously not Hills Jr. I think Saxon's the only Hills Jr. out of the five, but they're all coming back. And the longer they're there, the more embedded they get. But they've um ah picked up a second import in Sean Stewart from over – we're just pilfering from the West this season, are we? we got Sean Stewart as well – um as well as AJ Wilson for the Crusaders. So he comes over from ah the Goldfields Giants and he should slot into the backcourt. And um they picked up Gunn Majak from Bankstown, who first game first game we are reviewed last year, he was just swatting shots for fun, if I remember correctly. Yes, you He had three blocks in the first seven minutes.
00:35:46
Speaker
Yes, you are definitely remembering that correctly. Yeah. So he should be a great addition. They've got um a couple of guys up from Victoria, and Ned Carr and Ollie Lindblad trying to yeah get some more minutes. And i really ah really like the signing of Josh Payne um from Norths.
00:36:06
Speaker
um Good to see guys stepping out You know, we've seen, especially between those north shore and North Shore, Northern side of Sydney clubs, like we saw those, like Jamie Munro moved to get more minutes. And now Josh Payne's gone to Hills. And those guys are just looking to get a bit more minutes and jumping clubs to somewhere else nearby and more power to them. And I was told the other day that our Josh Payne put up 40 in a ah university basketball league grand final a couple of years ago.
00:36:33
Speaker
Yikes. Yeah. Due for a breakout. Yeah. So I think, um, I think that one, uh, they'll trip a few people up. Will the Hornets. They are, they've made some, they've made good additions and probably, you know, the right additions. You know, if you think like last year they had Dengak for a while, you know, they haven't announced Paul Tacco. So getting someone like Majak to, uh, patrol the paint, bit of rim protection.
00:37:04
Speaker
was a very, very good idea of good signing. And the women's team have been able to retain Jade Kurosome, who is just about to finish her Tall Ferns debut at the FIBA Women's World Cup qualifiers that are about to wrap up in the next couple of days. Shez is coming back, thankfully. It's great to see Shez back at the redemption season for her. after she was unfortunately suffered an injury in the first round of the 2025 season. And Taryn Marnie is coming back to the Hills Hornets.
00:37:39
Speaker
I thought Taryn Marnie was going to Hornsby.
00:37:43
Speaker
Well, according to the roster tracker, she is going to Hills. Oh. Because she was at Hornsby last season. She was. Maybe that's something we can clarify a little bit later.
00:37:58
Speaker
Yes, yes it is. um But I'm psyched that they've got Sheree back. um but that's That's massive for them.
00:38:12
Speaker
It's worth remembering as well that despite how they finished last year, when they had both their imports, Hills were five and five in those games when they had Kennedy Johnson and Liz Smith.
00:38:24
Speaker
So if you you take Cherie, you put, and they just got an import in Brooke Bielko, who signed, who who played D1 at Bryant University. So, you know,
00:38:38
Speaker
that I think that they're better than they were last year already, but I i do think that we we need to put a aside the fact they finished with seven and 13, because they were five and five when they had two imports last year, and now they've got Sheree back and import.
00:38:52
Speaker
So if they both perform to that level, there's no reason they can't go 500 better again
00:38:58
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. Things shaping up nicely over there. And again, more signings to be announced. But I want to be correct. Yeah. So they've got Ella Gale back, which I think is massive because every player that averaged a double-double in the Women's League last year was either an import, had WNBL experience either as a DP or a full roster player, or they were named Sataya Fagan, or they were Ella Gale.
00:39:27
Speaker
That's pretty good company. Yeah, very good company. Very, very good company. That's also a really excellent, outstanding ah stat, as it were, that you found out next to um the one you mentioned earlier about Talia Tupaya getting to the free throw line. yeah
00:39:46
Speaker
ah And then, yeah, Hornsby Keringai Spiders. Daniel Titus is back for the Spiders, which I think was another good a good get. Yeah.
00:39:59
Speaker
And I know that I think Stephen Hall is actually off to college, I think, and I don't think he's been a officially announced. Yeah, I saw he announced he's committed to a college, but I didn't see a departure date. But, he yeah, like you said, he hasn't been announced for the the Spiders either. So where is that Spiders media manager?
00:40:18
Speaker
I know who you are. Yeah, you've got to give us a little bit more. we We were already getting so many great announcements and signings, particularly on the women's side, but we're greedy. We want more. We want the full roster. yeah
00:40:35
Speaker
But this women's team, ah so yeah, sorry, Titus is probably my standout signing. I don't know too much about these imports, though, from the men's side. Have you had time to look into them just yet? I've a little bit of a look at Mike Connolly because um he's young.
00:40:51
Speaker
Like he's real young. He was playing in the under twenties league, like the European under twenties youth basketball league last year. So like coming over, isn't like you're an import and you're 20. I mean, obviously he must have, they must have huge raps on him, but like, that's, that's a big call from the club.
00:41:11
Speaker
So, um, I really hope he like, Want him to really do well. hope he does. It's just, yeah, it's not something you see a lot. Like we see players like first year out of college maybe, but not yeah.
00:41:24
Speaker
Take the European path and then come to NBL one straight out of, uh, youth under twenties. I think he played in the Spanish. think he like did double duty a bit, maybe in the Spanish, like lower divisions as well, but, um, he was killing it there 20.5 points per game and 25 points a game in the under 20 European leagues. So.
00:41:43
Speaker
ah Can't say i watch either of those leagues too much, so I don't really have a full gauge on the ah difference in level, but someone's got to put the ball in the basket and it was him. who Yeah, when you say can't you don't watch those leagues too much, let's be real, there's just way too much basketball to watch sometimes. It's impossible to stay across everything. Exactly.
00:42:07
Speaker
This women's team, though, they are loading up. Jessie Mae Hall is back. Dayla Walker, Nicole Hutchins, Nikki Sainsbury, back. Ayanna Bay, back.
00:42:19
Speaker
Adding two absolute superstars from opposition teams from last season just to put this women's team surely in top eight contention. ah definitely, definitely, definitely.
00:42:34
Speaker
Christina Moore, 28.1 points a game for Inner West last year and 8.2 rebounds. And Ruby Perkins, third leading scorer for Norths, despite not starting a game and playing 24 minutes a night.
00:42:48
Speaker
ah Ruby Perkins is just coming off her DP season with the Sydney Flames as well. But for those who haven't had the privilege of watching Jessie May Hall and Ruby Perkins play together, so you think that they're good as individuals? Have you seen them play together? it is like our own version of the Bash Brothers.
00:43:08
Speaker
They got that gold medal for a reason. Mm-hmm. And... i We've watched them be happy to give the keys to each other when they need to as well. I think that's the biggest thing.
00:43:20
Speaker
You think second half of that national championship grand final, Ruby was feeling it and Ruby got to go. That's right. they I think they both averaged almost identical points for the tournament. So they just, whoever's feeling it in a quarter and a half in a game, they can play together.
00:43:41
Speaker
And that's New South Wales Metro. They were able to transfer that chemistry with each other and compatibility when they also played for Australia together as well over, and I think it was at least an Asia Cup they played together. um Yeah, this this is a really great duo. Like it has potential to be to like a historic duo. if they If they continue on this path, if they go all the way to the Opals together, they could be like a historic duo like a and Michelle Timms.
00:44:12
Speaker
Shelly Sandy kind of duo, a Christy Harrow, a Lauren Jackson, a Lauren Jackson, Penny Taylor. Like they they've got huge potential as a duo, as individuals obviously, but as a duo just. Yeah, it's just the potential storyline that could, you know.
00:44:27
Speaker
there are you know They're both leaving for college um soon, hopefully at the end of this season. You know, they'll do their years, hopefully both come back and, yeah.
00:44:39
Speaker
Yeah, I imagine that was part of the incentive for Ruby to go over to Hornsby. it was that opportunity, one last time playing together before they do go to their respective college careers. Yeah. um Yeah, love the story. All starts in the East.
00:44:53
Speaker
It does. And it's it's funny, like, when you think about Ruby, like, in that North team, it's hard to say Ruby Perkins is ever really under the radar, but because she didn't start a game, it feels like there were, like, other players doing a lot more. But she was...
00:45:09
Speaker
Doing plenty for them. Absolutely, yeah. Especially when I think she initially started playing NBL1 for North, she was brought in almost as injury replacement and then ended up playing like at least 18 minutes a game. yeah Yeah.
00:45:25
Speaker
All right, moving along now to the Illawarra Hawks, the men's team again with a pretty healthy-looking roster, being able to retain Todd Blanchfield. I think he signed for an extra two seasons, right?
00:45:39
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. And now they've been able to retain Mason Peatling from the NBL season. He's staying put for the NBL 1A season. So welcome to the East, Mason.
00:45:50
Speaker
Matt Mims is back, Mossimo Hobbs, Jonah Flynn, Harley Kent, and our favourite, Sweet Chilly Philly. He's back. So between Sweet Chilly Philly and Mason, they've got some big bodies there. There's still a couple haven't been, like CJ Moran hasn't been announced. They've lost Kobe McDowell-White. He's off to Cairns. But yeah, between Blanchfield, Philly and r Mason, they certainly got probably the three through five. Matt Mims there as well. They probably got the two through five sorted at this stage.
00:46:26
Speaker
And for those that don't know, Sweet Chilly Philly is? Phil DePush. Of course. So he was over at our North Adelaide last season after being a legend at Illawarra.
00:46:40
Speaker
Yes, it's great to have him back in the ASA. Again, loading up, already looking like potential top four team. Women's team, though, ah that's kind of making a couple of changes. Tell me what you think about the women's side for Illawarra.
00:46:54
Speaker
well so chiara bell's gone up to sunshine coast ellen dent has left for greener pastures just kidding oh left the sutherland uh but they are they got darcy reese from uh south australia which i thought was a uh a bit of a turn up for the books didn't expect that don't know what the if there's a connection there, but was that was a very interesting just interesting to see. And then Una Yovanovitch from ah TCU.
00:47:28
Speaker
so i are yeah, a couple of new signings and um managed to get Hannah Lomu over from Centre of Excellence. I think she was a Centre of Excellence injury replacement last year and she's from Canberra, daughter of former and NRL player Andrew Lomu.
00:47:47
Speaker
Excellent. Yeah, so good things happening for the women's side too, which we love to see. And obviously Darcy Rees of the of a pedigree of Paul Rees for those old NBL fans out there, sister of Kelsey Rees, who it was just in the suited up for her debut WNBL season with the Bendigo Spirit, finished her college career at Oregon State.
00:48:10
Speaker
She did really well with Bendigo as well. So coming from a good basketball family. And Darcy actually um played at Washington. She played a college ball at Washington. So that's a, I mean, you know who else was played at Washington?
00:48:25
Speaker
Kelsey Plum. Sammy Witkin. Yes. That's some pretty big names. just that's And that's just two of them. Yeah. Yeah. it's ah It's a big, big school. So yeah, but she's definitely got plenty of pedigree.
00:48:43
Speaker
Very, very interested to say ah see how they go. Yes, because they do have to replace Bell. Lauren Gatwood, Lauren Sparks for us old heads, ah gone. And they haven't re-announced Subasa Nisbet yet.
00:48:56
Speaker
But I imagine they will eventually announce Sophie Johnston if Matt Mims is there and they're well and truly entranced in Illawarra. I think it's be matter of time until they announce Sophie Johnston.
00:49:08
Speaker
yeah If she's playing, it'll be for Illawarra.
00:49:12
Speaker
For sure, for sure. ah Inner West Bulls, probably one of the clubs that we were starved for any kind of roles, particularly women's roster signings last season. But they have, you know, gotten ahead this season and have announced ah more men, more players on the men's side than the women's side. But the men's side, there are a few interesting kind of changes to that last to last year's roster. ah Quite a few leaving, but they've been able to recruit pretty well.
00:49:43
Speaker
They have. And it was tumultuous last season. They had a mid-season coaching change and it never really all came together for the Bulls. They got Tony Tolivai back to lead from the front. And Jasper Rentoy is back after, you know, he was at Aubrey Wodonga for a short period. Kobe Shannon.
00:49:59
Speaker
i think that's a really interesting signing because I liked him at Bankstown. I liked him at Newcastle. And I think, um yeah, now he's back. I maybe just wanted to come back to Sydney. But by reports, he's been looking very good. Word around the campfire. i don't get much intel about the men's comp, but I did hear that Kobe's looking good.
00:50:17
Speaker
looking pretty good at the moment. And ah they managed to snag Malok Majak from Rockhampton up your way. who Up our way. It looks like we're doing a pretty good exchange at the moment between NBL1 North and East. I think that needs its own separate roster tracker.
00:50:39
Speaker
But also I think ah Brefo as well. yes yeah he was he was he's been good as well for them um i think ah i mean last year they just didn't put it together there was nothing wrong with the roster and i think this year once again they've just got to put it together i mean the the big thing is max clark and moco jerek and ramon cow are all gone but they've uh well sorry clark and jerek just haven't been announced to anywhere that's right i can tell to anywhere yeah But they still put together, this is't this is a good solid roster.
00:51:11
Speaker
And the guys they've got from interstate performed interstate, Majak, Bleachmore and McKinney. so hu And the women's side, they have lost their two big guns from the 2025 season, Intalia Tupaya and Christina Moore. They've been able to retain Mizuki Wakamatsu and Taylor Levy.
00:51:31
Speaker
Wait, did Taylor Levy play for them last year? No, she was she's over here. she's Yeah, she is new. She just didn't play she didn't play basketball at all last year, I don't think.
00:51:42
Speaker
That's right. That's right. She had 20, 25. She played Central because she's from South Australia. Had 20, 25 off. I think she just played footy and now she's at GWS and playing for Inner West, similarly to what Courtney Murphy did playing for Hornsby.
00:51:57
Speaker
last year. Yeah, so that's a really good get for the Inner West Bulls. And Sally Fairman has made the switch from Hills Hornets over to Inner West Bulls, the Australian Gecko captain herself.
00:52:11
Speaker
Yes, that was an interesting one to see. But I mean, they do have Shelley Gorman as head coach now, so know, trying to build the squad in her own image a little bit.
00:52:26
Speaker
But um they need to stop changing coaches. They need to, hopefully Shelly can be there for a good few seasons and be given the leash to build a roster in her own image.
00:52:38
Speaker
oh Because just losing Talia, Tupire and Christina Moore, you're almost back to square one straight away. Regardless of who else you've got, you have to replace replace them. And that can take a bit of time and leave you as a good start.
00:52:50
Speaker
And Jennifer Maile, who was a star for Bankstown Youth League and pretty decent in NBL1 a couple of years ago, young kid so got a few pieces uh would like to see a couple more but yes um i and taylor was averaging good numbers in central so yeah good good good first signing good first big name signing for for the bulls and already saw sorry as an aside are they still the inner west bulls or are they just bulls basketball
00:53:22
Speaker
oh uh that's been branded as bulls basketball so please tell us how we should be uh referencing address is your addressing yeah is your uh are you still called the inner west bulls at nbl one level that's a great question good question maybe we need a table that for our next episode when we have our special guests to give us some insights and he they might know the ins and outs of what's going on there
00:53:51
Speaker
ah Yes, so we've already touched on the Maitland Mustang men's team. We didn't touch on the women's team. Again, in the great Maitland fashion, they've been able to retain some local talent in Rachel Williams, Abby McGregor, of course. um Casey Newbert is coming back as one of their imports. I mean, I know that Shaq Riley is also re-signed, but she's just not on the roster tracker. Yeah.
00:54:17
Speaker
um At least you resigned so long ago that you can't scroll back that far on Instagram anymore. Yeah, yeah, that's right. It's way too deep in the grid, way too deep.
00:54:29
Speaker
ah But, yeah, I think the biggest get is Sarah Matthews going from crew to the Stangers. Yeah, 100%. And, i mean with Mila Wascovic going over to West and Sid Hunter, as you mentioned before, going to Central, they needed to reload. And getting Sezi that's huge.
00:54:48
Speaker
um I mean, we've seen what she can do over the over a good few years in this league. You know, she's had her injury troubles, but at her best, she is just, she is next level.
00:55:03
Speaker
And she knows Will Granger very well. She would have played with a lot of the other players really well. And of course, Shaq, I think it was only a matter of time until Sezi jumped over to Crusaders, given that her twin brother Ben has been, sorry, yeah, jumped from Crusaders to Mustangs, given that her brother Ben has been playing for the Mustangs the last few seasons.
00:55:22
Speaker
Yeah. i ah I tried to get Emily. I tried to tell Emily she needs to come out of retirement. If Lexi Plater can drive from Coffs Harbour, Emily, you can drive from Coonabarra, Ram. Sorry. this is mr persists She wasn't having a bar of it, though. She said she was done.
00:55:39
Speaker
And Manly Warringah Sea Eagles doing classic Manly Warringah Sea Eagles things. The family is still strong in the men's and women's sides, but who's standing out for you in terms of movers and shakers?
00:55:51
Speaker
It's got to be the two new imports, Quincy Lysinski and Emmanuel Shumanga. um especially with Mason Bragg, John and Maitland, Matt Eldridge just not returning.
00:56:04
Speaker
We haven't heard about Preston. Well, he won't be at Manly because they've got two imports now. But ah yeah, it's a lot is gonna hinge on these two new imports firing just as much as their previous imports.
00:56:19
Speaker
previous imports have. Chamangat is listed at a legit seven footer. think he's out of Montreal actually, played for New Mexico State. So a Canadian, I'm very happy with that. And then Quinz Leszczynski has played in Portugal. He's he's listed as 6'9", but a guard.
00:56:37
Speaker
6'9 guard in NBL1. An NBL1 ace. Yeah. So, yeah, he's listed as 6'9 in the instagram Instagram post from Manly. He's listed as 6'7 in various other places, though. But still is a big boy to be playing in the backcourt in NBL 1 East.
00:57:00
Speaker
And how fun is it going to be to commentate a name like Slezinski? and I actually get Manly this year. Well, there you go. You'll be fired up, ready to go with some zingers when you get to announce Slezinski. Yeah.
00:57:18
Speaker
But, yeah, I mean, as you said, the family's back. There's a lot of, you know, Stefan Valkovich, Zay Lee, Olly Hammond, and then Giddens and Munro, you know, moving over from Hills a couple of seasons ago. They're well and truly entrenched.
00:57:32
Speaker
Jake Hyman, Zach Kimball. Probably one of those teams I was mentioning that prop might need, might want one more piece, maybe two more pieces, just to, you know, shore things up a little bit. But Lees-Lizinski-Shamunga is a very good, very good start.
00:57:49
Speaker
And the family is still strong in the women's side as well for Manly Warringah. ah Tell me about it. I mean, Annie Henderson, a Taylor Wirtz out, new importing in Jada Jansen, who played for Mount Gambier last year.
00:58:05
Speaker
And the only thing that apart from that has changed is they caught up a couple of youth league players. Yeah, the hits keep coming because we know how talented that youth league program has been in Manly.
00:58:17
Speaker
A hundred percent. So yeah. So they announced their last four and it was Freya Biker, Niamh Smith, Liv Johnston, who were all part of the roster last year and Cassidy Thompson, the New Zealand junior rep, getting the call up.
00:58:31
Speaker
I guess there's a spot there as well. Cause Chloe Dix is overplaying her final year of high school in the States. Oh, good for her. Yeah. So, I mean,
00:58:42
Speaker
um What can you say? The starting lineup is just going to be probably Jansen in for Wurts. um Henderson, I think, was actually... I think Henderson actually played the second most minutes of anyone for Manly last year, but you've got to take into account that Alex Delaney missed seven games.
00:59:01
Speaker
Gallivanting around the world. Oh, gosh. What what a lovely last lifestyle. Yeah. But, I mean, it's Manly. They're going to turn up. They're going to finish in the top four.
00:59:13
Speaker
probably, and they're going to be there or thereabouts.
00:59:21
Speaker
And Newcastle Falcons, man, are they going to be fielding a team this year or what? They've got four. They've got four now. After Mandrell was nanny, they've got four. so you take i think Can you play with four?
00:59:33
Speaker
I know in some leagues you can, but it's good start, though. It's a good starting four, don't you think? You can only play with four once you start with five and one's been fouled off. And no one can sub on.
00:59:46
Speaker
That's what youth league players are for.
00:59:51
Speaker
i mean should be we should we be worried or are we are they just building the hype of announcing an outstanding roster before the blitz but i mean like the blitz is in a matter of days we're gonna see it yeah see them well i mean it's yeah they announced beastie they announced mandrell they announced chairmaker and they announced elias kato um i mean it's such a good start and you know you just sprinkle in um So Cato's 6'9", plays on the wing, it's played playing in Europe and the Czech Republic.
01:00:24
Speaker
I mean, you're sprinkling maybe like Alex Clinton, someone like Goodwin back, Lewis Mason, just a few of these guys around the way that have been, ah i think they all live at Newcastle Stadium because they've been there that long.
01:00:41
Speaker
That's what all those extra small courts are for. Yeah. Yeah.
01:00:47
Speaker
Yeah, they've built a really good start. first four names that have been announced are really good. We've just got to see who the rest of them are going to be. I mean, they're a team that wants to do better. I think they would, by their own admission, say they've underperformed for the last few seasons.
01:01:04
Speaker
um And they've got to replace Cherry. um That's going to be the big one. he's like We talked to him about him at length for Maitland. Like he's also, what what he does makes him so hard to replace. His touch around the basket is so good.
01:01:19
Speaker
um And like you said, he knows his role and he plays his role. And that's.
01:01:29
Speaker
That sounds like you're getting a tilt. Is that you getting a phone call? It's my intercom. I've to go. That's weird. You better go check that. I'm going to keep going and go through the Newcastle women's roster. ah So the hits keep coming as well from the Newcastle Falcons women. They've got Nicole Munger, the MVP, coming back.
01:01:49
Speaker
I'm just going to mute Lockie really quick.
01:01:54
Speaker
new cut Of course, Munger is coming back. ah Kate Kingham, absolute staple of the Newcastle Falcons women, is returning. Meg Jefferson and Claudia Wahape Andrews, who were initially recruited after their cap season a couple of seasons ago, are coming back for the Falcons. Sophie Brennan as well.
01:02:12
Speaker
Youngsters like Holly Keeble. I think the big signing, though, in terms of movers and shakers when it comes to the Newcastle Falcons women is Mia Heidi. who suited up for the Penrith Panthers last year, was probably a ah a pretty confident contender for All-Star 5.
01:02:32
Speaker
Perhaps if her team were higher on the ladder, she probably would have either gotten more votes. But she was a rebounding machine. So watching the likes of Nicole Munger, even Kate Kingman on a pick and roll with Mia Heidi is going to be very exciting. I'm personally looking forward to...
01:02:49
Speaker
the relationship and the play between Mia Hardy and Meg Jefferson in the five spot and the four spot respectively. Or, look, they can even switch between the two. theyre They're both that versatile. So I think Newcastle have done very well to secure some extra rim protection and some more points in the paint with that signing. And while Lockie's still away, we will keep rolling on to the North Bears.
01:03:17
Speaker
Oh, nope. the paraagonal s he's He's heard Norse Bears and he's back in action. Are you talking about the Norse Bears?
01:03:29
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. I mean, the timing was perfect. I basically i just, i I said my two cents about the Newcastle Falcons women with the addition of Mia Heidi and we were just about to roll onto the Norse Bears and here you are with your Nebraska jersey.
01:03:46
Speaker
It is my Nebraska jersey because the Norse Bears have signed Jazz Shelley. Which it still blows my mind. Like I i can't believe that Jazz Shelley is coming to the NBL One East.
01:04:01
Speaker
I know, right? It's so good. And alongside Sapphire's gold medal teammate, Jazz Simmons.
01:04:14
Speaker
Oh yeah, reunited. Jazz and jazz. Jazz squared. the yeah I mean, we were getting excited about Ruby Perkins and Jesse May Hall being together. We need to get just as excited for jazz and jazz. Jazz squared. You like jazz.
01:04:30
Speaker
yeah Well, you got to learn a lot of like jazz.
01:04:35
Speaker
Yeah, absolute huge. Arguably that what the hugest, one of the hugest, if not the hugest signing to come to East in terms of, i guess, you know, the calibre of player she is, um the culture she brings, ah but also just like the total surprise of Jazz Shelley even considering coming to NBL 1 East. That's the thing, like we've had,
01:05:04
Speaker
players with higher pedigree play in this league no but like we've got like we've got lauren nicholson in the league but lauren nicholson is a sutherland junior we fully expect her to turn up every year and play for sutherland you know okay maybe lj was a bit out of the blue but you know um but yeah for jazz shelley vic country um I know there's not really a club in her part of Vic country, but, like, she's Victorian through and through.
01:05:37
Speaker
And to come and play in the East um where, like, the only club that could beat her Geelong team last year was the eventual national champions, Knox.
01:05:49
Speaker
And look what and they did to the East champion, and she still wants to come and play in this league. So. Yeah. yeah Someone's doing some great hard work over there at North. Send them a bottle of champers.
01:06:06
Speaker
yeah Yeah. like just so It's so good for the league that we can recruit this level of player. But also, who wouldn't want to come to play for Renee Gallup? She has such...
01:06:18
Speaker
ah great like that She has such huge respect across not just the East but across the WNBL now, stepping into the shoes of head coach at the Sydney Flames midway through the season.
01:06:30
Speaker
she has ah She's currently in Turkey with the Opals. yeah um We know that even young players like Caitlin Martin and Holly Wills have left their junior clubs they were so loyal to to play for Renee at North Bears. ah so And I mean...
01:06:48
Speaker
Am I getting too greedy and saying, hey, Jaz Shelley, you're already here in Sydney playing NBL 1 East. Why don't you just stay and play for the Flames? Stop reading my DMs with other Flames fans because that as soon as Jaz was like, I'm so excited to play for Rene, I was like, you've got to sign up. Sign up for the Flames. Do it, please.
01:07:08
Speaker
I mean, it it writes itself. It's just too convenient. You may as well stay. I'm sure you'll like the lifestyle, Jazz. ah Well, she looks like, according to Instagram, she's pretty enjoying it.
01:07:20
Speaker
And why not? Good on her. So i I wouldn't be surprised if she sticks around, and I really hope that she does. Yeah. um like She's going be so good for them.
01:07:31
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, I mean, especially like it's it's open, like the squad's like opened up a bit with like Carla Pittman going to Mount Gambier and Ruby going to Hornsby. Like, you know, this there's minutes to go around for everyone as well again.
01:07:47
Speaker
So they've just like shoehorned her in because they can get her. It all fits.
01:07:56
Speaker
Yeah. No, it's it's yeah it's not going to be – the roster is still balanced even with her as an addition. Yeah. Yeah. um But the men's side, you know, they've been able to retain a lot of the talent from last year's roster with the addition of ah Hunter Madden coming back, the addition of Bolding as well.
01:08:20
Speaker
Yeah, so Bolding and Bailey Hansen who both were at CLE. last year, um but
01:08:31
Speaker
ah they they should at least get to where they were last year. If not, I know a lot of other teams have improved, but they should get, like they should make the finals and at least host a home elimination final, if not nudge top four.
01:08:48
Speaker
it's It's just the, like it's so consistent, like the roster is so consistent. as you said, they brought just about everyone back except Austin Patterson, the import.
01:08:58
Speaker
Yeah, no, it's it's looking very, very good. Very good indeed. And now let's move on quickly to Penrith Panthers. Anything outstanding to you in either of men's or women's roster?
01:09:10
Speaker
Yeah, where they're playing their home games. Sorry. that That's got to be tough. Like the the big thing is like losing Zeke Evans. that's the r I think it's who they haven't announced yet that's our kind of –
01:09:24
Speaker
Or who who's left and who hasn't been in announced yet. They haven't announced Jaden or Caleb for Tui Fa'amoé. Zeke's gone to Bankstown. um And it's hard. They're playing their home games at Minto, Hawkesbury and Stanhope Gardens.
01:09:39
Speaker
So Stanhope Gardens is in Blacktown Council, but it's not Blacktown Storm Stadium. That's in Mount Druid. um Yeah, I think that's the biggest thing. They got um Simon Kripas from Bankstown as are and Uzair Lassie over from New Zealand. But yeah, I think it's it's who they haven't announced yet that's more of a standout to me on the men's side. Because they've re-signed some good players like Perez, Schwartzer, get your Ben Kieran's nuggets.
01:10:16
Speaker
And Josh Carley, you know, and I love Jed Hickson. I love Jed Hickson. He was so good for Penrith against Comets last year, young kid, athletic, just up and down the court, really looking forward to watching him play. And he might get a bigger role this year.
01:10:29
Speaker
Yeah. i just let it about honestly ah I just hope it all works out for Penrith. And what about the women's side? um so Big outs, Vasquez, Heidi, Jackson. That's something like two-thirds of their rebounds last year, gone.
01:10:50
Speaker
The mythical creature, Hannah Griffin over from Hills and Georgia Nowak from, ken well, Bankstown slashed Canberra Nationals Academy Warratah League last year. I'm most excited to see Chloe Williams back on court after her injury last year.
01:11:06
Speaker
um Yeah, because she was really big part of their team a couple and has been for a few years, is you know, New South Wales junior rep, ah Metro junior rep, not sure if she ever made a 20s team. um I think just having her back will be so good. But yeah, they the they really need to build up the frontcourt because right now, Malik Jenkins is basically playing a lone hand there, which is, yeah, good good young player, but need some proper bigs in there to um to take some of the load.
01:11:43
Speaker
All right. Two teams to go to wrap it up. We've got your beloved Sharkies up next. I think for me what stands out in the men's roster is the addition of James Hunter, which is great to see ah given that it looks like Jeff Gerlach isn't coming back. So just a like for like, really. um Yeah. What do you think?
01:12:06
Speaker
Yeah, I like James Hunter. He moved down. He actually lives down in Cronulla now. um He actually ah saw me walking down the street the other day. He saw me. I didn't see him. I don't know. he Apparently, he was actually in a cafe, so that's how I didn't see him. But i was going to say, if i if I can't see James Hunter on the street, there's a problem. But, um you know, they returned Bailey McArthur, Ryan Abbott, Luke Jamison, Hutch, of course, Jovan Parabinia, and Waxie.
01:12:34
Speaker
A shark he's got Lucas Waxie Walker, um which is crazy. um I think the biggest thing is will the Sharks get any Kings players with Coach Rogers connections?
01:12:54
Speaker
Oh, gosh, let's hope so Let's hope so. it looks like there's still spots in the roster to be filled. So let's hope we can nab a couple of Kings players. Spurgeon, where's Spurgeon at?
01:13:05
Speaker
Spurgeon got injured right in preseason with the Kings. So I don't actually know how he's doing. He was returning to court because then he ended up being an injury replacement for someone else in a recent game. So he's he's making his way back to court. So he'll be ready to go. Okay. i will so We'll see what happens there. um And I'm really interested to look, see what kind of role Jadon Tuneski plays because he averaged, he beat out Callum. Callum Norris is back for the Sharks, by the way.
01:13:35
Speaker
Woo. Jadon Tanevsky beat out Callum. I think he beat out Callum Norris for scoring leader in Warratale with 34 points a game for St. George last year. Jeez.
01:13:47
Speaker
Yeah. ah Look, ah I love the fact that all the good St. George players come to Sutherland. ah just wish St. George had their own facility and could build, like, a proper senior program that players don't have to leave for a higher opportunity.
01:14:00
Speaker
It'd be a great rivalry as well. But yeah, I'm really looking forward to seeing what Tanevsky can do. You know, he's he's got his chance. You know, he's just got to make the most of it. I'm really looking forward to seeing it. um And over in the women's side, Abby Curtin is a big get. It's great to see her back in NBL1 East. ah But I think the biggest surprise for me was Ella Dent. The Dent family is tried and true and cemented in the Illawarra Hawks fabric of their basketball community and she's come as come to Sutherland. Love to see it. Good for her.
01:14:33
Speaker
Yeah. Anzac medal winner on Sutherland's court last year for Illawarra. And now she's got to go to Illawarra in a Sutherland jersey on Anzac Day this year. Oh, geez.
01:14:46
Speaker
Yeah. sorry Like, obviously going to Sutherland makes it bigger, but just her leaving Illawarra is like, just seems crazy. I don't know what circumstances are, but like um just a, just a really good solid player. I think playing down there in Illawarra with a team that,
01:15:06
Speaker
You know, they finished just out of the finals most years. I think it underrates her a lot. But anyone who watches her and properly watches her knows what she can do.
01:15:18
Speaker
She's dribbling the ball. That head leans forward a little bit. Oh, it's over.
01:15:26
Speaker
Yes, I'm really looking forward to having her in the team. I mean, shoots almost as good from three-point range as she does from two-point range. um What I love most about her game last year when I was i was looking at her shot chart, 100 shots inside eight foot, 108 three-point attempts, and only 20 from outside eight foot, so like mid-rangers.
01:15:51
Speaker
So she is threes and layups.
01:15:56
Speaker
Whereas- Very good. Very much the modern game. Yeah, Sharks had a few players last year that didn't mind a bit of a mid-ranger, so. And Sharky's got a new coach as well, Michael Turton, your boy.
01:16:08
Speaker
Michael Turton, he has been coaching at a high level for a long time. So I'm pretty stoked that he is back coaching at a bit of an old school in a sense that um he's but he'll be really good in a way that he'll be really direct. Everyone will know their role properly.
01:16:27
Speaker
Nothing will be too wishy-washy and confusing. i think I think it will be really beneficial for this group given how their season turned out last year. And, I mean, still i mean still spots to fill.
01:16:40
Speaker
i mean, we haven't heard from Fabbro. We haven't heard from Nicholson yet. Liza Fabbro, the future Mrs Hutchison. Yes, engagement. Congratulations to those Lockie, you did an outstanding job picking that ring as well. That's one of the most lucky. Lockie Hutchinson, not you. Yeah, was going to say it. Lockie Hutchinson.
01:17:00
Speaker
ah Beautiful ring. Absolutely beautiful ring. Stunning. Did a good job, buddy. All right, so, yeah, lots to be announced too with Sutherland as well. Hopefully there's a few rabbits out of hats to be pulled on both sides. When you mentioned before that a mid-range game from the women's team, we've still got Loz Nicholson to come and she lives and owns the mid-range. So that would be good to see her back. Loz Nicholson shoots it well enough that you don't mind it.
01:17:28
Speaker
No, that's that's her game. that's it that's That's her trademark. She shoots everywhere so well that you're happy for her to shoot wherever. Yeah. Yeah, coming off the screen, straight off that elbow, fire away.
01:17:41
Speaker
And last but not and least, we have the Sydney Comets, which men's side as well, as we've already mentioned, covering the other rosters, have experienced some significant changes, particularly ah the loss of Anthony Mundine III for Wiley Bales and a big question mark around Davo Hickey, who hasn't committed anywhere as far as we know, whether that's East or otherwise. We've got Baby Chol coming back. Yeah.
01:18:10
Speaker
but And Obi Che was recently announced. But what about some of these new people in the mix, Lockie? Well, they did get Akil Douglas from our Hornsby, the big the big ah lanky import from last year who was really good for ah really good for the Spiders last year, averaged 17 points a game and shot near enough to 50% from the field. So it'd be interesting to see his role in this team with Obi there as well.
01:18:39
Speaker
um And then they've got an import guard in Ahmed Barba Bay, who is ah just out of college, played mostly D2 and then jumped up to D1 for his final college year, but was really solid. Averaged 13, 5 and 4 in D2 college in his final in his final year.
01:19:00
Speaker
um Probably nearly two-thirds of his field goal attempts in his final college season were three-pointers. So, Lubb's a three.
01:19:12
Speaker
a So he'll be, yeah, I think a lot will, with no Bawali, no Ant Mundine, a lot will fall on him in the backcourt this season. The frontcourt, like, you know, they've got the big man, Johnny Senorgarat, Akhil's there, Vili Fuchetti.
01:19:31
Speaker
um Yeah, so it's the backcourt that's really going have to come together quickly and fire.
01:19:41
Speaker
And last but not least before we wrap up is the women's side. ah Some very familiar names from last season in K-Roos, Michaela Perini coming back. um But have we got any surprises joining that roster this season?
01:19:56
Speaker
Well, our friend ah our friend James Waratah on VCR, was our he eyed off a picture of the Comets at a recovery facility.
01:20:11
Speaker
I'd off some ah some faces that were not announced at the time, which was ah very interesting to see. um So I'll let the club announce that. ah But I will say we have definitely seen other players in Comets comts uniforms, um including a player who posted a picture of her working out in full Comets uniform on her Insta story the other day.
01:20:33
Speaker
hmm. um And you never know. who knows what Myles Bench maybe ah might be able to pull up with his Townsville connections from the fire. You never know. That's not foreshadowing.
Player Movements and Social Media's Role
01:20:44
Speaker
That is just the connections there. Can he use it?
01:20:49
Speaker
That's right. if Plant the seed and see what will grow. You never know what will happen. But perhaps that play the player that you ah touched on earlier that was working out in their comments gear on the Instagram story, we might just have to get that player as a guest on EGG in the future.
01:21:07
Speaker
i think so. I think that would be good. But they are they certainly do need a couple more couple more pieces. after Like losing Curtin, other big one is, well, Piper Anderson is A, still in a boot, but B, not yet announced anywhere, which is, yeah.
01:21:28
Speaker
which kind of concerning at 11 days to go until the season starts. as though the other big omission for me ah is Matt Gray.
01:21:41
Speaker
Where in the world is Matt Gray? has he so I don't think he's signed anywhere as far as I'm aware. No, I have not. No, I've not heard a thing about him.
01:21:53
Speaker
in I don't think he's don't think he is one to post on
Upcoming Blitz Event & Speculations
01:21:58
Speaker
socials. So usually that's the best way to keep up to date or get at least some hints of where our favourite players are about to land. um And you know ah you know who else I haven't heard an announcement about?
01:22:13
Speaker
Matty O'Hare. Maddie O'Hare, big question mark. She's also been a staple of that successful Norse women's program for many years. Also not announced yet. No.
01:22:27
Speaker
And that's the thing, like, sometimes clubs just don't announce if a player's not returning. Sometimes they do. um Very interesting.
01:22:39
Speaker
Just have to wait. and make all All may be revealed at the Blitz. So you should come to the Blitz. That's right. That's right. You get a hall pass, Scream, because, yeah. Well, yeah. i I need to save my pennies to go to Europe so I can't afford to come down to the Blitz for the weekend, unfortunately. But remind our listeners, well, most of our listeners should know when the Blitz is on because hopefully they'll be there competing or watching or coaching.
01:23:04
Speaker
Yes. Well, I'll be watching.
01:23:08
Speaker
Very good. ah so So the two biggest outs, I think, after our conversation about the movers and shakers ahead of 2026 NBL 1A season is Mac Gray and Matty O'Hare, question marks around them.
Interview Teaser with New Signing
01:23:22
Speaker
We've got 11 days until tip-off to see if they are committing to the 2026 season. um But otherwise, what we'll we're going to leave you now with a very special interview. um That we recorded yesterday.
01:23:39
Speaker
so we we recorded it yesterday on Monday, the 16th of March, because otherwise it would conflict with this player's team training. And we're not about to do that. We're not about to get in the way of people's team training.
01:23:53
Speaker
And since recording, the person has finally has officially signed. Well, I think their signing announcement came out half an hour after we finished the recording. So they will be made mention during this interview that they haven't been officially signed, but they have since been signed and
Interview with Will Mayfield: Basketball Journey
01:24:10
Speaker
announced. So just bear that in mind. Also remember, Jalen Galloway hasn't been announced anywhere either.
01:24:17
Speaker
Jalen Galloway. Yeah. Yeah. Have to keep an eye on that one as well. Maybe another Sydney King connection that you can see at the Sharkies. this i mean, i I wouldn't say no.
01:24:34
Speaker
All right, so that is us for the Movers and Shakers of 2026. Keeping in mind this has been an exceptionally long episode and it's about to get longer now that we're going to play this athlete interview. We will be back next week um where we're going to have a very special guest to preview some teams in rosters as a whole rather than just focusing on new signings. So stay tuned for that. But in the meantime, please enjoy this interview with none other than the trade in just repping his city, it's Will Mayfield.
01:25:10
Speaker
Our guest has been a key ingredient of homegrown talent in the recipe of success for the Canberra Gunners. He was part of the 2022 and 2025 NBL One East Championship winning teams and led the Gunners to a national title with an MVP performance.
01:25:28
Speaker
He's the poster boy of MBL1 East with his dominant two-way skill set and off the court mystery of a superhero. But at the end of the day, he's just a tradie reppin his city.
01:25:40
Speaker
It's Will Mayfield. Welcome, Will. Thank you. Thank you very much for having me, guys. Long time coming. So we're very happy to finally have you on a guest of Eastcott Game and to help us tiff off season four of the podcast as well.
01:25:56
Speaker
Absolutely. So, Will, lovely to have you on. um As you, I'm sure you know, we start every interview with the same question.
01:26:07
Speaker
Where and how did your basketball journey begin? ah Look, my basketball journey sort of ah started young, probably around 10. So...
01:26:18
Speaker
you know, probably standard age for a lot of kids getting into it. um But sort of mixed in with a lot of rugby. So it sort of took the back burner until I was about, you know, 15, 16.
01:26:30
Speaker
um Didn't make too many teams growing up, just playing a lot of like local club stuff. um Had to sort of decide whether or not I wanted to go down the path of rugby, AFL or basketball. Decided basketball was the one for me and ah just fell in love with the game, figured out that I could sort of use my skill set to make the game a bit easier for myself my teammates and played basketball well.
01:26:58
Speaker
ACT Nationals 18's bottom age and then didn't play again until top age 20's which is when since then I've just been growing as a player, played academy, just always been in the ACT system since then.
01:27:15
Speaker
who do you, what level of rugby did you did you make? I was just playing school boys, just like school level stuff um for the all boys school that I was attending here in Canberra up to about grade 10. So I didn't play any level at all. I was just sort of um playing rugby for the school, playing AFL for the local Canadian team and whatnot.
01:27:35
Speaker
So nothing um nothing super high level, just playing, you know, top grade down here in Canberra.
01:27:45
Speaker
And you didn't have the, you weren't attracted to try and follow say rugby or AFL given that, ah you know, sporting contracts, if you're a professional is a little bit more lucrative than basketball. And I guess, you know, you've got the Brumbies in Canberra too. So there was a bit more of a direct pathway now that the cannons are RIP. Yeah, know exactly. Now that they're gone. Well,
01:28:06
Speaker
Like it's funny, i went when we played top age 20s, I was really doing it to try and you know get my name out there and see if I could you know have a career perhaps in college or something like that.
01:28:17
Speaker
um And nothing really you know came about from that. um The only thing that came about after my 20s was an invitation to go do pre-season with St Kilda. And I turned it down to pursue basketball and play academy in the Waratah.
01:28:32
Speaker
so yeah interesting so you know there's a chance that we may not have been even talking to you today had you chose the the the camp with st kilda Yeah, that would have been interesting. I look back on it now and it is it was only just an invitation to pre-season, nothing could have flowered. But, you know, I do ah still probably would have nine times out of ten stuck with playing basketball. My head at the time was was playing good basketball. i was really enjoying it. And I saw a future perhaps playing, um you know, ah like always aspired to play for and like the Gunners and NBL1 has been a dream of mine. So I was
01:29:04
Speaker
probably about 14, 15, like seeing those guys play out of Belcon and stadium and whatnot. So like I'm a pretty driven person. So when I wanted to play that, was always like, okay, well, I've set the standard now as a young fellow, about 17, 18 years old.
01:29:22
Speaker
If I think I can get to that level, then I'm going, I'm going to give it the best shot and give it my all. So yeah, it wasn't really much of a debate for me. I really just wanted to stick with basketball and I was just loving it. So Yeah, look back on it now, it's funny to laugh about and whatnot, but who knows, like now that I'm playing for the Gunners, I'm super content and like love the club. So when wouldn't change it for the world.
01:29:47
Speaker
And you've won a few more grand finals than St Kilda in your time as well. Absolutely. I do follow, I always look back sometimes and go, oh, I could be there. And then I'm like, yeah, but I would not have won.
01:30:01
Speaker
Yeah, I think id take think I'd take a national championship on my home court any day. Absolutely. That was still one of my, um you know, it's one it's it's still really hard to put into words. Like it was just super special, especially for it actually being in Canberra.
01:30:19
Speaker
it was just incredible. It was, yeah, ah the best time still some of my core memories from playing basketball. Yeah, I don't think a lot of players could say that they've had that experience of winning a a championship and B, especially a national championship in front of your your home crowd. Like that's certainly a one in a million kind of opportunity. Yeah, absolutely. And all the fans, that like they packed the stadium. Everyone was there. Like you guys felt it. It was just, it felt like a Canberra.
01:30:51
Speaker
home court game, even though it was the national finals, every game we played it was like, oh, this is a home game for us. Like this is, everyone was rallying behind us. It was loud in there. Like the support was phenomenal.
01:31:02
Speaker
And even though like there were games on like during the weekdays and stuff like that, people were working. um It was just exceptional for the fact that we packed the stands on like a Thursday or a Friday afternoon. We were just we were we were so confident that there was going to be barely anyone there that we just you know prepared ourselves that this is it's not going to a home game. It's just going to be us and the other team out there battling. But I can't thank the fans enough. They rallied behind us and seriously, they they were part of the reason why we, I feel like, got over the edge.
01:31:35
Speaker
especially being at Tuggeranong and not at Belconnen where the Nationals and the Gunners are based at Belconnen. So it's a Tuggeranong, which for those that don't know Canberra very well is that, you know, far on the South side. And it was still freezing at the end of August down in Canberra. Like yeah I came from Queensland and had to pack a puffer jacket.
01:31:56
Speaker
It's the professional advantage for us. Everyone's got to come down and play in the cold stadiums. Like we we try to heat them up, but it just doesn't work. But I think a few more games this season will be played at Tuggeranong purely for the fact that our numbers are growing in basketball. In Canberra is growing as a sport and there are a lot more fans and I think nationals prove that. So I think a lot more are going be played at Tuggeranong because they've got such a good um atmosphere and the seating is much more suited to that like number of people.
01:32:27
Speaker
nice let's let's hope let's hope you can uh instill some change to maybe tempt ah whoever needs to be tempted to bring the gunners back uh because i'm sure that you can be top of the list of their first marquee player to be signed when the gunners when the cannons come back sorry the cannons Yeah, well, there's a lot of promising young talent like coming through Canberra and I would i wouldn't want to be one of those people that stood in the way of some of these young guys playing, but if it did come back, I would proudly put that jersey on.
01:32:59
Speaker
Yeah, right of passage, I think, right of passage for those young people. that's um But we'll scale it back. You did mention earlier that you thought about playing college and it looks like you decided to finish your high schooling in America at the New York Military Academy. Is that right?
01:33:17
Speaker
Yeah, that's it. That finished off my year 12 there. Did about three terms, so three quarters of a year in New York. ah Rounded out to about a year in time that I was over there playing and whatnot, but finished off my schooling there, yeah.
01:33:30
Speaker
I got offered and sort of picked up on a scholarship. I went over to Philadelphia and played in like a hoop group, like a big tournament that they do there. um And one of the coaches was like, would you be interested in finishing like prep school and coming to do like year 12 and possibly a year after?
01:33:47
Speaker
um He was sort of bringing kids in from all over the country, trying to build, like, he'd just got the head coach job and he really wanted to, know, solidify good team and in his first year.
Balancing Personal Life and Basketball
01:33:59
Speaker
And it was a big conversation to have with, like, my parents and, like, my partner and everything. um But at the end of the day, I was like, you know what? Like, I am serious about this basketball stuff, so why not give it a go? And they just play basketball so differently over there. I, like...
01:34:15
Speaker
I attribute most of my game to playing in New York. Like before I went away, i was like solely rebounding defensive sort of guy. um Didn't have much of like an arsenal and on the offensive side.
01:34:28
Speaker
Whereas like everything in New York is isolation basketball. It's all about show them what you got. play as hard as you can, but also be as sort of flashy as you can. So I sort of picked up a a bunch of stuff from New York and they're such like outspoken basketballers.
01:34:45
Speaker
feel like that's where i get a lot of my flair as well on the court.
01:34:50
Speaker
Yeah. So is the Military Academy like near and NYC? Yeah, it's about half an hour, maybe 40 minutes outside of the city itself. So a lot of trips. um The school itself, we did a lot of travel. So we were only, they classify their schools based on like the size of the student population. And we were one of the lower schools. So it basically means the pool of players is smaller. So the schools are meant to be weaker.
01:35:17
Speaker
So I think we were something about a D, like one of the smallest size schools. We only have about 70, 80 kids there. And we were playing schools with like 2,000, 3,000, 4,000 kids.
01:35:28
Speaker
So like double A schools, single A schools. um And just towering them up. Like we won we won state championships in New York for our school division. And we beat, I think, the A and the Bs. Maybe not the A's, but we were beating, yeah, the state championships in B schools, all that sort of thing. So we were very talented.
01:35:47
Speaker
um But, yeah, I thought it was it was an awesome experience. School is different over there. Graduated, thank goodness. Yeah, my parents were very happy I graduated over there and we won. Of course, I was more excited about obviously winning, you know, state championships, getting a big ring. And then once school had finished and that season had finished, they have like an AAU, like circuits and whatnot.
01:36:11
Speaker
So my school sort of put in, or the head coach runs like a program where we just travelled all over, like, America playing in these AAU tournaments. um And I don't know, I would never recommend it to anyone.
01:36:25
Speaker
If you're at the high level, yes, but there's just back-to-back games for three to four days. Like, and at that age, it was okay. But now looking back, like, just your legs, your knees, everything is just in total pain for days.
01:36:41
Speaker
It's too much risk of overuse injuries. I mean, I imagine ah a good double header now in NBL one is always a tall order. Because how do you, because you play a Saturday night and then you want to obviously play your absolute best the Saturday night and leave nothing in the tank.
01:36:59
Speaker
But then you've got to back up and do Sunday and you have that thought in the back your mind of keeping some in reserve. And that's that's too much, too much. Doublehead is enough. Far too much. Yeah, I'll stick to the doubleheaders. I'm dreading some of those this year, but no I have to look after myself.
01:37:17
Speaker
The team's got to get around each other. Hopefully, blow some teams down play less minutes. Yeah, yeah, that's a good idea. Yeah, yeah. get um So with the military academy, did it so did you decide to go there a because mostly the opportunity came up and like how much of the the location of the school kind of helped influence your decision?
01:37:42
Speaker
I think a bit of both. Like ah I love traveling. So like it was obviously it would be awesome, you know, to spend some time abroad. um ah New York is awesome, especially upstate.
01:37:54
Speaker
I really enjoyed living upstate. Obviously coming from like I live just, I live, grew up just out of Canberra, like sort of not a property, but like a larger sort of block.
01:38:05
Speaker
um bit like a lot of communal land did a lot of sort of outdoor activities as a kid so upstate new york was a very similar to that lot of big properties lot of like wildlife um and it was sort of easy living sort of you look at it like oh it's country living just outside the city so i it was cool spent a lot of time in the city like a lot of travel to major cities and um Yeah, the location was definitely a factor. So I was very interested to like live in New York and like looking back and like, oh, I lived in New York. it It's still something that i I'm like, yeah, that that was awesome.
01:38:45
Speaker
It's not just Canberra, New York, because after winning inaugural NBL title in 2022, you signed with Mount Gambier in 2023. So what took you there and... so what took you there and What helped you decide to return home?
01:39:01
Speaker
Well, the Mount Gambier decision was was pretty difficult, only for the fact that one, we'd just won and Pete was still around and like some of my closest mates were still playing.
01:39:12
Speaker
um That was sort of my last attempt at trying to play NBL. So I figured I talked to a bunch of people and after that um winning and having a pretty decent season and whatnot, lot of people advised me that playing in a stronger conference at the time, so South,
01:39:29
Speaker
A lot more eyes, a lot more NBL clubs, a lot more like feeder players are coming out of the South. They they advise that if you find a team in the South and you perform, you're going to have a higher chance of, you know, making to that next level.
01:39:41
Speaker
So, and Mount Gambier were the only team that were interested. um And I said, was thinking about it and I was thinking about it and I thought, you know what, like I'm, ah might, I may as well give it a go, you know? So headed down there, um played under Richard Hill,
01:40:00
Speaker
down in Mount Gambier. And yeah, just, it wasn't exactly the season I'd hoped for, which is more than okay. Like not not everything works out at the level of basketball that we're playing.
01:40:12
Speaker
it made my decision pretty easy to come home and, you know, focus back on, everyday life and playing my role in the Gunners. So like I knew exactly what I was coming back to. Pete was obviously stoked that I was coming home. um Yeah, Mount Gamble was definitely experienced. Playing in the South was good. it made a lot of friends.
01:40:33
Speaker
Obviously, that's the connection I get with, that's the connection with Evan, that's how Evan's nu gunner. I played against Evan in the South and we became friends and whatnot. So I made a lot of really good friends. a lot of guys came to my wedding that I played with at Mount Gambier. So yeah, I can't fault the experience and the guys that I met and the um yeah exposure to high level players in the South.
01:40:59
Speaker
I feel like that discrepancy between the east and the south is now deteriorating deteriorating a little bit, as in the east is getting the stronger, but still the south is, um I feel like, the standard that everyone's trying to get to. Yeah, I feel like back 2022, like, the rest of the country saw NBL1 East as basically Waratah with a new paint job. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. i not anymore And that's what they, um, that's what a lot of the guys, like i laugh at that now, like with them now, like, that oh, you came from the East, you come and to play. And then I got out there and I i touched them up a little bit. I let them know that the East wasn't exactly like what they thought. Like I came and I sort of was like, all right, well, you're talking all this smack. let Now let's see you get it.
01:41:47
Speaker
And, you know, it's sort of, I sort of, I butt head with it with a lot of people on the court just because of how fiery in nature I am and how competitive I am. Um, But they loved it. And I got, like, the whole team, we were so close that it didn't really matter. Like, they sort of understood, okay, well, East is on the rise. And there's a lot of great, great players coming out of the East.
01:42:10
Speaker
Yeah, you let them know, Will. You let them know down there what we're all about. Absolutely. Would you say they were sleeping on the East? Yeah, it's like they were... um I just don't understand. Yeah, I definitely would be sleeping on us. We're we're we're coming for everybody. we're We're some of the best, you know, structured teams in the country. Every conference plays different basketball and I feel like the East is definitely getting up there and like there aren't too many teams that could be like, oh
01:42:41
Speaker
we're going to come in and we're going to smoke the Gunners by 30 because they're they're an East team we're going beat Illawarra by 30 or, you know, like there are plenty of teams coming through this year that would, I think, terrify a lot of teams in the West, South, North, everybody.
01:42:58
Speaker
Yeah, we we like to say around here, don't sleep on the East. yeah Yeah, I'll back it up. I like it. I like it a lot. I mean, we're national champs for a reason, so.
01:43:09
Speaker
And you mentioned before that you felt like going to Mount Gambier and playing in NBL one south would be like one of your last chances to play in the NBL. But do you feel like, do you still feel like now that you still don't have a chance to play in the NBL? Cause I would argue that a few of us would see very differently.
01:43:30
Speaker
Yeah, see, and I love that, um like, people would back me to play, but I just feel like where I'm at in life right now and everything, I'm pretty content and I'm sort of, you know, going through life doing adult things now. So I'm pretty i'm pretty set up down here, you know, like work for myself, but just like – we've got our own property, you know, there's a future of like children, like just got married. I'm just like, well, MBO is, ah it doesn't feel like a step back. It's a step forward in my, like my basketball career, my professional career, but,
01:44:03
Speaker
like it In terms of like everyday life for me, it was just like I couldn't give up everything else just to pursue my dream. you know and I couldn't leave my partner to do everyday life and still work hard. and you know I might not be there because it it it means moving away. and I think moving away for me was like after Mount Gambier was a big no-no. So that's why I sort of labelled it as my last opportunity. One, because, well, I never really thought that it was going to be an option. You know, Pete hee always pushed it and I was always so committed to my work as well as basketball. It was always super difficult to, you know, work every day and then come to training. So I couldn't imagine working and then also trying to, you know, commute to maybe Illawarra or wherever. you
01:44:51
Speaker
you know I'm pretty content with the fact that, you know, I've played at ah like at a semi-professional level and I've competed with guys who do play NBL. so end of the day, it is what it is. I'm happy to just be playing for the Gunners.
01:45:09
Speaker
Competing with guys in the NBL, aka can lock them down. thank you Or try my best to try my best.
01:45:20
Speaker
um Speaking of Pete, actually, he's been your coach for a little while. ah When was the first time that he was your your head coach? Pete was my first ever men's coach in like the local grades. I played for the Tuggernaw Vikings actually. um Pete is like the all time like local league recruiter.
01:45:42
Speaker
He's just like this enigma where he goes in and he picks these kids who are super young and super talented and somehow puts them all on a team together. um Like at one stage when I was in Waratah,
01:45:55
Speaker
There were eight Canberra Gunners players on our local comp team because he recruited them from a young age. So Pete recruited me at 15 to play for him at 16.
01:46:06
Speaker
um And I played in the second division. And then at 17, I was up in the first division. But he still coach he coached both teams. This is before he was even recognized as like a good coach in Canberra, before he even had a chance to you know hit the Gunners scene.
01:46:22
Speaker
um But he did that with multiple big names. Like I was on the team with like Tui, Glenn, ah old Gunners guys like Sean Mills, Jack Bartholomew, our old assistant coach who'd won with us the first year, Tom Cummins, Reece Kay, like all old Gunners guys, all guys that that' have won an NBL1 championship like our first year.
01:46:43
Speaker
um Tad Dufelmayer. He was on the team with us because he's a Canberra boy. So, like, you got guys, like, coming off the bench that are playing NBL 1 or Siebel at that point. I think it was Siebel just before I started.
01:46:57
Speaker
So, yeah, ah he's he's been my coach since about 16 years old. And, yeah, he's going on year 10 together. Wow. So he really planted the seeds really super early to ah cultivate this Gunners team. It makes so much more sense now as to why you're all so comfortable playing with each other. Like you can just tell when there's playing groups that have almost a telepathic power of knowing what to do when and how the other person's gonna respond and knowing the other, person trusting the other person's gonna be in the right spot at the right time. So he's been cultivating this culture and this style of play since for 10 years, essentially.
01:47:38
Speaker
Yeah, definitely, for sure. ah um He's done such a good job. we We owe everything to him so far. I mean, he's the backbone of the Gunners. So can't fault anything he's done.
01:47:50
Speaker
That's legendary, legendary. So how do you feel like your relationship with Pete has changed that 10 years? Cause you've gone from a teenager now to a a grownup and you've had him as a, an anchor in your basketball career the whole time. Yeah. Well, Pete, I think Pete and i have a,
01:48:07
Speaker
pretty funny relationship as in like, Pete and I are super close. um We like, I mean, we we text if not every day, every second or third day, like we have a lot of similar interests. Like we just, we enjoy 40, enjoy like everything else. We just enjoy Like, and we get on.
01:48:25
Speaker
Like, but he's ah he's from Queanbeyan as well. He lives in Queanbeyan. He's coached Queanbeyan. Like, we've got that connection. ah Yeah, I see him more as, like, a close friend than anything. Like, he was at my wedding. It's it's that sort of relationship we have where it's, like,
01:48:43
Speaker
Yeah, and he's he knows how to coach me, which i feel like um I feel like I'm very coachable purely because I'm so competitive. But I do sometimes, you know, go that little bit over the top and get a bit excited. And Pete's always been able you know, rein me back in. But we've had that relationship where no matter what's said, no matter what happens,
01:49:01
Speaker
and it doesn't affect anything either on the court or off the court. Like it's a little spat might happen. It's like, okay, this doesn't drag on. And we're very, very black and white with each other where it's like, okay, you need to stop doing this because of this. And it's just, all right, well, if Pete said it, that's what happens. So, and but he's also very reasonable. If I have something and I come to him and I'm like, look,
01:49:23
Speaker
ah don't like this or i like this he's also very accommodating to you know the needs of you know all our players he's very honest um and he's very open to taking suggestions because he just wants the welfare of the team to be as high as possible he wants you know the camaraderie and he wants that culture to be top tier and that is always his number one um desire i guess every year that everyone on the court is close and everyone is off the court is close I think that's a thing we've seen throughout MBO one East, you know, you see the manly women's team is always that Instagram is just, they're always hanging out together.
Off-Season Training and Youth Development
01:50:03
Speaker
And so these teams are just so close off the court and it's usually the successful ones.
01:50:09
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. ah i got to watch them at Summer Jam. they took They played in the grand final. Like, sadly, they lost, but they went to Summer Jam and they were killing everybody just because their chemistry. Like, everyone knew exactly where everyone was going to be, and I feel like that's how I feel when I'm on the court with, you know, the guys i've been playing with for years.
01:50:28
Speaker
I think the tricky thing too, when you have a coach that you've known for such a long time, and then you do develop that friendship off court as well. Sometimes that's tricky to strike a balance between when they're the authority figure of their role as a coach versus when they're being your friend. Has that ever been a bit of an issue for new guys coming into the program?
01:50:49
Speaker
Um, not too sure like with the new guys coming in pete's got like a reputation of like working is hard but fair right pete is very like hard but fair um and a lot of young guys don't know how to deal with like a hard but fair coach a lot of people coming through systems have been coddled into that sort of position where they are where they're like okay you're a 16 17 year old superstar let's just throw you into the deep end and play NBL one or Waratah, right? Playing against grown men and competition that they have never seen. um
01:51:23
Speaker
Pete is really good about letting them know how good they are without taking it overboard. Like they need to be realistic. You know, you've got a young big coming through, Pete's pumping up his tires. You're going you can play for us.
01:51:37
Speaker
but you've got to go guard Glenn every Tuesday and Thursday. It's like like the the big fella sort of puts a lot of people back in their spot too. he's um yeah He's the best player I've ever played with, so it's easy for me to sort of palm a lot of duties off to him, and he's such a good captain that him and Pete sort of just work everyone in together.
01:51:58
Speaker
Oh, when I bumped into Glennon in Singapore at the airport, um he taught we were talking about his ah first battle with Waxi Lucas Walker. So he's been the 16, 17 year old kid getting thrown around.
01:52:10
Speaker
Yeah. yeah I remember Waxy from the first year NBL one too. And like I'm mates with Waxy. We just played Summer Jam. We played a bunch of crossover together. Like I love him. I see him as like the ultimate vet. If anyone can play with Waxy, they're just blessed. Like he's incredible. Still probably one of the best basketball players that will play in the East. And he's 42 years old. Like,
01:52:33
Speaker
He's awesome. oh Yeah, ah we all love him at CrossFit. I mean, he was one of the main reasons we won last year. um And even this year, like he hit so many tough buckets and just consistently battles with the best of them. yeah glenn yeah he was he was a psychopath in the first year wax he was we were terrified of him which was what made them so dangerous you didn't know if he was going to go for you know we've never less than 15 it's either 15 or it's 40. you just didn't know how to guard him
01:53:10
Speaker
um but You know how to guard a lot of people and you can continue to improve in efficiency defensively and offensively over the years. And now you're basically the go-to man at the Gunners.
01:53:23
Speaker
How do you stay grounded, focused, under the kind of pressure, you know? Well, I mean, obviously it's not easy, but it's easy with a team like that, right? we've Like we've been strong, man. We've got that chemistry. I've been playing with Tu and Glenn for many, many years. I feel like they've also helped me build my game to where it's at now.
01:53:49
Speaker
Like Tuohy has been and still is the best defender on the Gunners. But the three of us especially, um you know, it's easy to have a big centre that's defensively minded,
01:54:00
Speaker
a guy that's going to go guard the guards and then, you know, a wing defender. So like they've helped me mold myself into, you know, defensively minded and really look for um ways that I can stop my opponent, which also makes their life easier.
01:54:16
Speaker
um Staying grounded though. I mean, We're pretty pumped about the last season. we all like We're just so stoked. I think we're just super focused on getting better as a team. um The young guys coming through and the young guys that played last year,
01:54:35
Speaker
they're just, they're getting better and better, which makes our life easy. um Obviously, they just, yeah, I have such high praise for everyone on our team. Everyone's working so hard that it just, it's almost making it not cruisy, but it's like, we know what what how we're going to play and what we're going to do, that everyone's going to just come in and fill their roles. So it sort of makes my job easy in the fact that I can rely on everybody on my team to do, play their role.
01:55:05
Speaker
and do what they're going to do There's going to be no outlines where it's like, oh, we don't know if this or this is going to happen. We sort of all just fold in and play the system, play the camp way.
01:55:16
Speaker
think that's such an advantage because every season we see teams go and try and get a couple of players and, you know, you think, oh, this team's getting better this year. And you guys trot out the same core with the other right pieces and you're always there or thereabouts at the end of the day.
01:55:32
Speaker
Yeah, it was it was a bugger losing Derek, but for Derek's development as a player, um he had to go find something else. Like my my trip to Mount Gambier, Derek's like going up to Mackay, which is amazing for him. Derek and I played to together since we were 16. We're good friends.
01:55:47
Speaker
like I'm so excited for him. i just wish he was on my team because he is so talented. I've sung his praise early on. well before national finals, well before all the finals in the East. And he was literally the difference maker. You know, game winner after game winner, are multiple 20 plus point performances on super high efficiency. Lucky he's a six foot four point guard that in all honesty, I didn't see many people take the ball off him if it wasn't Hutchie.
01:56:15
Speaker
Well, it helps when you've probably got ah a shooting facility in your family as well, right? Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. The bucket warehouse. They're wicked awesome for him. I mean, that's why he's so talented. He puts the work in. He's got the... All our players have options, like, to go to the gym. We could have trained Bucket Warehouse.
01:56:35
Speaker
I mean, we have guys on the team that lead from the front. Like, Derek was one. we would, like, work in silence, but he would always be working on his game. Tui's in the gym...
01:56:47
Speaker
four to five mornings a week for an hour shooting on top of everything else. he's That is why he's the best shooter in the East. Like all he does is practice his shot and like work on his craft. But he makes everyone else want to get better.
01:57:02
Speaker
And he he's the hardest worker I've ever played with. So it just makes you want to get better. You feel guilty if you're not sort of working as hard as he is. and but Setting a pretty high standard.
01:57:15
Speaker
That's another thing for the young guys coming through when they see the vets training like that. i mean, it just shows them what they need to do, doesn't it? Yeah, definitely. it's um And because he's like a four-year veteran from college, he knows what it's all about.
01:57:30
Speaker
He knows how to play a system. He knows how to work hard. The harder you work, the more minutes you get in college, right? So all too he knows is work hard, get better. Because he is also as competitive as I am. He just wants to be the best. He's always out there competing no matter what.
01:57:45
Speaker
He's the loudest at training. um He's the first one in, the last one out sort of guy.
01:57:53
Speaker
And so what about you? Like, what are you ah primarily working on in the off season? I mean, you mentioned you had summer jam, so that's always a good incentive to stay in shape and to try out a couple of things on court you may have been working on. But what have you been what's your off season looking like?
01:58:10
Speaker
A lot of my off season, well, this was probably my most, um you know, jumbled it up off season, just a lot of like different life admin stuff going on, obviously the wedding and then um like all this, the like ah all the street ball, like the crossover gang the tournaments and whatnot.
01:58:29
Speaker
um they They were, you're right, like a big incentive to stay in shape purely because I i feel so loyal to them and I want to win. So, but my off season usually consists of like taking some time off, winding down and then really ramping up at the start of the year, if not like late December, early Jan. And then I'll, you know, back in the gym pretty much full time.
01:58:52
Speaker
um lot of just, lot of cardio. pretty much for the first couple of months trying to get back in shape. And then, yeah, a lot of on-court stuff like extras. If I can get in with two, I will. If not, it'll just be like another time.
01:59:08
Speaker
um But, yeah, the Gunners pre-season is pretty much the same every year. Sort of ramps up early, get in shape quick. lot of pre-season tournaments and games. um Get a feel for the ball in your hands and get ready for the for the start of the season.
01:59:26
Speaker
there any particular parts of your game or skills that you like to focus on in particular? Like if you reflect on the season before and think, oh, you know, I'd like to increase my three-point percentage or something like that.
01:59:38
Speaker
Definitely. I think the three-point percentage has been my one thing that has always been
Season Anticipation and Team Dynamics
01:59:43
Speaker
it It would probably be my Achilles heel, whereas like I've had years where I've shot really poorly. um Last year was probably the biggest step up I had in percentage, and i think that was purely because I was taking more shots, but better shots as well. I think that's come with just time in the game and understanding what shots I need to take and when to take them.
02:00:02
Speaker
um But, yeah, I would love to continue shooting it at, you know, mid to high 30s. I think at that, like, ah everyone aims to shoot as high a percentage as they can, but it's it's not feasible to be able to make every three. Like, you'd love to, but you can't. So, like, I'm i'm aiming to shoot, yeah, probably high 30s. So, like, you know, 38, 39%, like, there with...
02:00:26
Speaker
like up there with um not near to him but you know trying to trying to get there climb as high as i can i was going to ask can the shock doctor prescribe you anything to help with your three point percentage I think it's all about – Pete just tells me it's too late now to change a jump shot or anything. Just go get reps up. So that's all I've been doing. Just go get shots up consistently.
02:00:50
Speaker
um In trainings, try and shoot some different shots that might not in game. Just, you know, work the um the routine out. Try and when it comes game time, i hit a couple others. But i think I hit five in the preseason game against Hills. So I'm feeling not too bad at the moment.
02:01:08
Speaker
Did you get a win in that preseason game? No, we lost. um we we We had a bunch of outs, but they played very good basketball. They'll be an exciting team to watch this year.
02:01:20
Speaker
Just felt like their chemistry was on point. I was talking with their import meekness. And hey um he was saying that, yeah, that like they run their sets, they play good basketball, that none of it no one's on each other's case. They play super ethical basketball.
02:01:36
Speaker
know They're out there playing for one another, lots of swinging the rocks. So probably going to be an exciting one. And they were missing their import, who is a superstar from the West. So they'll be they'll be an exciting team to watch. Definitely one to watch out for.
02:01:48
Speaker
because they always claw their way into the top eight or their one away every year. and I feel like they're a bit of a dark horse where like teams just sort of not forget about them, but they're like... No one's really worried, as it but you should be. like They knocked off a bunch of good teams last year. and always like they They gave it to us in the preseason game.
02:02:07
Speaker
um Gave us a tricky game last year as well, actually. We are only snuck out of there on the end of back end of a doubleheader. So think now like they're very well coached. They've recruited well. think that's probably one yeah my dark one of my dark horses for this season.
02:02:22
Speaker
Yeah. but Last few years, it's felt like kills. not making the eight, but they're going to be one of those teams that are going to stuff someone else's season and you just hope it's not you. Absolutely, yeah.
02:02:33
Speaker
Absolutely, they will. But I guess that is the answer to our next question, which is you technically haven't been announced as a Gunners player for 2026. yeah i got I got a message from Caleb actually a couple of weeks ago. He's like, dude, have you signed yet? and I'm like, ah and I was on my way to training. I literally signed when I got there. So yes, I will be ah a Canberra gunner again. we um lot of our signings haven't been announced. We've pretty much, we've got a lot of the same team coming back.
02:03:02
Speaker
But yeah, I am a gunner again. Thank goodness. they they They took me back, which is nice. Yeah. ah lum Number eight's back in Canberra.
02:03:15
Speaker
And you've got a, so you've announced Glenn, Angus, Ev, and a new import in Darnell Hoskins Jr. Yeah. Darnell's coming. Darnell's a super, super exciting import have for us. Obviously, the loss of Derek hurts us all.
02:03:32
Speaker
And Darnell isn't Derek, but he also brings other things that Derek didn't have. He's very quick, great shooter. He was to his college teammate. So they have that chemistry from prior like years at Saginaw State together.
02:03:48
Speaker
um He's already meshed in really well. He's been here two weeks now. He puts in all the extra, like he doesn't get a choice. He's living with Tui because they're mates. So he's at everything that Tui's at. So he should be primed and ready to go now.
02:04:02
Speaker
ah He's been training really well. he's But I really like him as a person. He's a great dude. He's coming in already fits the culture. feel like Canberra was one of those teams before Ev got there, there were no imports. We were known for all local guys, no imports.
02:04:18
Speaker
And it was really hard to sort of crack in and be like a gunner without being a Canberra. We had no got ah outside talent. Ev really paved the way for imports to come in and actually you know give confidence to Pete and Bass Place to tell you that they can merge and actually make a difference.
02:04:36
Speaker
um So yeah, shout out to Ev. He's one of my... One of my you know very good mates on the team. I think he did a very good job last season. you know Coming in isn't important, and actually playing a role. you know He came off the bench a lot of games, did what he was told to do and did it at a very high level. So I think Darnell's a very similar personal player where going to have a role. But he's also one of those guys, if you if you give him too much space and don't...
Community Support and Rivalries
02:05:04
Speaker
you know guard him the way you're meant to he's going to give you a 40 with ease he's he's a pure scorer and he's going to give a lot of teams trouble this year
02:05:16
Speaker
and ah you mentioned you know not having imports and canberra far and away the biggest one club city in nbo1 um how does that make the club culture different to other clubs I think it just, because we're, yeah, we are 300,000 people in one team, bit different to all the Sydney clubs in such close proximity. We have that um that sort of junior upbringing. It's like when you get to that level, there is only one team to play for. So, you know, you've got kids coming to the game being like, like I was, I want to be a Canberra gunner. or
02:05:56
Speaker
Or when I grow up, I want to be able to play at the highest level in Canberra. And and that's us now because there's no cannons. I mean, we have hundreds, we have thousands of junior clubs all playing under the same banner. You know what i mean? It's all basketball ACT. So every kid strives, no matter what like local club they might play for, they all strive, they're all sort of pyramids up to that one team. They can't split and go anywhere else unless they're going to play for some, you know,
02:06:23
Speaker
team where they're traveling minimum two, two and a half hours. um So I think its just it just encapsulates the way the Basketball Team has built such a great foundation to get to where we are now, like at the Gunners and then and the Nationals level, obviously. um Like female basketball is up massively in Canberra at the moment um and they're putting a massive emphasis on you know the ground level and putting in the hard yards for juniors. um you know men and women's like both programs are and super successful and a lot of people want to play for us now you have less people leaving when they get to that senior level um so yeah i mean it's it's it's almost an honor to play for the top team in canberra it gives you that sort of that feeling that's like okay well now i've made it you know you've got hundreds thousands of kids striving to take your spot so it's like okay well here we go like
02:07:17
Speaker
come take it like that's what we want we want that that feeling in canberra where it's like okay we want the best team possible we want you to stay local we want you to be proud to be a canberra gunner
02:07:31
Speaker
screen i'll give you the next uh sub question because you wrote it and i know you love it i don't know what gave that away lochie uh But looking at the season ahead, will ah will the Gunners still be prepared to continue their heated rivalry between the Gunners and the Mustangs?
02:07:53
Speaker
Absolutely. we um i know a lot of people have said like they love the game because it's so competitive. I just love it because it's fiery. Like the last couple of years, like I love those sort of games.
02:08:04
Speaker
And I love the fact that, you know, both teams are like, you know, we're mates. We're two of the premier clubs in the East now. um It's always such a great matchup. And it's always so hard for both teams to travel to the other's home court. Like that doubleheader in Maitland and Newcastle is dreaded every season. And I know they dread coming down to play COE and like us. So yeah, I love the rivalry. Like I'm um pretty good mates with a bunch of the guys on their team.
02:08:34
Speaker
um Like I get on really well with Will, Billy and i obviously playing crossover together, like Billy's mates with Pete as well. So it just makes it even more...
02:08:45
Speaker
I don't competitive when you play against like guys you know. And obviously I love the coach. Luke is a great fella. We always get on. It's never hostile afterwards. But as soon as we hit the court, like all bets are off. It's like, it's fiery.
02:09:03
Speaker
it's It's awesome. I love it. And um um it's not going to change. Like I promise you, I'll go out there this year again and play the exact same way. And I know they will too. Like every game's a battle, every game's going super competitive um and neither of us want to lose.
02:09:19
Speaker
Yeah, it's like people used to ask me, you know, is it a rivalry? Like this is a couple of years ago, is it a rivalry? And I was always saying, well, sort of, but if, you know, one club has a down year, it might fizzle out. Nowadays, it feels like even if one club is having a down year and the games aren't that close for a year or two, eventually it's just going when they come together, it's going to be, yeah it's it's one of those games where records will never matter. It's just going to be on for young and old.
02:09:46
Speaker
Exactly. Exactly. That's how we felt when they came down on their doubleheader. I think they were out of playoff contention perhaps, or they needed to beat us to make playoffs. Anyhow, it was still, it was still be super competitive. I just, that we're out there just bashing each other up whole lot. Like a bunch of dunks. It was super intense in each other's faces. And after the game was like, none of it ever happened.
02:10:13
Speaker
But, You're right. Like, even if we didn't, like, even if we had a down year or they had another down year, every game is still so close. It doesn't matter, like, who's playing well and what.
02:10:24
Speaker
Like, it all came down to people having good games. You know what mean? um It was never really down to, okay, one team's better than the other. Because, like, there was last season where I think we went up there early in the season and they absolutely smacked us, like, 20, 30 points, gave us the business.
02:10:45
Speaker
And then they came down later in the season and it's like, okay, well, it's still competitive, but we sort of had to edge the whole game. We had to work for it, but we still had that edge and we still had guys come out and compete and we got them. So it's like, you know, you go from getting beat by 20 30 at start of the so season to, you know, they sort of click like not cleaning them up, but, you know, it was a consistent win, you know, 10 to 15 points.
02:11:10
Speaker
think we reviewed that game. Did we review that game as well at the time, Lockie? Game of the week was when the Gunners-Maitland game and it was really close and I think the Gunners, you kind of had the edge all game, but then it was really the fourth quarter where everything clicked and you defensively just locked it down and and took the game away. Yeah, yeah. The one at the AIS there. Yeah, that was that was a tough game for us.
02:11:36
Speaker
We were hurt. Maybe it wasn't. Maybe it wasn't that one, but definitely memorable. Well, we've had a lot of close games. It could have been the Belconnen game ah two seasons ago where we beat them.
02:11:48
Speaker
that was That was probably one of my favourite games I've ever played. We got them um on the back of a Tui defensive masterclass, held Will to 10 points. That was, I think, his MVP year.
02:12:00
Speaker
We were just over the moon. think Glenn had 30-odd, so like that helps as well. yeah think that that was the one no that's the one that's definitely the that's the one it was definitely at belco and i remember now that when you said you kept them to 10 points in the court i was like yeah that was the one we reviewed like it's still i'm not very good at remembering games anymore i remember like the feeling of being there what was said who was with me how much fun i had but i don't remember like actual, oh, they won by this much and this is what happened. Not very good at remembering that anymore. But that game stuck in my mind. That quarter, that fourth quarter is stuck in my mind.
Life Outside Basketball: Will's Story
02:12:38
Speaker
It was a cracker again. madie Matt Gray was still playing there. That was like, that's like the Maitland I remember. Like I will always remember them for that team. Like no matter what happens this year or going on, it was like, it's like Will, it's like Christian, it's Billy, it's Matt Gray and it's Jimmy Hunter. That's like the Maitland that always comes to my head.
02:12:57
Speaker
Yep. Yep. And, um, What was going to Oh, the thing I like about the rivalry as well between Gunners and Mustangs is that I feel like it started when NBL 1E started. I know that North and Manly have a longstanding rivalry, but I feel like that's just a historic thing in New South Wales, whereas this rivalry we're creating started when the league kind of created. So I think that has a little bit, it has its own historical legs to it compared to the longstanding rivalry of North and Manly. Like that, that's just existing.
02:13:29
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. Definitely. Yeah, they ah don't like each other, do they? Not really. Nope, nope, nope. okay I like that.
02:13:40
Speaker
Good for the conv. It is definitely good for the comp and it's a big conversation in women's basketball too is that we don't speak about rivalries enough in the press and in the media when it comes to women's basketball in the same way that we do with a lot of men's sports and men's competitions. But rivalries can be good to get bums on seats and eyes on TV sets.
02:14:01
Speaker
Absolutely. People love it. Yeah. um and as you know we always bookend our interviews with the same question so we started with your basketball journey and now we're gonna end with uh learning a little bit more about you off the court because despite all this and nbl talent coming into the east which we love you're still our poster boy will but to be honest i don't we don't know a lot about you outside of your you as a basketball player other than that you're a tradie repping your city
02:14:35
Speaker
So tell us a little bit more about Will Mayfield off the court. Well, my life is pretty boring actually during this season because I'm pretty locked in. um now I've got go two dogs that ah you know I love and care for, me and my partners.
02:14:54
Speaker
know I'm always with them. If we're not doing something together, then I guess I've got I don't know. I really don't do a lot outside of basketball. I mean, ah catch I've got really good friends, you know, that i' oh I'm always with, but it's sort of just awesome. I'm big, super family orientated.
02:15:11
Speaker
Everything's sort of built around family, always catching up. um And a lot of my family is here in Canberra, so it makes it really easy you know, um catch up and always do things together. um o Yeah, in all honesty,
02:15:26
Speaker
I'm pretty simple. I was just like the simple things. I like keeping it low-key. I like really just plodding along. work Work is pretty big. If I'm not playing basketball, I'm working. Or we like going down the coast a fair bit. I really like that coast lifestyle.
02:15:44
Speaker
love going for you know walks with the dogs, just getting out and about. um or if I'm hanging out with my mates, it's just, we're you know, we're watching footy, go to a Raiders game perhaps just, you know, but there's not a lot to do in Canberra, so it makes life pretty simple. Like, we're a pretty simple city.
02:16:04
Speaker
um so like, it's, everyone pretty much does the same thing if you're not, you know playing sport or, you know, like there's a massive sort of, lot of my friends are well into their, like their gyms and they're running and crossfit and stuff like that. So,
02:16:20
Speaker
I do a lot of that on weekends. A lot of my partner, she runs a fair bit, like runs from like half marathons, all my mates run marathons, things like that. So it keeps me, you know on my toes. So I i feel feel like I'm not falling behind, but yeah, I really just enjoy hanging out with family and yeah, just making like core memories with the people that I hold dearest.
02:16:49
Speaker
lots of the athletes with yeah it's nice it's wholesome it's wholesome yeah ah I'm very lucky. I've got a very good support base here in Canberra, which is also part of the reason why, you know, I haven't left again or pursued anything further. I've got a good, you know, handful of friends that I keep super close and i'm always with them and their partners are friends with my partner. So just makes life easy. And as we're getting older, you know, we're doing different things now. It's like it's either, you know, dinner parties at someone's house or it's, you know, we're going to go out to dinner together like we just went out to dinner all together on the weekend. so
02:17:25
Speaker
It's just all, I feel like we're just, it's changing from, you know, going out and partying and now it's sort of like, oh, let who's who's bringing what to dinner or, um you know, whose house we're going to, what what are we doing?
02:17:38
Speaker
i um Actually, i wanted to hear I want to get into pickleball, but all my mates always go on the nights that I'm training, so it makes it it makes it difficult, but that's something I'm definitely going to get into more and more, probably weekends now. No doubleheaders. I'll be playing pickleball or racquetball, I think they're calling it as well. I'm not too sure.
02:17:59
Speaker
Yeah, pickleball sounds right. I think the Americans call what we call squash. I think the Americans call racquetball. Yeah, I'm not playing squash. couldn't do squash. I'll play pickleball though. Yeah.
02:18:12
Speaker
is there ah Is there a chance your friends are playing pickleball on the nights you have training just so that they can win at something for a chance? Yeah, they're ducking you, mate. Yeah, ducking the smoke. I think they might be there might be a couple that are scared. I've got a couple of friends that are are pretty good athletes, though. So one of them is pretty good at tennis. So I think he sort of towers everyone up and he sort of just um he sort of just cruises a bit. But I've got a couple of other mates that are just – They make me look placid. They're so competitive that they just want to win everything. So like ah that might also be part of the reason. it might get We might butt heads. It might be too fiery. We might get kicked out of pickleball.
02:18:52
Speaker
Might be some rackets flying. like You can play pickleball in the warm-up when you're up ah playing at Sutherland. Pickleball line's on court three now. Yeah, well, I might have to. might have to come up early, go play with um big mate Jimmy Hunter as well.
02:19:11
Speaker
Lockie, have you got anything for Will before we finish up? I do have one thing I want to ask, and it's about your famous line, try the trade-in-reffin-y city. Did you have that in the pocket or is that off the cuff?
02:19:23
Speaker
That was just purely off the cuff. I honestly had forgotten I'd said it, and when he posted the quote, i was like, yeah, like I had to see the actual clip to say, they're like, oh, I'd said that. Because I was just, like, Caleb and I, we have a good relationship. Like, he's a good mate. Like, we get on really well.
02:19:38
Speaker
um So I was just sitting there it was almost, it was just like this, like having a ah chat with friends. It wasn't like an interview. Like I was so comfortable. i was had a big day, we're just sitting there before training.
02:19:51
Speaker
was super comfortable, really relaxed, just having a laugh, having a chat. And then when it came out, I'm like, you know what? like Yeah, I might have said it. it's it's it's good It's good for the East. Everyone enjoyed it.
02:20:03
Speaker
So, um I mean, all my mates give me a ah bunch of slack about it, but I say I will. Mate, it goes is hard. It's such a good quote. Yeah, I mean, I stand by it. So, I can't be embarrassed. I said it. So, it's all good.
02:20:21
Speaker
I see no lies in it either. Yeah, diet yeah i'm I'm just a trading. I'm just repping my city. yeah I think ah there was a similar quote up here in NBL 1 North.
02:20:36
Speaker
I don't think it was last season, the season before where there was a player from the Sunshine Coast who had a bit of a breakout game or he's one of the the glue players for the Phoenix that season. um Had a similar thing. He's like, oh, look, I'm just a plumber by day and hoop by night kind of thing. It very similar.
02:20:54
Speaker
I love that. lot lot of us tradies are the same. We're sort of just working and then when we have a good game or you know a good stretch of games, it's like, oh, you know I play basketball as well as being a tradie. So I do understand that. I know all the tradies that play as well, they're all like, yeah, but like you have a big day at work and you go to training, you're absolutely dreading it.
02:21:13
Speaker
But then when you're actually playing well, it's it's it's nice. So I know all the tradies that are playing, they they understand it. Yeah, not like us XL jockeys who are.
02:21:24
Speaker
There's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing wrong with that. Pays the bills. Exactly. Do any of your tradie mates come and watch you at Bell Conant on a Saturday night?
02:21:36
Speaker
Yeah, most most of most of my mates. So I'm actually really lucky. i've All that group of friends I've been telling you about, they – they barely miss a home game. So they've been there since year one and they're usually the loud ones on the sideline tearing into the other team. So you may or may not have seen them, they but they are always there. I think national finals, they may have and may been tucked away in the stands, but usually they get they get one of the boxes on the sideline and they literally just
02:22:08
Speaker
They get the names up of the other team and they're just into them. Stats, everything, just, and they love it. Everyone, but everyone likes it. Like Luke Jamieson in that semifinal in Canberra, he was, because Luke and I, we're we're pretty good mates off the court as well.
02:22:24
Speaker
um I warned him, I said, my boys are going to in you. I've told them they're going to be in you. and they were just feeding him and he at one stage at the freight line he turned around started giving it back to him and they sort of didn't know what to do so first time someone had sort of like given a bit of slack back and they sort of sat there and then it just ramped up and it was awesome like they they're good lads and i think everyone really enjoys it sort of brings an atmosphere that canberra never had as well like that that sort of smack talk from the sideline you're like oh what it like what do you do now like people are researching my stats and my my name and everything that's going on and
02:22:57
Speaker
Again, you know slack on the court, they're getting told by the coach and then they're getting just these numb nuts on the sidelines, just pestering them.
02:23:08
Speaker
Yeah, Crusaders also used to have exact a very similar situation where it was the state league boys when they had a state league team and their tradie mates in a box at the at the end of the baseline and you couldn't wear ah sweatband, long socks,
02:23:25
Speaker
ah the wrong shoes, nothing. They would tear strips off you for anything. I love it. I live for it. Aubrey, Aubrey got a bit like that on, I think it members night or something they might call it.
02:23:38
Speaker
Yeah, I was playing there one night in Aubrey and they were tearing shreds off me. I was loving it. We were we were blowing them out. It wasn't even close, but um they were tearing shreds off me and Tui. Tui was copping it pretty bad as well. Then when Tui started giving it back to them, they were loving it.
02:23:54
Speaker
Well, I mean, he's he wears a sweatband. He's going to be a target. Yeah. I mean, he sticks by it. He wears it every season. Yeah, he does. I don't think I'd recognise him without it.
02:24:05
Speaker
yeah No, ah I don't think I would. He wore one. He didn't wear one the other night at training because he wears some training everywhere. I'm just like, just a totally different human being.
Episode Wrap-Up and Listener Engagement
02:24:17
Speaker
ah Well, Will, it's great to finally talk to you and have you as a guest on East Scott Game. ah Thank you for a being a guest and B, confirming that you are actually playing for the Canberra Gunners in the 2026 season, despite it not being officially announced. But I think it goes without saying that we were expecting you in the roster nonetheless. But best of luck for the season. I hope that you've enjoyed your time with us two nerds here in EGG and maybe we can have you back at the back end of the season.
02:24:47
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. Loved it. Thank you so much for having me on, you know, feel privileged and yeah, very excited to come back on whenever. Love the work you guys do. So thank you. Cool. Anytime. Thank you. Always ah little bit of Canberra bias here on EGG as well.
02:25:03
Speaker
Repping the city. yeah
02:25:09
Speaker
And that wraps us up for another episode of EGG. Hopefully you enjoyed that episode with Will Mayfield. Thanks again for tuning in and remember you can always find us on your preferred streaming platforms. ah But as we like to say, don't sleep on the East. See next time.
02:25:46
Speaker
Now we're good.