54-493: Brisbane Capitals is a NBL1 North club based in Brisbane, Queensland . The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 North. The club is a division of Brisbane Basketball Incorporated (BBI), one of the major administrative basketball organisations in the region. The Capitals play their home games at Auchenflower Stadium . In 1962, Brisbane Amateur Basketball Association (BABA)
108-659: A former 36er, returning to the NBL in November 2009, signing with the Melbourne Tigers. Hodge was a star in Adelaide when he joined the 36ers mid-season the previous two years, however issues relating to alleged missed payments caused him to walk out on the club in early January 2009 on bad terms. Hodge returned to his old home court for the first time on 5 December 2009 in a Tigers overtime victory. After being heckled and taunted all night in
162-620: A league license, following the same model as the Tasmania JackJumpers.” The last Canberra team to play in the NBL was the Cannons from 1979–2003. They won three NBL championships and played their home games at the AIS Arena . In January 2024, the NBL announced a partnership with the Japanese B.League which will see future collaboration on pre-season game crossovers and potential exploration of
216-596: A model similar to the Australian Football League (AFL) whereby there are the same 10 or 15 teams over a 10-year period. A turbulent period during 2008 and 2009 saw the league lose teams from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Singapore. The 2009–10 season earmarked as the season in which the NBL would begin its revamping, much like the old National Soccer League which became the eight team A-League . The NBL returned to free-to-air television in Australia for
270-587: A name change to the Brisbane Capitals resulted in two more championships in 2001 and 2002. The men's team meanwhile were runners-up in 1991 and 2001 before winning their maiden championship in 2002. In 2013, the Capitals men played in their first grand final since 2002, where they lost 102–95 to the Rockhampton Rockets . The Capitals returned to the grand final in 2015, losing the best-of-three series 2–1 to
324-650: A near end when the Cairns Taipans were on the verge of extinction due to financial issues. The rivalry between the two North Queensland based clubs is currently extinct due to the Crocodiles folding at the end of the 2015–16 NBL season . Illawarra Hawks vs Sydney Kings Illawarra Hawks fans consider the Sydney Kings to be their most fierce rival. Many Hawks players have moved to the Kings including two former Rookie of
378-566: A plummeting public profile property developer Larry Kestelman purchased a 51% portion of the league. Since then game attendance, TV viewership, website visitors and app downloads have been consistently on the increase. In April 2016, the Townsville Crocodiles folded as they had become too financially unsustainable to continue. Larry Kestelman has stated on the Aussie Hoopla podcast that no NBL club will ever fold again as long as he
432-513: A quiet game by his standards, Hodge caused more controversy when he stamped and spat on the Brett Maher signature on the centre of the Brett Maher Court following his new club's win. He was booed off aggressively and loudly by the Adelaide fans and needed security to escort him out of the stadium. Adelaide 36ers vs Perth Wildcats Both teams were perennial championship contenders in
486-782: A result, the QBL became the north conference of NBL1. In 2022, the league expanded into the Northern Territory with the addition of a club from Darwin . The league was formed in 1986 as the Queensland State Basketball League . In 1994, the league joined the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) to become the competition's North Conference. The CBA was restructured as the Australian Basketball Association (ABA) in 1999. In 2002,
540-719: Is in control of the league. Allowing for clubs to recruit the best Australian players not in the NBA became easier with the marquee rule which saw the return from Europe and the US of players such as Brad Newley , David Andersen and Andrew Bogut . In addition the Special Restricted Player rule, introduced for the 2016–17 season, allows for clubs to recruit players born in countries such as China , Philippines , Taiwan , India , South Korea , Singapore , and Japan who would not count as imports under NBL rules. From 2016 to 2018, there
594-404: Is the dominant North Queensland team. The Cairns-Townsville basketball rivalry would have to be one of the longest and most passionate in the NBL. Both teams generally attract a close to capacity crowd anywhere from 4000+ at their home games. Each team and their supporters and mascots generally boo and taunt their visiting rivals. The rivalry has been in existent for over 10 years and almost came to
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#1733086141928648-432: The 2019–20 season ; a season which was widely regarded as a major season for the league. After an active off-season, including the signings of LaMelo Ball and R. J. Hampton , two highly rated NBA 2020 draft picks , the league started by continuing to topple attendance records from the first round. The season's opening night had 10,300 fans in attendance to watch Melbourne United and the S.E. Melbourne Phoenix compete in
702-690: The 2024 season , the Salties withdrew from the NBL1 North after three seasons due to financial difficulties. *Teams that transferred from QBL. National Basketball League (Australia) The National Basketball League ( NBL ) is a men's professional basketball league in Australasia , currently composed of ten teams: nine in Australia and one in New Zealand. It is the premier professional men's basketball league in Australia and New Zealand. Before
756-671: The Apollo Stadium ) when they won Game 2 104–83 before Adelaide won its first NBL title with a 113–91 win at Apollo in Game 3. The teams were evenly matched at the time with players such as Al Green, Mark Davis, Bill Jones, Peter Ali, Darryl Pearce , Mike McKay and Dwayne Nelson (Adelaide) against Brisbane's star import Leroy Loggins , captain Larry Sengstock , guard Ron Radliff , forwards Danny Morseu , Robert Sibley and Chris McGraw, centre John Dorge and (in 1985 and 1986) Cal Bruton. Loggins
810-473: The Brisbane Bullets and Bruton, who moved from Brisbane to be player-coach of Perth in 1987, built a team specifically to beat the reigning champions. Despite the long time rivalry between the two clubs, and the two teams having played numerous semi-final series against each other with the first being in that 1987 season , they did not face each other in a grand final series until the 2013–14 season , which
864-657: The COVID-19 pandemic , the 2020 season was cancelled. For the 2022 season , the NBL1 North had a club from Darwin – the Darwin Salties – represented for the first time under the joint management of Darwin Basketball Association (DBA) and Basketball Northern Territory (BNT). It saw the NBL1 become the first Australian sport league to have clubs based in and playing out of every state and territory in Australia. Following
918-480: The Clipsal Powerhouse a 'double bird'. Heal, who had scored 61 points in the last regular season game before scoring 42 points in Game 1 to lead Brisbane to a 116–105 home win over the 36ers, had not actually managed to score a point before half time in Game 2 which the 36ers had won 99–91 before also winning Game 3 101–84. Heal, along with former 36er Mark Bradtke who had left under acrimonious circumstances at
972-505: The Illawarra Hawks are the oldest clubs in the league, both clubs were established in 1979. The Illawarra Hawks are the only club which has participated in every NBL season since the inaugural season in 1979. After weeks of reports of a return of a Tasmanian team, in June 2019, Larry Kestelman flagged Tasmania as a potential 10th team. However he stressed that if a Tasmanian team did enter
1026-688: The Queensland Basketball League (QBL), is a semi-professional basketball league in Queensland and Northern Territory , Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2020, Basketball Queensland partnered with the National Basketball League (NBL) to bring NBL1 to Queensland. NBL1 replaced the former QBL to create more professional pathways and opportunities for males and females playing basketball in Queensland. As
1080-427: The 2007 season. The ABA was abandoned following the 2008 season, resulting in the QBL becoming an independent league again. In October 2019, Basketball Queensland and the National Basketball League (NBL) announced a new partnership to bring NBL1 to Queensland in 2020, with NBL1 replacing the QBL. On 15 January 2020, the QBL was officially renamed NBL1 North and became the north conference of NBL1. However, due to
1134-455: The 36ers stating that he would finish his one-year contract with the club should he return within a certain time. Upon his return to Australia, Bradtke stated his intention not to return to the 36ers with the Tigers rumoured to be actively chasing him. After protracted negotiations with 36ers management that led to the club being prepared to buy out his remaining contract, the NBL stepped in and vetoed
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#17330861419281188-607: The Mackay Meteors. In 2016, the Capitals played in their third grand final in four years, this time losing 2–0 to the Cairns Marlins. In 2019, the Capitals men made their seventh grand final appearance, where they won their second championship with a 2–0 series victory over the Gold Coast Rollers . For the 2020 season, the Capitals joined the newly established NBL1 North , which replaced the QBL. The 2020 NBL1 North season
1242-518: The NBL (as of 15 November 2019). The rivalry continues into the 2012–13 season with the 36ers beating the Wildcats in back to back games in rounds 6 and 7, including the opening game at Perth's new home, the Perth Arena , in front of a then record Wildcats crowd of 11,562. The Wildcats and the 36ers dominated the 2013–14 NBL season , finishing first and second respectively during the regular round. After
1296-448: The NBL returned to their normal format of 28 games with no midseason tournament. The top four teams at the end of the regular season advances to the Finals. The team finishing in the first and second position at the completion of the regular season receives home advantages in their best-of-three first round matchup against the team finishing in third and fourth position. The winner of each of
1350-485: The NBL, they would be eased in, and that there was no timeline. On 28 February 2020, the NBL and the Tasmanian Government announced that they had reached an agreement for Tasmania to host the 10th team in the NBL, known as the Tasmania JackJumpers, which would join for the 2021–22 season . In April 2022, Larry Kestelman flagged Canberra as a potential 11th team. Kestelman says “Canberra could be next in line for
1404-535: The Victorian Football League before changing its name in 1990). The NBL experienced its "golden age" in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but its popularity, media attention, attendance and corporate support deteriorated and plateaued in the decade afterward with the growth of the country's four football codes. A second Melbourne club, the South Dragons , entered the league in the 2006–07 season , but
1458-505: The Year winners and a two-time Olympian. In the absence of the Kings, the Sydney Spirit took the role of rival, but this felt fake to some Hawks faithful. The Hawks took bragging rights after the 2000–01 season when they became the first team from New South Wales to qualify for the NBL finals, which they won against Townsville. Sydney then took the ascendency when they won three championships in
1512-516: The buy out, effectively letting Bradtke leave for Melbourne without the 36ers receiving any compensation for the remainder of his contract with the club. When Bradtke returned to Adelaide with the Tigers on 4 July 1993 he was soundly booed whenever he touched the ball by the 8,000 strong crowd at the Clipsal Powerhouse . The booing of Bradtke and the Andrew Gaze led Tigers continued for a number of seasons. A new rivalry has emerged with Julius Hodge ,
1566-598: The club (plus another with Perth), while Blakemore, the NBL's Rookie of the year in 1993 and its Most Improved Player award winner in 1994 , as well as playing for the Australian Boomers in 1995, joined the Canberra Cannons in 1996 and his career went downhill from there with his NBL career ending at the end of 1997 after just two seasons with the Cannons. As the mainstay players began to slow with age and retire,
1620-509: The cup tournament with a Magic Round -style basketball event. The NBL was founded in 1979 with ten clubs. Due to club expansions, reductions, and relocations, many of the clubs either changed or ceased to exist. There are currently ten clubs; nine clubs in Australia and one club in New Zealand. The clubs are located in Adelaide , Auckland , Brisbane , Cairns , Hobart , Melbourne , Perth , Sydney , and Wollongong . The Brisbane Bullets and
1674-536: The end of 1992 to join the Melbourne Tigers, became public enemy #1 to the 36ers crowd following the incident. With the Bullets returning to the NBL in 2016, the rivalry has continued with Adelaide defeating the Bullets in their first encounter at home, the Bullets returning the favour with an away win in Adelaide, while a week later Adelaide spoiled the Bullets regular season return to the Entertainment Centre for
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1728-556: The establishment of the NBL, there were two national basketball competitions: the National Titles and the Australian Club Championships. In August 1979, the inaugural season of the NBL commenced, playing in the winter season (April–September) which it did so until the completion of the 1998 season , the league's twentieth season. The 1998–99 season , which began only months later, was the first to be played during
1782-428: The first "Throwdown", with a further 20,550 fans attending games across the first round. After signing a broadcasting deal with Facebook Watch , over one million American fans watched Ball 's first game in the NBL against the Brisbane Bullets . Following two condensed seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the 2022–23 NBL season and the 2023 finals series saw a number of all-time attendance records being set for
1836-480: The first time in three years with One broadcasting 2–3 games a week. The 2010–11 season saw the return of the Sydney Kings after the club was purchased for A$ 20,000 on 31 July 2008. In 2013, the NBL had a de-merger from Basketball Australia . Crowds improved for the 2013–14 NBL season , recording the highest cumulative crowd attendance figures for the past five years. After numerous teams folding and
1890-482: The first time since 1997 with a resounding 101–83 win. Adelaide 36ers vs Melbourne United Apart from the normal South Australian and Victorian rivalry, the 36ers vs United (formerly Tigers) rivalry started at the end of the 1992 season when 36ers centre Mark Bradtke joined Spanish club Juver Murcia following the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona , Spain for a short stint. Before he left he signed an agreement with
1944-512: The formation of the Queensland Basketball League (QBL) with both a men's and women's competition. Brisbane, trading as the Brewers, entered a team into both the Men's QBL and Women's QBL. The women's team saw immediate success, winning the inaugural championship before going on to win six titles in the competition's first seven seasons, including winning five in a row between 1988 and 1992. The Brewers women went on to finish as runners-up in 2000, before
1998-409: The intensity of this rivalry has declined. The two clubs remain some of the most successful in the NBL with four championships for Adelaide and ten for Perth, and are first and second on the all-time wins list (748 wins for Perth, 692 wins for Adelaide as of 20 May 2021) and have also matched up on more occasions (134 times total; Perth leading all time between the two 73 – 61) than any other two teams in
2052-542: The key, Blakemore back handed Cattalini, giving the Wildcats forward a large cut on his mouth that required 15 stitches. Blakemore was suspended for Game 2 in Perth as the Wildcats swept the 36ers 2–0 before going on to defeat the defending champion North Melbourne Giants (who had swept Adelaide in 1994) 2–1 in the Grand Final. In an ironic twist, Cattalini would join the 36ers in 1996 and later went on to win two championships with
2106-413: The late 1980s and early 90s and had several marquee players with excellent match-ups, the three most notable all involving American imports: Al Green (Adelaide) vs Cal Bruton (Perth), Mark Davis (Adelaide) vs James Crawford (Perth) and Bill Jones (Adelaide) vs Tiny Pinder (Perth). Games during this era were rarely blowouts and helped to fuel the rivalry. Adelaide won the 1986 NBL Championship over
2160-606: The league became known as the Queensland Australian Basketball League (QABL). Around this time, the QABL set up a division system to separate the north and south teams within the state: the Sunstate (North Queensland) and Southern Cross (South Queensland) divisions. Following the 2006 season, the QABL restructured the competition, which saw the two divisions combining to have a statewide league of only one division for
2214-426: The league. In the 2023–24 season , one million fans attended NBL games for the first time since 1996. Since the 2009–10 season , each team has played 28 games during the regular season, 14 home and 14 away. The regular season starts in early October and ends in mid February. In the 2020–21 season , each team played an extra 8 games (36 games) due to the newly formatted NBL Cup tournament. The following season
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2268-476: The play-in tournament. The third seed will play the fourth seed for third spot and the loser will play the winner of fifth or sixth for the fourth seed. In the 2020–21 season , the NBL introduced the NBL Cup which is a 36-game mid-season competition. Each game would contribute to each team's regular season record. In the 2021–22 season , the NBL returned to their normal format of 28 games. The league may return
2322-754: The season. Adelaide and Perth play for the Cattalini Cup named for Perth born Martin Cattalini who won two championships with each club. In each game, the game MVP is awarded with the Paul Rogers Medal named for Adelaide born centre Paul Rogers who made his NBL debut for the 36ers in 1992 and later joined Perth, winning 2 championships and the NBL MVP award in 2000 while with the Wildcats. Cairns Taipans vs Townsville Crocodiles A local derby-style rivalry nicknamed "Reptile Rumble" has developed to determine which
2376-434: The summer season (October–April). The shift, which is currently used by the league, was an attempt to avoid competing directly against Australia's various winter season football codes . Officially the NBL is Australia's third oldest continuing national sporting competition after the domestic cricket competition (which commenced its first season in 1892) and Australian Football League (which commenced its first season in 1897 as
2430-451: The three matches advances to the Grand Final. The winner of Series 1 plays the winner of Series 2 in the best-of-five Grand Final series, with home advantage being awarded to the highest remaining seed. The winner of this series is crowned as NBL champion. In the 2022–23 season , the NBL introduced play-in games . The top two seeds in the regular season will automatically qualify to the semi-finals. Teams ranked three to six will compete in
2484-466: The three previous semi-final meetings, they then faced off in their first ever Grand Final series which saw the Wildcats emerge with their record 6th NBL championship with a 2–1 series win. This was one of the most anticipated series in NBL history, not only given the two clubs' long-standing rivalry, but also due to the post-game on court 'brawl' which took place following their Round 18 clash in Perth earlier in
2538-487: The two clubs met in the 1986 NBL Grand Final , the first NBL GF to be played over a 3-game series. An Australian indoor sports attendance record of around 11,000 saw the first game of the 1986 series played at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre with Adelaide, who had a 24–2 record for the season , winning 122–119 in overtime. Brisbane then handed Adelaide its only home loss of 1986 (the 36ers had gone 13–0 at
2592-509: The viability of a team from Japan participating in the NBL. Adelaide 36ers vs Brisbane Bullets Arguably the NBL's oldest rivalry started in 1985 when the Brian Kerle coached Bullets defeated the Ken Cole coached 36ers 121–95 in the 1985 NBL Grand Final , the last single game Grand Final in NBL history. From 1985 to 1987, the Bullets and 36ers were the two dominant teams in the NBL and
2646-475: Was a renewed interest in the sport, with it being described as being the National Basketball League's greatest ever period. 2016–17 set a new attendance record for the league, with the figure being matched the following year, as well as the Grand Final series for the 2017–18 season. In 2018, the S.E. Melbourne Phoenix were announced as the latest club to join the league, and started competing in
2700-488: Was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic , with the Queensland State League (QSL) taking its place for a shortened season. The Capitals men led by Jason Cadee and Jarred Bairstow defeated RedCity Roar in the grand final to claim the 2020 QSL championship. In 2024, the Capitals men reached the NBL1 North grand final series, where they lost 2–0 to the Mackay Meteors. NBL1 North NBL1 North , formerly
2754-570: Was formed. In 1979, the association entered the Brisbane Bullets into the inaugural National Basketball League (NBL) season. In 1982, the association entered the Brisbane Blazers into the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). In 1984, the organisation was incorporated and became Brisbane Basketball Incorporated. The Bullets were sold in 1991, while the WNBL license was relinquished in 1995. 1986 saw
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#17330861419282808-460: Was short lived, soon folding 3 years later after the 2008–09 season in which they were NBL champions. In the 2006–07 season, the NBL became the first Australasian sporting league to field a team from Asia with the Singapore Slingers playing. The Gold Coast Blaze also joined the competition in the 2007–08 season . In 2007, Australian NBA player Andrew Bogut suggested the NBL try to adopt
2862-460: Was the NBL MVP in 1986 and 1987 (and player of the match in the 1985 GF) while Mark Davis was the Grand Final MVP in 1986 and shared the NBL MVP award with Loggins in 1987 . The Rivalry between the two clubs again reached fever pitch in the mid-1990s when Bullets guard Shane Heal earned the ire of the Adelaide crowd during Game 3 of the 1994 Elimination final series when he gave the crowd at
2916-466: Was won by the Perth Wildcats. the Wildcats have won each semi-finals series played between the two (1987, 1989 and 1995 ). The 1995 series proved to be one of the most volatile and controversial due to an incident between 36ers forward Chris Blakemore and Perth's Martin Cattalini in Game 1 in Adelaide. Under instructions from coach Mike Dunlap to basically belt the next Perth player to go through
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