Team-By-Team: The NBL’s New Year’s Resolutions

With the calendars changing over to 2026, NBL expert Pete Hooley outlines one New Year's resolution for each of the 10 teams in the Hungry Jack's NBL.

Star in your role

They’re one of the hottest teams in the competition and they’ve given themselves the best chance of winning a championship since they fell short in the 2018 series against Melbourne.

With Bryce Cotton playing at his usual MVP level, the rest of the 36ers team are filling in the pieces around him and this team is firing on all cylinders.

The key now is to make sure those complementary pieces continue to star in their roles and do what the team needs to reach the ultimate goal.

Every championship won is built on sacrifice and if this 36ers team can continue to do that, they’ll give themselves every chance.

Lock the next coach in and stand by them

The Brisbane Bullets have been through an extensive list of coaches since the 2021 season and after Stu Lash stepped down two weeks ago, it’s time for some stability.

While the front office has preached that they are completing a worldwide search for their next leading man, perhaps they should at least give interim coach Darryl McDonald the rest of the season to audition for the role.

Whichever direction they choose to go for the future of their club, the most important aspect is that they back them in and give them a chance to build from the ground up.

That includes working through adversity and tough times, as success isn’t built overnight.

The Bullets fans want to see this club reach its full potential and that is going to come over time and slowly building something special together.

Develop the future pieces

What has been another disappointing year for the Cairns Taipans, they’re getting close to that point in the season where it’s eyes for the future.

With just Reyne Smith (team option) and Jack McVeigh (mutual option) on the roster for next season, the rest of this Taipans team are free agents.

That means that the remaining portion of NBL26 can be used to see what young pieces you want to keep and build with going forward.

Whether that includes trying to entice star big man Sam Waardenburg to stay around, or it’s getting Mojave King’s signature, there are plenty of options on the table.

Aussie Tyler ASAP

It has been a rough season for the reigning champions, who have battled through injuries and poor form to sit outside the playoff picture.

If there is one certainty that this team needs going forward, it’s to do all they can to get Tyler Harvey naturalised as soon as possible.

Being able to marquee their star import and franchise piece will only open the door of possibilities for what this team can build around in the near future.

There’s no doubt that Harvey is a leader of this club, having fought through the lowest of times to bring the club a championship two years later.

Regain the defensive identity

Dean Vickerman is one of the greatest coaches the league has ever seen, and a large part of his philosophy is built on the defensive end.

After beginning the season with nine straight wins, this United team has struggled to find its form and are leaking points at an alarming rate.

Having lost five of their last seven games, United have allowed an average of 95.3 points per game to be scored against them, all while they try and figure out their offensive issues as well.

That’s one aspect of the game that Vickerman is profound in executing, that during offensive dry spells his team locks up defensively to stay competitive.

Naturalise PJC

Similar to Illawarra and Tyler Harvey, the quicker that New Zealand can get Parker Jackson-Cartwright naturalised, the more options they have in building this team.

While this isn’t necessarily in their control, what they can do now is begin to plan on what a future with a marquee Jackson-Cartwright will look like and what three imports they want to put around their star guard.

At just 30-years-old, that’s an exciting prospect to think about what they could look like over the next few seasons.

We’ve already seen examples of what teams can do when an import becomes a local and the pieces they can put around and contend for a championship, and the Breakers could be next on that list.

Solve the PG riddle

While the Perth Wildcats have multiple concerns and questions right now, their biggest dilemma is getting consistent production at the point guard position.

Losing Jaron Rillie for a significant portion of the season was far from ideal, but putting the hopes of their season on a development player is a tough ask.

While David Duke Jr is out with injury, the Wildcats just need to find a solution in this position some way, somehow.

That could mean going all in with Rillie, sprinkled in with some backup minutes from Kristian Doolittle handling the ball, or going out and finding the perfect piece.

The next few weeks for the Wildcats will potentially be the make or break.

Make the Championship Series

The South East Melbourne Phoenix have made their intentions clear and with the recent addition of Ian Clark, they’re going all in.

Under Josh King, this Phoenix team has become one of the best defensive teams in recent history, which translates to success in the NBL.

Now they’ve gone out and added a proven winner and playmaker in Clark to give Nathan Sobey a bit of help in that regard.

While this club lost a heartbreaking semi-final series to Melbourne United a few years ago, they have never had a better opportunity to win it all than they do right now.

Maintain this level

While the NBL season is relatively short in terms of being six months of the year, it feels completely different when you’re in the heat of battle for 33 games.

Throughout the season, each team faces different lows and highs to work through, in an effort to try and peak by the business end.

The Sydney Kings won just three of their first eight games and the outside noise got louder and louder until they began to hit their stride.

The Kings are the hottest team in the league right now and the next challenge for them is to stay at this level until the Finals and beyond.

The league’s best defence, combined with Kendric Davis’ superb offensive talents, and this team is flying.

Rebuild the nest

Since Tasmania entered the league, MyState Bank Arena has been a fortress and a place where teams would fear traveling to, because the JackJumpers went to another level defensively and physically in front of their fans.

Unfortunately, this season has been anything but a happy home for Scott Roth and his team, having won just three of 11 games in Tasmania to this point.

While some of those were played regionally, the point still stands that the JackJumpers become their toughest when they are taking care of business in front of their fans.

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