How to watch & talking points: Tasmania v Melbourne

03 Jan 2026

tasmania jackjumpers

melbourne united

Fierce rivals, Tasmania and Melbourne, lock horns in a crucial clash at MyState Bank Arena.

Tasmania JackJumpers (6th) v Melbourne United (2nd)
Saturday, January 3, 8pm AEDT
MyState Bank Arena

How to watch‍

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Tickets

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Talking points

Hot and cold Tasmania
The JackJumpers have only won consecutive games at two different points of this season and need to try and find a way to replicate that if they want to solidify their playoff spot.

After their impressive win over the Phoenix, they lost a thriller to the Hawks and now welcome in a United team which is hungry to make amends for their last matchup.

Based on the up and down nature of Scott Roth’s team, they would back themselves to respond after a tough loss.

Chess game
The last time these teams met was anything but a close and exciting game, with Tasmania clamping down and demolishing United on their home floor.

With the season series split one game each, this next matchup will be a battle of two of the best coaches and their tactics.

Who will have the upper hand and utilise the game plan the best? Will we see some more Milton Doyle clutch shooting back in Tasmania?

What they're saying

JackJumpers coach Scott Roth on rebounding from Wednesday's loss to Illawarra:
"We played as hard as we possibly can and that's what we do every single night. We keep showing up and are in the fight, which is really pleasing.

"[The loss] is frustrating obviously, but we swung and maybe didn't execute quite as well in some situations there.

"Ultimately, they keep competing, which is fantastic in this short amount of time and all these games we got that are coming our way."

United coach Dean Vickerman on playing without star Finn Delany and Shea Ili:
“We’re building right now.

“We’ve got to try and win games without Finn (Delany) and Shea (Ili) at the moment and that's going to build really good depth within our squad.

“Once we get those two back, obviously our defence goes to another level.”