The formula behind the Sixers' historic season

The Hungry Jack’s NBL26 Season was one of the biggest in recent memory for the Adelaide 36ers.

From four extra Ignite Cup games and the in-season tournament Final, to eight Playoff games, the 36ers played a total of 42 games during the 2025-26 campaign.

Impressively, despite the increased schedule, the Sixers only had games missed by their top 11 players all season, two of which were through suspension.

As such, Adelaide played in 99.13 per cent of their possible matches.

The mastermind behind this incredible figure was Adelaide’s Director of Health and Performance, Tristan Chai, who spoke with Pete Hooley recently on a special episode of NBL Now.

“We're really proud of how we approached this season and the results that we had,” Chai said on NBL Now.

“It's easy in our department to sometimes see the doom and gloom overall, but we did a really good job this year.

“We were lucky to get some really good results, [and we] wanted to reflect and share that with the world, now that the season's over.

“[Because at the end of the day] the best ability is availability, and we wanted to make sure our top 11 players were available week in, week out.”

While the team from the City of Churches took to the court more than anyone else, their success wasn’t luck, rather strategically planned out.

“[Honestly] it was a scary season to approach because it had more games than ever in the regular season,” he said.

“Not only that, though, [because] having a Wednesday game in the schedule changes your whole training week.

“We were a bit worried going in, and then in the end, our team ended up playing more games than anyone else.

“[Upon reflection] one thing we did really well was create that space where they [the players] were comfortable coming to us with anything. They knew that, as a department, we're always full of ideas and ready to roll things out, whatever they needed.

“This year probably was largely how do we get enough recovery into these guys, with the schedule rather than how much training we get into them.

“Then with the coaching staff, it's a similar conversation, it's like, what can we get out of these guys, this session, and what can we not get out of them.”

Heading into the NBL27 season, the 36ers, who are on the lookout for a new coach following Mike Wells’ departure, have Bryce Cotton, Zylan Cheatham, Flynn Cameron, Isaac Humphries, Bul Kuol, Isaac White, and Ben Griscti under contract.