Canberra defend the men’s title as the sixth seed, the only club in Adelaide that won nothing in ’26

Six clubs play seven men’s games across three days in AdelaideCanberra defend the title as the sixth seed after missing an East finalThe top two after two rounds meet in Sunday’s championship game

‍Canberra Gunners open their defence of the NBL1 men’s national title against Rockingham Flames at 8pm ACST on Friday (tonight), seeded sixth and last of the six clubs in Adelaide.

They are the only club in the field that did not win anything to get here.

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basketball.com.au’s Bec Cole (It’s a Cole World) and podcast partners Jacinta Govind, Jake Burfitt and Christopher Caldicott are part of the commentary teams.

Every other club is here because it won something. Norths Bears took out the East and are seeded first, Forestville Eagles won Central, Rockingham won the West, Gold Coast Rollers won the North and Frankston Blues won the South. Canberra are here by right, as reigning national champions, after an early exit from the NBL1 East finals.

The numbers say the same thing the seeding does. Across the six clubs Canberra scored the fewest points a game at 83.33 and Gold Coast the most at 113.79, a gap of more than 30 points, and Canberra are last in the field for assists and field-goal percentage as well. Those are season averages across six different conferences, so they measure different competitions rather than a level playing field, but the spread is real.

Norths Bears open the whole tournament against Frankston at 4pm ACST, and Forestville play Gold Coast at 8:30pm.

Every club plays once on Friday and once on Saturday. The top two after those two rounds meet in the championship game at 1:30pm ACST on Sunday. There are no semi-finals.

Twelve teams, more than 120 players and coaches, and the first time the NBL1 National Finals have been held in Adelaide. Canberra, the Sunshine Coast, Joondalup and Melbourne have all hosted before.

Fixture

The full men’s program at the 2026 NBL1 National Finals, State Basketball Centre, Wayville, Adelaide: three on Friday, three on Saturday, one on Sunday. All 7 games are live and free on Kayo Freebies. Every tip-off is listed in both zones — Adelaide runs on ACST, thirty minutes behind the eastern states, so a 4:00pm tip-off in Adelaide is 4:30pm in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. The AEST column is calculated from the ACST time on every row rather than entered separately.

Season

Season averages for the 6 men’s teams at the NBL1 National Championships, supplied 17 August 2026. Tap any heading to sort. Canberra Gunners enter as reigning champion and arrive with the lowest scoring average in the field — 83.33 points a game against Gold Coast Rollers’s 113.79, a gap of 30.46 — and are also last for assists and field-goal percentage.

Road to the Nationals

Season averages for the 6 men’s teams at the NBL1 National Championships, supplied 17 August 2026. Tap any heading to sort. Canberra Gunners enter as reigning champion and arrive with the lowest scoring average in the field — 83.33 points a game against Gold Coast Rollers’s 113.79, a gap of 30.46 — and are also last for assists and field-goal percentage.