{"id":298545,"date":"2025-11-21T04:31:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T04:31:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/298545\/"},"modified":"2025-11-21T04:31:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T04:31:09","slug":"nbl-2025-latest-injury-and-team-news-casualty-ward-shea-ili-suffers-setback-will-magnay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/298545\/","title":{"rendered":"NBL 2025 latest injury and team news, casualty ward, Shea Ili suffers setback, Will Magnay"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the NBL season rolls on, teams across the league are dealing with a growing list of injuries that continue to shape rotations, challenge depth, and influence early-season momentum.<\/p>\n

From long-term setbacks to short-term absences, several clubs are navigating significant blows to key players – including season-ending injuries, surgical recoveries, and multiple athletes targeting returns after the FIBA break.Here\u2019s the latest comprehensive update on every team\u2019s injury status heading into the next phase of NBL26.<\/p>\n

Watch live coverage of NBL 2025-26 season with ESPN on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.
<\/a><\/p>\n

ADELAIDE 36ERS<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

1. Ben Griscti | 211CM | 120KG | CENTRE | 23 YRS<\/p>\n

Injury: Neck <\/p>\n

Current status: Out for the season. <\/p>\n

Notes: During the NBL Blitz, Ben Griscti suffered an unfortunate accident where a basketball ring collapsed on top of him, causing a fractured vertebrae. Although surgery was not required, he is not expected to play in NBL26.<\/p>\n

“This might be non-basketball related” | 00:46<\/p>\n

BRISBANE BULLETS<\/p>\n

1. Casey Prather | 198CM | 96KG | FORWARD | 34 YRS <\/p>\n

Injury: Knee<\/p>\n

Current Status: Out for the season. <\/p>\n

Notes: Casey Prather has been ruled out for the season after sustaining an injury against the New Zealand Breakers on November 12th – the injury required surgery on his right knee.<\/p>\n

2. Sam McDaniel | 198CM | 102KG | GUARD | 29 YRS <\/p>\n

Injury: Ankle<\/p>\n

Current Status: 1-2 weeks away.<\/p>\n

Notes: Sam McDaniel injured his ankle in his second game of the season. He received surgery on the 3rd October and the club has given him an 8-week timeline.<\/p>\n

CAIRNS TAIPANS<\/p>\n

1. Sam Waardenburg | 208CM | 100KG | FORWARD | 26 YRS<\/p>\n

Injury: Ankle <\/p>\n

Current Status: 2-3 weeks away.<\/p>\n

Notes: It has now been eight weeks since Waardenburg injured his ankle that required surgery. He has been back at training and looks like a return after the FIBA break is likely.<\/p>\n

2. Kody Stattmann | 196CM | 88K | FORWARD | 25 YRS<\/p>\n

Injury: Hamstring<\/p>\n

Current Status: 1-2 weeks.<\/p>\n

Notes: Kody Stattmann suffered a Grade 1 Hamstring Tear during Cairns\u2019 last game. He will miss round seven and be re-assessed post-round.<\/p>\n

3. Alex Higgins-Titsha | 202CM | 91K | GUARD | 25 YRS<\/p>\n

Injury: Hand<\/p>\n

Current Status: Out for the season. <\/p>\n

Notes: Alex Higgins-Titsha injured his hand in round six against Melbourne United and played through the injury. Adam Forde has now confirmed that the injury is much more serious and Higgins-Titsha will miss the remainder of the season.<\/p>\n

4. Reyne Smith | 188CM | 82K | GUARD | 23 YRS<\/p>\n

Injury: Foot<\/p>\n

Current Status: 2-3 weeks.<\/p>\n

Notes: Reyne Smith suffered a foot injury after Cairns\u2019 game against Tasmania – he is expected to return after the FIBA break.<\/p>\n

ILLAWARRA HAWKS<\/p>\n

1. Sam Froling | 213CM | 109KG | FORWARD | 25 YRS<\/p>\n

Injury: Achilles <\/p>\n

Current Status: Expected to return by February \u201826. (NO UPDATED)<\/p>\n

Notes: Sam Froling\u2019s last game was in Game 4 of the NBL Finals, where he unfortunately suffered a torn achilles just 8 minutes into the game. The early diagnosis saw that he would miss the entirely on NBL26. However, recent updates suggest he will in-fact suit up during the later stages of the season. We will keep you updated on any new information.<\/p>\n

2. Dan Grida | 197CM | 93KG | FORWARD | 27 YRS<\/p>\n

Injury: Concussion.<\/p>\n

Current Status: 1-2 weeks.<\/p>\n

Notes: On November 16th, Dan Grida suffered a head injury, which resulted in Concussion protocols by the team. He is set to return post-FIBA break.<\/p>\n

MELBOURNE UNITED<\/p>\n

1. Shea Ili | 184CM | 88KG | GUARD | 33 YRS<\/p>\n

Injury: Hamstring<\/p>\n

Current Status: 2-3 weeks<\/p>\n

Notes: Shea Ili just returned to action last weekend but has since re-injured his hamstring during a training session. The club has confirmed he will be out for 2-3 weeks.<\/p>\n

Shea Ili has been ruled out yet again with a hamstring injury.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS<\/p>\n

Currently no injuries.<\/p>\n

PERTH WILDCATS<\/p>\n

1. Jaron Rillie | 191CM | 75K | GUARD | 24 YRS<\/p>\n

Injury: Hamstring<\/p>\n

Current Status: 6-8 weeks.<\/p>\n

Notes: Jarron Rillie suffered a hamstring injury in a team practice session – the team has confirmed he will be out for up to 8 weeks.<\/p>\n

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX<\/p>\n

1. Hunter Maldonado<\/p>\n

Injury: Concussion<\/p>\n

Current Status: 1-2 weeks.<\/p>\n

Notes: Hunter Maldonado suffered a head injury on November 8th against Melbourne United – he will not return to the roster until after the FIBA break.<\/p>\n

2. Malique Lewis<\/p>\n

Injury: Pneumothorax <\/p>\n

Current Status: TBC<\/p>\n

Notes: Malique Lewis is suffering from Pneumothorax, a condition that the affects lungs.<\/p>\n

Malique Lewis of the Phoenix has been diagnosed with Pneumothorax.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n

SYDNEY KINGS<\/p>\n

1. Matthew Dellavedova | 193CM | 91KG | GUARD | 35 YRS<\/p>\n

Injury: Illness<\/p>\n

Current status: TBC<\/p>\n

Notes: Matthew Dellavedova fell ill prior to Sydney\u2019s match against Illawarra – there is no timetable on his return.<\/p>\n

2. Shaun Bruce | 192CM | 87KG | GUARD | 34 YRS<\/p>\n

Injury: Calf<\/p>\n

Current status: TBC<\/p>\n

Notes: Shaun Bruce injured his calf during a training session and missed round 9. There is no timetable on a return yet.<\/p>\n

3. Keli Leaupepe | 199CM | 111KG | FORWARD | 25 YRS<\/p>\n

Injury: ACL<\/p>\n

Current status: Out of the season. <\/p>\n

Notes: The Sydney Kings confirmed that Keli Leaupepe had torn his ACL during training on the 2nd September. He will not participate in NBL26.<\/p>\n

4. Jason Spurgin | 211CM | 102KG | CENTRE | 21 YRS<\/p>\n

Injury: Foot<\/p>\n

Current status: Out of the season. <\/p>\n

Notes: During a pre-season training session, Jason Spurgin injured his foot – which required surgery. He is out for the season.<\/p>\n

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS<\/p>\n

Will Magnay | 208CM | 111KG | CENTRE | 27 YRS<\/p>\n

Injury: Knee<\/p>\n

Current status: TBC<\/p>\n

Notes: Will Magnay is currently suffering bone bruising on his knee, which is a tough injury to heal. There is a chance he is out for the remainder of the season, but the team has confirmed he is a GTD this weekend.<\/p>\n

Will Magnay is expected to return this round.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n

2. Anthony Drmic | 198CM | 91KG | FORWARD | 33 YRS<\/p>\n

Injury: Back<\/p>\n

Current status: 3-4 weeks<\/p>\n

Notes: Anthony Drmic has been dealing with this back injury all season now. Scott Roth made comments that there is a chance he might miss the whole season, but for now he remains optimistic. <\/p>\n

3. Kobe Williamson | 198CM | 91KG | FORWARD | 33 YRS<\/p>\n

Injury: Back<\/p>\n

Current status: 3-4 weeks<\/p>\n

Notes: Anthony Drmic has been dealing with this back injury all season now. Scott Roth made comments that there is a chance he might miss the whole season, but for now he remains optimistic. <\/p>\n

4. Sean Macdonald | 203CM | 102KG | FORWARD | 23 YRS <\/p>\n

Injury: Foot<\/p>\n

Current status: 6 weeks.<\/p>\n

Notes: Kobe Williams has injured his foot during a training session. The club has confirmed that he will be out for up to 6 weeks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the NBL season rolls on, teams across the league are dealing with a growing list of injuries…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":298546,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-298545","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-basketball","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-basketball","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=298545"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298545\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/298546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=298545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=298545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=298545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}