5
Aug
World Cup
Rollers name 12 for Ottawa and a brutal pool
Australia's Tom O'Neill-Thorne celebrates with teammate Eithen Leard after their semi-final victory against Scotland in the Commonwealth Games wheelchair basketball tournament at the SEC Centre in Glasgow, Scotland, on July 29, 2026. Australia advanced to the gold medal game. Photo: James Fearn/Getty Images
10 return from Asia Oceania gold and three arrive straight off Commonwealth Games gold in Glasgow.
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Australian Rollers head coach Brad Ness has named his 12 for the 2026 IWBF World Championships in Ottawa, and drawn a pool he says he would have asked for, alongside Argentina, Türkiye and Great Britain.
The tournament runs from 9 to 19 September.
Ten of the 12 return from the side that won gold at last year's Asia Oceania Zone Championships. Sam White and Eithen Leard, both Paris Paralympians, complete the squad.
"We love a challenge, that's why we play basketball, to play against the best teams," Ness said.
"We will need to get off to a good start and if we do that then it sets us up nicely for the back end of the tournament.
"Our mentality is we need to beat everyone if we want to win the World Cup, so at some stage you are going to have to beat the best teams in the world. This time around, we just need to do it from the first game."
Ness, a Basketball WA Hall of Famer who captained the Rollers to gold in Beijing and silver in London before taking the job in December 2023, says the roster is deeper than the one he took to Paris.
"We have a great mix of youth and experience now after having six new players at the Paris Paralympic Games in 2024. The new players have all now played another 40-plus games as Rollers.
"Depth is the main strength to this group; we run 12 deep and have players that can either interchange one for one during the game or fit into specific line-ups that can change the style of play that we are looking to implement on the fly."
Three of the 12 arrive straight off a gold medal.
Leard, Tom O'Neill-Thorne and Luke Pople were three quarters of the 3x3 Wombats side that beat England in the Glasgow final at the Commonwealth Games on 29 July.
Our own tournament figures from Glasgow put numbers on what Ness is describing. O'Neill-Thorne led all four Australians with 31 points and 31 rebounds across five games, and handed out 18 key assists. Leard scored 25, hit double figures in the gold medal game itself, and finished with a plus-31, the best mark in the squad. Pople had 16 points, 14 rebounds and 13 key assists.
Ness singled Leard out.
"Eithen has been working on his game over the last two years under the guidance of the national coaches and we saw first-hand at the Commonwealth Games the improvements he has made in the areas required.
"He is an X factor coming off the bench that I think every team in the world would love to have and will only add to the high-intensity game style we now play."
White returns from injury.
"Sam is a veteran and knows exactly what his role is coming back after injury and he will fit straight back in and can assist the team in a few different line-ups. He brings security in the low-point category."
The Rollers finished seventh at the 2023 World Championships. Ness says the program that turns up in Ottawa is not the same one.
"This group has really bought into the style we want to play, high-intensity transition basketball building pressure for every second of the game.
"We have a saying, 'TNT', Takes No Talent, which relates to all things on and off the court that any player can do like loose ball gets, picking up after yourself, extra free throws at practice, and they have really bought into this which has strengthened our culture and accountability to making sure we are the best versions of ourselves and the best version of the Rollers that we can be."
Wollongong Roller Hawks supply five of the 12, more than any other club.
Australian Rollers, 2026 IWBF World Championships
- Jaylen Brown (Red Dust Heelers)
- Jontee Brown (Wollongong Roller Hawks)
- Steven Elliott (Wollongong Roller Hawks)
- Phil Evans (Wollongong Roller Hawks)
- Tristan Knowles (Wollongong Roller Hawks)
- Bill Latham (Manly Wheel Eagles)
- Eithen Leard (Southern Districts Spartans)
- Tom O'Neill-Thorne (Manly Wheel Eagles)
- Frank Pinder (Perth Wheelcats)
- Luke Pople (Wollongong Roller Hawks)
- Jeremy Tyndall (Red Dust Heelers)
- Sam White (Manly Wheel Eagles)
Key Details
- Tournament: 2026 IWBF World Championships, Ottawa, Canada, 9 to 19 September.
- Pool B: Australia, Argentina, Türkiye, Great Britain.
- Head coach: Brad Ness.
- Last World Championships: seventh, 2023.
What's Next
The Rollers open in Ottawa in Pool B. The tournament overlaps both the Opals' FIBA World Cup in Berlin, which runs 4 to 13 September, and the closing weeks of the WNBA regular season.
