The journeyman behind NBL1 North's giant killers

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Just like his team's road to the NBL1 North grand final series, Ipswich Force coach Colby Stefanovic's path to success as a coach hasn't been easy.

Now only 80 minutes away from becoming a champion, Stefanovic's five years as an NBL1 head coach has been full of ups and downs but it's a journey which has made Ipswich's fairytale run to face the Gold Coast Rollers in a three-game series this weekend even more enjoyable.

The Force had an inconsistent regular season, just squeezing into the NBL1 North playoffs with an 8-8 record, despite boasting a roster headlined by stars including former NBA guard Lamar Patterson, Brisbane Bullets starter Sam McDaniel and former NBL talent Lachlan Anderson.

But Ipswich have caught fire in the playoffs, upsetting the Sunshine Coast Phoenix in round one before taking down the previously undefeated Cairns Marlins in the semi-final to book their spot to face the Rollers for their second title since 2023.

Stefanovic's path has been somewhat similar.

After being an assistant for Ipswich and Gold Coast for six seasons, the former state league player got his opportunity to lead a team with the RedCity Roar in 2022. However, the Roar found themselves out of the NBL1 North competition at the end of the 2023 campaign. He then took over the North Gold Coast Seahawks for the 2024 season, but again, found himself looking for a new coaching job after the club left the league after his one season in charge.

Those roadblocks led Stefanovic back to a place he knew well - the Ipswich Force.

And while they missed out on the finals in 2025, he has them playing their best basketball at the right time of the season and in with a chance of coming from sixth spot to become chamnpions, if they can take down a Gold Coast team with former Australian Boomer Anthony Petrie at the helm.

"Some would say I have been a journeyman... I have learnt a lot at all my stops with some challenging seasons of not winning a lot of games but knew that my time would come where I could really show my ability to coach at this level with the right group," Stefanovic told basketball.com.au.

"I can’t thank the club and the group and also my family enough for allowing me to go on this journey.

"It hasn't been easy, especially for my amazing wife Chelsea, who does all the things in the back ground for me to go out and coach so to also share the success right now with her has been really special."

While the Force have missed the services of former NBL1 North MVP in McDaniel, Anderson and Patterson have gone to another level in the playoffs and with skipper Jason Ralph and star role players around them, Ipswich are playing inspired basketball.

Stefanovic said his team felt they could always make a run at the title and taking on three of the the league's top four teams in the closing rounds helped prepare them for the playoffs.

"We felt like we had a very up and down season with guys not being fully healthy and guys coming in and out of the line-up, which forced guys to change their roles game to game, we knew if we could get some consistent game time together on the floor we could make a run at it," he said.

"The last few rounds of the regular season we played three of the top four teams in Logan, Cairns and Gold Coast, we were up in all of those games and lost all of them but felt that if we could make a few adjustments we would be right there to win it all so gave us confidents that we were on the right track.

Their memorable playoff run started with a dominant win over the Sunshine Coast Phoenix, which provided the Force with the belief they needed to take on the competition heavyweights.

"(The win against the Phoenix made us) hugely confident, to beat a team that has been in the top four all season long and made a semi-final the year before was massive for the group," Stefanovic said.

"We had belief that if we played to our strengths and could limit their transition game and make it a half court grind we would have a good shot at winning the game.

The Force then recorded arguably one of the biggest upsets in NBL1 North history, beating the Marlins on their home floor, after the north Queensland side had won 16 straight games.

"Cairns have been the benchmark all year long so we knew it was going to be a massive task to try and beat them on their home floor, but for sure we definitely have the underdog mentally of going into the game of lets just stick to our process keep the score close and see if we can put some pressure on them late in game," Stefanovic said.

"As the game went on, the group felt that we were right where we needed to be to make a push and we were lucky enough to get over the line.

"Figuring out our Identity of who we are as a group, understanding what our tempo is and sticking to our processes and being locked in on the scout and just fully committing and understanding on what we are prepared to give me as a group and riding it home has been the key in this run."

Ipswich's recent red-hot form has been sparked by the career-best form of Anderson and also the leadership of Patterson - two players who can take over a game and instil fear in opponents down the stretch of games - as they did against the Marlins last week.

"(Anderson's) self-belief is out of this world," Stefanovic said.

"He has so much confidence in himself and the work he puts in that he isn't afraid of the moment. We back him and his ability 100% and I think that has pushed him to another level and for him hopefully he can get another opportunity at the NBL level.

"I have said it a few times that (Patterson) is the ultimate closer... you wouldn't want anyone else to have the ball down the stretch. We have such confidence when he has the ball, not that he is going to hit the big shot, but he makes the right basketball play every time and our group plays with more confidence as well knowing that he can release that pressure."

The Force are preparing for a grand final series probably no one, except for themselves expected them to be in and Stefanovic said his team had the Ipswich community behind them but know it will be their toughest task of the playoffs to take down the Rollers on the Gold Coast.

"It has been a crazy week, I guess sometimes you don't realise how much a team makes an impact on a community and that amount of support we have received has been unbelievable," he said.

"It didn't really sink in to me until after a few days had gone by and I stepped back and said to myself that we are really here and just enjoy the moment because you don't know when and if you will be back in this position again.

"To win another championship for this club would be amazing, the community and support we have is second to none and they deserve to have continued success.

"Besides Cairns being undefeated during the regular season, I thought Gold Coast were right up there with their play as well.

"Peach is such a great coach and leader of men he gets the best out of every player he has involvement with and gets his group buying in to the style and system he puts in and they flourish.

"The challenges they present is they are a up-tempo offensive unit that can put points on you in a hurry.

"They have multiple weapons from the outside in Preston (LeGassick) and Boston (Mazlin), they have a great post target inside with Jensen (Bradtke) who can also step out and shoot the ball at a high rate. They have Defensive Player of the Year in Jimmy Whitt, who is such a unique player in the league he is a crazy ability to get to his spots and shoot his mid-range jumper at high efficiency, then they have great role players who just do all the little things that make this team go.

"It’s going to be a massive task to try and beat them two out of three games but we are up for the challenge."

The 2026 NBL1 North men's grand finals series will be decided over three games, starting on Friday night at The Southport School.