Knox Raiders: Where winning never sleeps

• Knox Raiders are the back-to-back defending NBL1 national men's champions
• Head coach Matt Nunn has built individual, week long training schedules for each player
• Personalised strength programs have increased the vertical leap of multiple players

In a part-time league, the Knox Raiders operate like a full-time powerhouse. Winning isn’t a weekend pursuit, and they’re proving it one championship at a time.

The reigning back-to-back NBL1 men’s national champions are building an empire; one founded on hard work. Surrounded by elite facilities in Melbourne’s south-east, and guided by head coach Matt Nunn, the Raiders have found and fiercely committed to a winning formula.

Leaving the Competition Behind

The Knox Raiders are doing something unseen to reach the summit of the NBL1, leaving their competition in the dust as they play catch-up.

The club has adopted a full-time schedule for their players, allowing them access to state-of-the-art facilities at the Knox Regional Sports Park, including the State Basketball Centre.

Within a week that’s dominated by four-days of buildup to game day on the weekends, each player’s training regime is meticulously planned, informed by an abundance of data.

“We’re trying to win, we’re not there to just make up the numbers,” Nunn said.

“We’re not there to train twice a week and have a good time… what we’re trying to do is get those outcomes of winning.”

Nunn, as a businessman and founder of Nunn Media, has been driven by success and high standards for two decades in the corporate world. These results have been underpinned by the people alongside him, a concept he has transferred to his basketball ventures.

When accepting the Knox coaching job in 2022, Nunn had a clear vision of setting and maintaining high standards. In pursuit of this, he sought the services of skills trainer Sinisa Markovic, strength and power coach Chris Povey, and performance nutritionist Caitlin Lewis, who have all proven to be key facilitators of Knox’s prosperity.

Powering Success

Povey, working with high level athletes for more than a decade, has clients such as Collingwood All-Australians Nick and Josh Daicos, is embedded in the Knox program, and is available at the beck and call of Knox basketballers.

Povey said when long-time acquaintance Nunn called three years ago, there was no hesitation in becoming a part of the project.

“There’s something about having an influence over an entire group and then seeing a team result on the back of that, that can be really, really rewarding,” Povey said.

Povey’s training matches Nunn’s philosophy: physical dominance, defensively and on the glass. This partnership that has ended up being a perfect match, which has Nunn leading the best defensive and rebounding team in the nation.

This was proven in their 17-point win against the Dandenong Rangers on May 17, 2025, led by a fourth quarter performance conceding only 10 points, with four of the five starters logging at least six rebounds by game’s end. Knox followed that up with a seven-point win against Frankston — 97-90 — in round 8 on Friday, May 23, 2025 and two days later a 103-76 demolition of Waverley Falcons on May 25.

Knox are two games clear at the top of the South Conference with a 10-1 record.

“The faster you can run, the higher you can jump, and physically, the more powerful you are defending, you’re going to be a better player,” Nunn said.

“It’s the best cheat code and I don’t think many coaches value what correct power and speed training can do for a basketballer in the NBL.”

Smart Training, Smart Results

Povey and Lewis are on-site two to three times a week at the State Basketball Centre, while also monitoring athletes’ data remotely via an app. Povey’s toolkit combines force plates, velocity devices, and jump mats, with integral movements such as box jumps and squats.

But it’s the use of their equipment that raises the ceiling for how Knox can perform.

Povey details the power and strength training Knox undertake is auto-regulated — meaning the intensity of training is adjusted to how athletes feel physically and mentally, catching fatigue before it becomes an issue. This is critical as most sessions are conducted during the season, amidst a heavy match load.

Povey starts his sessions with an initial test of three jumps using force plates. How an athlete’s force is applied dictates the session they will undertake, allowing both unfamiliar and seasoned participants in the program to push to their limits while avoiding burnout.

“When they can handle that stress in a controlled environment, in the gym, and we can raise that standard and get those numbers, they’re not only moving and performing better, but they’re just pulling up better,” he said.

“When everyone else is dropping off, maybe they’re not training at the same intensity, we’re more prepared than we were at the start [of the season] and then that sort of showcases in itself.”

Jumping to New Heights

This improvement has been apparent beyond their national championship triumph, with some of the NBL talent of their roster experiencing a sizeable increase in their jumping ability this season.

“At the moment we have multiple guys with a 40-inch vertical in the team. At the start of the season, those 40-inch jumpers were probably around anywhere from 34-37,” he said.

Nunn said 29-year-old Tad Dufelmeier, contracted with the NBL’s Cairns Taipans, is one who has strongly benefitted.

“Tad Dufelmeier has extraordinary genetics, but he hasn’t just trained this way. I think on his last jump it was a PB — a 42-inch vertical,” he said.

“His mass to power ratio, I think he’d be probably one of the number one athletes in Australia.”

Povey agreed: “He’s doing some of the freakiest things I’ve seen, he’s been like a sponge to this training stimulus.

"He just keeps getting better really quickly and noticeably so that’s one player to keep an eye on.”

Leaving Nothing on the Table

Performance analytics drive everything at Knox. Nunn and Povey are in constant contact to track players’ progression and recognise areas of improvement for players on the roster.  

“I own a lot of different businesses, and I guess whether it’s in the corporate world, or on the basketball court, we’re trying to get the best out of our people,” Nunn said.

“Setting goals, and updating where you are against those goals, I think is very important.”

In Povey’s view, this helps drive standards, key in an environment like Knox where both NBL veterans and youngsters are on the roster.

“A lot of guys when they do train and they’re not measuring, the biggest thing there is they’re leaving five percent on the table with their intent all the time,” he said.

“When you’re getting direct feedback on how fast you move something it tells you whether it’s fast enough and that’s the motivation you need to move faster. These guys are ultra-competitive… and that’s the perfect driving force.”

This eagerness to improve has encouraged players to go above and beyond. The Raiders head coach had praise for the playing group for buying into the coach’s philosophy and taking the extra step, refining their game outside of full-time hours.

“On top of the stuff we’re doing, I think Keli [Leaupepe] is shooting anywhere from two to four thousand shots a week on top of everything … Brody [Nunn]’s probably shooting around three thousand shots a week,” he said.

Leaupepe has profited especially, scoring above 20 points in half of his appearances so far in his 2025 NBL1 campaign.

With cases like Leaupepe’s helping reinforce belief in their processes, finding players with a similar work ethic is a key part of Knox’s recruiting strategy.

“We only take on guys that fit into our culture,” the two-time championship coach said. “If they’re not in line with what we’re trying to do, then we make pretty quick calls on people.”

A Nutritional Advantage

Beyond on-court activities, Nunn found nutrition to be another overlooked frontier that Knox have used to gain an extra edge.

“What we found is most of the athletes, even the NBL full-time athletes, weren’t fully informed when it came to understanding nutrition and calorie requirements,” he said. “Some of the guys were consuming about 2500 calories, that’s way too low — they should have depending on the workday, four to five thousand calories a day.”

Knox alum and Melbourne United wing Kyle Bowen put on three to five kilos of muscle during the 2024 season and Nunn said he benefitted not only at his NBL club, but in the NBL1, averaging a double-double in the 2024 season.

Povey said it filtered down into strength and power training, as Lewis provided players with nutritional programs that helped inform the way training sessions were structured.

“Once they start to learn how to fuel themselves, obviously they’re going to perform better, which is the goal,” he said.

“They’re going to recover better and it’s going allow them to come and train with me and put in more work which is always a win.”

A Destination Club

The success of the program that Knox has built is making waves beyond the scope of the NBL1, as it becomes highly sought after for NBL talent.

“I think I had 13 NBL guys approach, but we’d already made our signings … some of the coaches are trying to put guys [who need to work on something] with us because they know our program and what we do,” Nunn said.

“We’re trying to help guys improve their game, so they can take the next step.”

Povey suggests that the accommodating nature of the Raiders is a major drawcard for athletes.

“We’re trying to lead the way in that [professional standards] aspect — a lot of athletes we find that come through are quite surprised,” he said.

“They are very interested in coming to play because they feel like they’re getting a really good service they probably wouldn’t get anywhere else from professionals that they probably wouldn’t get the chance to work with.”

In an NBL1 article, 2025 recruit Sunday Dech shared how he fell under this bracket.

“They’re very well resourced in terms of taking care of your body… which was going to be an emphasis of mine this offseason, just having a few injuries this past season,” he said.

“So, when I talked to ‘Nunny’ [Matt Nunn], he explained what they were about and it’s everything that I was looking for in a club to come and be a part of.”

The Next Generation

Knox have also established a reputation as a team that gives youngsters opportunity, serving as a pipeline for Australian talent to display their worth toward college scouts.

Australian national junior representative Ryder Cheesman is the latest in a growing list of Knox talents to commit overseas, with fellow national juniors Henry Sewell and Harrison Beauchamp the next in line.

With strong pathways in the Knox area and a deep Victorian talent pool, Nunn claims this has boded well for the franchise that will continue to nurture rising stars, with multiple teenagers playing a large part in their championship wins.

“In 2023, we had two 18-year-olds (Bailey Nunn and Austin Rapp) in the starting five that won a national championship,” Nunn said.

“I think you’ve got to give the kids an opportunity.”

While the Raiders head coach says he’s doing all he can do give such talent a platform to showcase their ability (which has paid off), he thinks Australian basketball is falling short, emphasising a need for more promotion of these youngsters.

“You’ve got to coach kids, that’s the art of coaching, getting them better,” he said.

“There’s a tendency to go with the ready-made instead of giving kids opportunities, and fundamentally that’s the biggest issue I see moving forward, which is restricting our development as a nation.”

Extending the Pipeline

As a way of introducing and developing an interest in basketball in the Knox area, Raiders players are regularly sent out to domestic competitions as they sign autographs and hand out flyers.

Whilst Knox preaches winning, Nunn says being present in the community is just as valuable for the short and long-term future of Knox basketball.

“At the end of the day, that’s what basketball is about,” he said.

“It’s a grassroots sport, from domestic to rep, and we’re the pinnacle of the pathway in the local association that the kids are striving to be.”

Chasing Another Gear

While Nunn is satisfied with the Raiders’ high-flying start that sees them atop of the NBL1 South division at 10-1, Nunn is leaving the door open for the ladder leaders to climb to new heights.

Nunn cites a squad overhaul and injury as the reasons the Raiders may have a new tier to unlock, with imports such as NBA vet Norvel Pelle currently on a minute restriction.

“I don’t think we’ve had the consistency of the group being together at the moment,” he said.

“In 2025, I think we’ve only got two guys back from the [2024] team.”

Despite not being at full strength, the head coach was clear in what he was after: an NBL1 South division championship, and a third consecutive national title – and he isn’t interested in making excuses.  

Povey says if the Raiders continue to be consistent with their process, these goals are achievable.  

“I think when you can be that precise and put in that much care, you’re going to get the result come your way.”