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13
Sep
Pre-season Blotter
$76,500 Taipan just embarrassed NBL27's premiums
Cairns Taipans guard Shaun Bruce drives to the basket during the NBL27 Blitz game against the Perth Wildcats at Red Energy Arena in Bendigo on September 2, 2026. Photo: Morgan Hancock/Getty Images for the NBL.
Seventeen pre-season games, two in Okinawa, and a $76,500 guard leading every premium in our table.
- Cairns beat Brisbane 129-98 and Tasmania drew 98-98 with Sydney on September 12
- Shaun Bruce returned 53.6 projected points per $100,000, the best figure of the pre-season
- SuperCoach NBL News, Rankings, Strategy and Cheapie Bible
Seventeen club pre-season games, 15 of them with a full box score. Every SuperCoach figure below is ours, not official SuperCoach NBL points.
THE LEDGER
- September 12: Cairns Taipans 129 def Brisbane Bullets 98. Quarters 28-31, 21-36, 23-29, 26-33. University of Sunshine Coast.
- September 12: Tasmania JackJumpers 98 drew Sydney Kings 98. Quarters 21-21, 28-31, 24-25, 25-21. Hutchins School, Hobart.
- September 10: New Zealand Breakers 90 def Melbourne United 86. Quarters 24-25, 22-28, 24-20, 16-17. MSAC.
- September 10: Perth Wildcats 110 def Ryukyu Golden Kings 82. Okinawa Suntory Arena. No box score in the NBL feed.
- September 8: New Zealand Breakers 103 def South East Melbourne Phoenix 100. Quarters 32-25, 27-27, 26-24, 15-27. Montmorency Secondary College.
- September 8: Perth Wildcats 98 def Chiba Jets 45. Okinawa Suntory Arena. No box score in the NBL feed.
- August 29: Melbourne United 113 def Cairns Taipans 97. Quarters 26-15, 31-28, 27-25, 29-29. Casey Stadium.
- August 27: Cairns Taipans 99 def South East Melbourne Phoenix 95. Quarters 22-27, 30-30, 27-29, 16-13. State Basketball Centre.
- August 22: Perth Wildcats 102 def Cairns Taipans 87. Quarters 37-21, 26-27, 23-25, 16-14. Karratha Leisureplex.
- August 22: South East Melbourne Phoenix 91 def Melbourne United 89. Quarters 15-24, 26-19, 19-27, 31-19. State Basketball Centre.
- August 22: Brisbane Bullets 127 def NBL1 North Select 81. Quarters 31-17, 37-14, 25-26, 34-24. Southern Districts.
- August 19: Cairns Taipans 91 def St Mary's College 79. Quarters 20-14, 27-15, 21-27, 23-23. Cairns Basketball.
- August 16: South East Melbourne Phoenix 86 def St Mary's College 64. Quarters 20-15, 18-18, 27-12, 21-19. State Basketball Centre.
- August 14: St Mary's College 85 def Sydney Kings 72. Quarters 22-20, 17-20, 14-25, 19-20. Hoops Capital East.
- August 13: Illawarra Hawks 95 def St Mary's College 78. Quarters 18-16, 21-19, 30-22, 26-21. The Snakepit.
- August 9: Melbourne United 83 def B League United 68. Quarters 27-19, 18-24, 14-15, 24-10. Courtside Melbourne.
- August 6: South East Melbourne Phoenix 113 def B League United 60. Quarters 34-13, 28-20, 20-11, 31-16. State Basketball Centre.
THE SUPERCOACH BLOTTER
Pre-season: top projected SuperCoach NBL scores against NBL opposition
Club pre-season fixtures, 22 August to 12 September 2026 · ranked on the projected score · 10 rows
Not official SuperCoach scores. SuperCoach NBL does not score the pre-season, so these are not official SuperCoach scores and no pre-season performance changes a price or a point. basketball.com.au calculates them from the official box score on SuperCoach's published scoring table: the player's points, plus one per rebound, two per assist, three per steal, three per block, minus two per turnover, plus five for a double-double or 10 for a triple-double. The first SuperCoach NBL lockout is Saturday 19 September 2026. Prices are the 1 September 2026 pull.
| Angus Glover | 52 | $191,700 | Melbourne United | 22 August | 30.9 | 23 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cole Anthony | 46 | $300,000 | Cairns | 29 August | 24.2 | 27 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| Keanu Pinder | 44 | $300,000 | Perth | 22 August | 27.3 | 17 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
| Skylar Mays | 42 | $277,000 | New Zealand | 8 September | 31.3 | 19 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Luke Travers | 42 | $292,900 | SEM | 22 August | 27.8 | 14 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Skylar Mays | 41 | $277,000 | Cairns | 27 August | not supplied | 19 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| Shaun Bruce | 41 | $76,500 | SEM | 27 August | 22.3 | 12 | 5 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Jaylin Williams | 41 | $277,000 | Cairns | 12 September | not supplied | 17 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| Nate Hinton | 39 | $277,000 | Cairns | 12 September | 30.3 | 24 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Taran Armstrong | 38 | $304,700 | Sydney | 12 September | 31.1 | 20 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Projected SuperCoach scores from pre-season games against NBL opposition. SuperCoach NBL does not score the pre-season, so every figure here is ours, worked out from the stat line beside it. None of it moves a price or a point.
How these scores are worked out, and what they are not
How each score is built. Points, plus one a rebound, two an assist, three a steal, three a block, minus two a turnover, then five for a double-double or 10 for a triple-double. Keanu Pinder, Luke Travers, Shaun Bruce earn the double-double bonus here.
Where the numbers come from. The scoring lines are basketball.com.au’s own, taken from these games rather than handed to us by the league. Every score here has been worked out a second time from the line printed beside it, and the two agree. Two rows reached us without a minute count and say so rather than showing a zero.
The names link, the prices do not move. Every name goes to that player’s SuperCoach profile. The prices are a fixed snapshot taken at the 1 September 2026 pull and are deliberately frozen: the first lockout is Saturday 19 September 2026 and nothing in the pre-season changes a price, because the pre-season is not scored.
Personal fouls score nothing in SuperCoach NBL, neither for nor against. A player can appear more than once, because this ranks PERFORMANCES rather than players.
Where the numbers come from. The scoring lines are basketball.com.au’s own, taken from these games rather than handed to us by the league. Every score here has been worked out a second time from the line printed beside it, and the two agree. Two rows reached us without a minute count and say so rather than showing a zero.
The names link, the prices do not move. Every name goes to that player’s SuperCoach profile. The prices are a fixed snapshot taken at the 1 September 2026 pull and are deliberately frozen: the first lockout is Saturday 19 September 2026 and nothing in the pre-season changes a price, because the pre-season is not scored.
Personal fouls score nothing in SuperCoach NBL, neither for nor against. A player can appear more than once, because this ranks PERFORMANCES rather than players.
- Best single game against NBL opposition, per $100,000: Shaun Bruce 53.6, Jack McVeigh 10.3, Nathan Sobey 7.9, Parker Jackson-Cartwright 4.2.
- Three of the top four value figures belong to Cairns, and Lloyd McVeigh at $58,500 holds three of the top seven.
- Twenty-seven players who took the floor are not in the SuperCoach register at all, including Kings roster man Lachlan Bofinger and Cairns big Kobe Williamson.
- Four projected scores went negative across the 15 games, two of them against NBL opposition: Izayah Le'Afa minus one and Kyrin Galloway minus one. The worst was Lloyd McVeigh's minus four against St Mary's on August 19, 18.6 minutes for no points and four turnovers. He went 27 and 25 in his next two.
- Eight double-doubles across the 15 games, four of them against NBL opposition, and no triple-doubles. William Hickey's 19p 11r 7a against St Mary's was the highest projected score of the pre-season at 55.
- Best projected team totals in a single game against NBL opposition: Cairns 217 against Brisbane, Melbourne United 206 against Cairns, South East Melbourne 191 against New Zealand.
Pre-season value: projected SuperCoach NBL points per $100,000
Club pre-season fixtures against NBL opposition · minimum 10 minutes played · ranked on the rate · 10 rows
Not official SuperCoach scores. SuperCoach NBL does not score the pre-season, so these are not official SuperCoach scores and no pre-season performance changes a price or a point. basketball.com.au calculates them from the official box score on SuperCoach's published scoring table: the player's points, plus one per rebound, two per assist, three per steal, three per block, minus two per turnover, plus five for a double-double or 10 for a triple-double. The first SuperCoach NBL lockout is Saturday 19 September 2026. Prices are the 1 September 2026 pull.
| Shaun Bruce | 53.6 | $76,500 | 41 | 22.3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lloyd McVeigh | 46.2 | $58,500 | 27 | 23.3 |
| Lloyd McVeigh | 42.7 | $58,500 | 25 | 27.5 |
| Will Johnston | 42.0 | $69,000 | 29 | 20.4 |
| Shaun Bruce | 36.6 | $76,500 | 28 | 23.0 |
| Malith Machar | 33.3 | $69,000 | 23 | 24.3 |
| Lloyd McVeigh | 30.8 | $58,500 | 18 | 17.1 |
| Walter Brown | 30.4 | $69,000 | 21 | 33.1 |
| Ben Gold | 30.4 | $69,000 | 21 | 24.3 |
| Tom Wilson | 30.4 | $69,000 | 21 | 25.6 |
How the value column works. A player’s projected score divided by his price, shown per $100,000 spent. It answers who is cheap and producing, which a score column on its own cannot. Minimum 10 minutes played.
How this table is built, and why the minutes matter
Each row is one performance, not one player. A player who rated well twice appears twice, and the rows are ranked on the rate rather than grouped by name.
Why the minimum is there. A short cameo produces a spectacular rate and means nothing, so the minutes are shown rather than just promised. Every row here cleared 10 minutes.
The names link, the prices do not move. Every name goes to that player’s SuperCoach profile, and the prices are a fixed snapshot taken at the 1 September 2026 pull. That is deliberate: the left-hand figure is worked out from the price beside it, so a price that changed itself would leave the rate wrong while still looking right. Nothing in the pre-season moves a price in any case, because the pre-season is not scored, and the first lockout is Saturday 19 September 2026. Prices here run from $58,500 to $76,500.
The companion table, top projected SuperCoach scores against NBL opposition, ranks the same performances on the raw score instead.
Why the minimum is there. A short cameo produces a spectacular rate and means nothing, so the minutes are shown rather than just promised. Every row here cleared 10 minutes.
The names link, the prices do not move. Every name goes to that player’s SuperCoach profile, and the prices are a fixed snapshot taken at the 1 September 2026 pull. That is deliberate: the left-hand figure is worked out from the price beside it, so a price that changed itself would leave the rate wrong while still looking right. Nothing in the pre-season moves a price in any case, because the pre-season is not scored, and the first lockout is Saturday 19 September 2026. Prices here run from $58,500 to $76,500.
The companion table, top projected SuperCoach scores against NBL opposition, ranks the same performances on the raw score instead.
THE INCIDENT LOG
- RETURN Kendric Davis ($436,000) landed in Australia on the morning of September 12 after a passport administration issue that cost him the entire Blitz.
- OUT Keli Leaupepe ($145,200) out for the season with an ACL injury to his right knee, suffered playing NBL1 for the Knox Raiders. Second consecutive season lost to the same knee.
- OUT Josh Bannan ($317,500), Ben Ayre ($117,700), and Bryce Hamilton ($293,100), all missing for Tasmania in the September 12 draw.
- OUT Sam McDaniel ($127,600), and Taine Murray ($99,700) missing for Brisbane on September 12.
- OUT Jaylin Galloway ($196,400), Kyrin Galloway ($176,000), Shaun Bruce ($76,500), Sunday Dech ($69,000), and Luke Paul ($115,000) all missing for Cairns on September 12, and Cairns still won by 31.
- OUT Jaron Rillie ($177,100), and Jesse Wagstaff ($84,700), missing for both Okinawa games. Perth are also still to sign a third import.
- RETURN Dylan Windler ($271,100) returned for the Chiba Jets game and scored 18 with four three-pointers against Ryukyu two nights later.
- PRICE Jo Lual-Acuil Jr ($318,100), 27 points in 16:55 against Chiba and 29 in 24 minutes against Ryukyu, on 12/15 and 13/16 shooting.
- PRICE Shaun Bruce ($76,500) averaged 28.0 projected across three games against NBL opposition, against an NBL26 SuperCoach average of 7.37.
- PRICE Angus Glover ($191,700) averaged 44.5 projected across two games against NBL opposition, against an NBL26 average of 18.48.
- ROLE Will Johnston ($69,000), tied the scores at the buzzer in Hobart and returned 29 projected in 20.4 minutes.
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