Next Star shows he's the NBL's next star with 24 and 12

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NBL Next Star Dash Daniels ($115,000) arrived as Perth continued to wait for former NBA veteran Brandon Knight ($277,000).

Both players had a major impact on South East Melbourne Phoenix's 100-79 opening-game win against the Wildcats on the road at RAC Arena on Saturday, September 19, 2026. Daniels in Perth and Knight not (yet).

"I just tried to start the game off being aggressive and rebounding," Daniels, 18, said after scoring 24 points and pulling down 12 rebounds in 28:35 minutes, both career highs.

"The whole off-season I've been trying to work on my offensive game, be aggressive and, for me, it's just that confidence part, being able to get downhill and make plays.

"Just being aggressive."

Wildcats head coach John Rillie downplayed the impact of not having a bona fide floor leader when the Phoenix made a game-breaking run in the fourth quarter to blow it out.

"I've got to coach the team that I have available," Rillie said.

"As a group, we can only manufacture what we can with the bodies available.

"As you saw tonight, we had some periods where we functioned great. But then there were moments where having a point guard who understands what the game needs in that moment would be helpful.

"But that's not who we are, so we need to forge ahead, continue to grow and move forward. Different guys get different experiences in understanding what this is about."

Knight, 35, signed with the Wildcats last week and is yet to arrive in Western Australia.

But it was all about Daniels' breakout after leaving Melbourne United in the off-season and signing with crosstown rivals South East Melbourne Phoenix.

Daniels' NBA star brother Dyson revealed the Next Star had spent the off-season in Atlanta working on his game and, evidently, his body. Dash looks stronger and more physical.

Phoenix head coach Josh King said: "Obviously, I got a really good opportunity to watch him play a lot last year, and I think you just said it.

"He's the type of player who can do really well in our system, getting up the floor.

"I'm being tongue-in-cheek here a little bit, it's not always going to be 24 and 12, but this is something we expect from Dash night in and night out: being a menace on defense, hitting open shots and just having fun out there.

"It was really good to watch."

What you need to know

• South East Melbourne Phoenix beat Perth Wildcats 100-79 at RAC Arena in the NBL27 opener.
• Perth led 24-19 after the first quarter and trailed by only three at the last change before the Phoenix won the fourth 35-17.
• Dash Daniels posted career highs of 24 points and 12 rebounds in 28:35 on 9/13 shooting.
• Perth were beaten on the glass 35 to 30 and turned it over 16 times to the Phoenix's 12.
• Nathan Sobey did not travel with lower back soreness and Brandon Knight has not yet arrived in Australia.

Perth Wildcats

• Kristian Doolittle ($317,500) top-scored with 25 points, six rebounds and seven assists, and was minus 30.
• Jo Lual-Acuil Jr ($318,100) had 20 points and eight rebounds but went 6/11 from the free-throw line.
• Elijah Pepper ($202,700) scored 19 on 6/17 shooting, including 4/14 from three.
• Jesse Wagstaff ($84,700) was the only other Wildcat in double figures with 11 off the bench.
• Perth shot 10/31 from three and 15/25 at the line.

South East Melbourne Phoenix

• Tanner Krebs ($150,300) led all scorers with 25 points on 10/17, hitting five of his eleven three-point attempts.
• Daniels added 24 and 12, and was plus 18 in his first game for the club.
• Skylar Mays ($277,000) had 16 points and six assists.
• Angus Glover ($191,700) contributed 10 points and four rebounds off the bench.
• Jordan Hunter ($224,800) was plus 23 in 19 minutes, the best mark on the floor.

Phoenix shooting guard Nathan Sobey ($379,600) didn't travel to Perth because of lower back soreness. It meant more minutes for Daniels, and now King has a challenge to keep both in the rotation.

King said Sobey was "50-50" to play against the Tasmania JackJumpers in Hobart on Monday, September 21, 2026.

"There are no secrets," King added.

"We want to have a deep team because of the style we play. You can't just play with six or seven guys, so we need a deep team.

"I'm a big believer that if you dress 12 guys, all 12 guys have to be ready to go.

"I don't believe in three or four guys getting to do everything and the other guys not getting to do something.

"The strength of the team will hopefully be the strength of the team.

"If they keep working hard, sticking together and being each other's biggest supporters, by the end of the year we'll have a lot of different guys who have a special night. That's usually how it goes.

"Sobs was out tonight, and we need Sobs. Obviously, he's one of the best players in the league, but it's a next-man-up mentality. It's a team game."

King is right, but the Wildcats showed it needs a true point guard when the pressure ramps up down the stretch.

"We had good moments where we competed and wrested some momentum off them," Rillie said.

"But what they're known for, they ended up just wearing us down over the course of the game.

"That's why the score ended up being the way that it became.

"We fought, and we competed, but we saw what South East is about. They just wore us down over the course of 40 minutes."

Rillie needs Knight yesterday (literally). His arrival can't come soon enough.