Cap, Captain & Chaos: Master SuperCoach NBL

• Ten players, four guards, four forwards, two centres, all under a $2 million cap.
• Blocks and steals score three, the same as a three-pointer. Fouls score nothing.
• Two trades a round, four Trade Boosts a season, first lockout 19 September.

$2 million salary cap, 10 players, and more selection headaches than Australian Boomers coach Adam Caporn and Australian Opals coach Sandy Brondello combined: that's SuperCoach NBL Classic.

You are the SuperCoach; it's your team, and you are responsible for building it from the ground up before the first "Lock Out" on September 19, 2026 at 7.30pm AEST when Melbourne United host the Adelaide 36ers in the first game of NBL27.

How to sign up for SuperCoach NBL

Go to SuperCoach NBL: if you've already signed up, sign in, and if you're new to SuperCoach NBL, create an account. It's FREE to play.

Follow the prompts to create your team name, choose a logo, and select your preferred team colours. There are loads of options (the uglier the better, we say).

Picking your first SuperCoach NBL team

Simple, start building your team. Every player has a value, and every team requires four (4) guards, four (4) forwards, and two (2) centres: five (5) starters and five (5) on the bench.

But here's the catch: you can only spend $2M or less, so loading up with six-time MVP Bryce Cotton ($473,900), two-time MVP runners-up Kendric Davis ($436,000), New Zealand Breakers guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright ($405,200) and Cairns Taipans superstar Jack McVeigh ($349,800) will soak up $1,664,900 of your cap on just four players.

Fear not, you don't have to be an accountant; SuperCoach NBL tracks your team value, and changes to your team before the first lockout are limitless until you get the team you want … under the salary cap. Real-world roster-building meets Fantasy Salary Cap.

But during the season, SuperCoaches can make only two trades per round, which means form and injuries become title-winning factors unless you pull the trigger on a Trade Boost.

SuperCoaches can make a third trade (Trade Boost) at any time, but only four times during the season.

How SuperCoach NBL scoring works

Your SuperCoach NBL Team accrues points based on how the real players you have selected perform on the court for their respective teams.

SuperCoach NBL Scoring Explained

• Two-point Field Goal = 2 Points
• Three-point Field Goal = 3 Points
• Free Throw = 1 Point
• Rebound = 1 Point
• Assist = 2 Points
• Block = 3 Points
• Steal = 3 Points
• Turnover = -2 Points
• Double Double = 5 Points
• Triple Double = 10 Points (supersedes Double Double)
• Your captain, which you choose every week, is awarded double their score.
• Players on your bench contribute 50% of their overall individual SuperCoach totals to your team's weekly points total, with any half-point rounded up.
• Personal fouls do not accrue positive or negative points.

For example, Bryce Cotton's five-game series against the Sydney Kings in the NBL26 Grand Final Series would have been scored like this (double if he was your captain):

Bryce Cotton v Sydney Kings — what each game scored

5 games · NBL26 Grand Final series · 217 SuperCoach points, 43.4 a game

What drives it The other stats All

Swipe the table sideways for more →

Game	PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL	TO	PF	BONUS	SC
Game 1Mar 21 · 32.1 min	10	3	7	0	2	4	2	—	25
Game 2Mar 27 · 39.6 min	28	6	6	0	3	5	1	—	45
Game 3Mar 29 · 39.5 min	15	3	12	1	1	5	3	+5	43
Game 4Apr 1 · 40.0 min	19	5	12	0	0	2	1	+5	49
Game 5Apr 5 · 45.0 min	35	4	9	1	1	4	4	—	55
Series	107	21	46	2	7	20	11	+10	217

Every SuperCoach point Bryce Cotton scored in the NBL26 Grand Final series, traced to the stat that earned it. The figures are recomputed from the box score and match the score the game itself published, in all 5 games and across the series.
SuperCoach does not follow the scoreboard. Game 2 was his 28-point night and scored 45. Game 4, with 19 points, scored 49 — 9 fewer points, 4 more SuperCoach points. He had 12 assists to 6, and two turnovers to five.
BONUS is the double-double: two categories at 10 or more, worth 5. A triple-double is worth 10.
Shooting percentages are left out on purpose. SuperCoach pays each made shot its scoreboard value, so the shooting half of the score is simply the points column; the percentages never enter it.

Where the 217 points came from

NBL26 Grand Final series · five games · every scoring rule in the game, applied

Swipe the table sideways for more →

What he did	Count	Worth	Points	Share
Scoring	107	2, 3 or 1	+107	49.3%
Rebounds	21	1 each	+21	9.7%
Assists	46	2 each	+92	42.4%
Blocks	2	3 each	+6	2.8%
Steals	7	3 each	+21	9.7%
Turnovers	20	−2 each	−40	−18.4%
Personal fouls	11	nothing	0	—
Double-doubles	2	5 each	+10	4.6%
SuperCoach total	—	—	217	100%

The same five games, grouped by what earned the points. The rows add to 217, which is the series total in the table above.
Playmaking, not scoring, was his SuperCoach engine. 46 assists paid 92 points, 42.4% of his total, against 107 from everything he scored himself.
And turnovers are the tax. 20 of them cost 40 points, wiping out 18.4% of what he earned. A turnover costs more than a rebound gains.
A block and a steal are each worth 3, the same as a three-pointer, and an assist is worth the same as a two-point basket. That is why defensive guards and playmakers score better here than a points-per-game read suggests.
Fouls do not score at all. They cost nothing in SuperCoach NBL, which surprises most readers coming from another code.
Shares are rounded to one decimal place and may not add to exactly 100. Scoring rules are the published SuperCoach NBL mechanics.

• When an NBL team plays twice in a round, it means two opportunities for your player(s) and captain to score more points than a single game. Understanding "Double-headers" is key to beating your friends or winning some cash.
• On the flipside, if you select a player who doesn't play, it's no points, nor mercy.

SuperCoach NBL squad structure: four guards, four forwards, two centres

Every SuperCoach NBL team must have the correct number of players in each position from any of the 10 NBL clubs.

• 4 x Guards
• 4 x Forwards
• 2 x Centres

Captain and Vice-Captain: how double points work

Choose a Vice Captain (VC) every week as well as your Captain (C). If your captain is a late-out and doesn't play, or you forget(!!), the captaincy is shifted to the Vice Captain and the same double-points system applies.

The $2 million salary cap explained

The only way you can save and enter your team is if it has 10 players and is on or under the $2M Salary Cap. Before the first Lockout, incomplete teams can be saved while you're making your selection decisions.

Explore the Player lists by position, price and team in the panel on the right-hand side of the SuperCoach NBL interface and click on them to add them to your team.

SuperCoach NBL will track your team's total cost and alert you if you exceed the salary cap. It's a hard blocker.

Auto-Emergency Player

If one of your starting five does not play and scores 0, SuperCoach covers you automatically. You do not have to do anything, nor do you have to name an emergency in advance.

One bench player is promoted for that round. Instead of the usual 50 per cent, they contribute 100 per cent of their points.

The player promoted is the lowest-scoring player on your bench who has actually scored. A bench player who did not play cannot be promoted, because a score of 0 makes them ineligible.

Two limits worth knowing. You get one auto-emergency per round, regardless of how many of your starters miss. And no more than five players can ever contribute 100 per cent of their points in a round.

Auto-emergency: a worked example

Say one of your starting five is a late withdrawal and scores 0. Your bench scores 40, 32, 28, 15 and 0.

Normally the bench would give you half of each score, with any half-point rounded up: 20, 16, 14, 8 and 0, for 58.

The auto-emergency promotes the 15, because it is the lowest score above zero. That 15 now counts in full rather than as 8, so your bench gives you 65. The player on 0 is not eligible, and the 40 is not promoted, because the rule takes the lowest, not the highest.

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FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions

SuperCoach NBL: your questions answered

44 questions · Everything the official rules actually say, in the order you will need it

Getting started

Is SuperCoach NBL free to play?

Yes. Create an account, name your team, pick a logo and colours, and start building. It costs nothing to enter.

How many players do I pick, and in what positions?

Ten. Exactly four guards, four forwards and two centres, from any of the ten NBL clubs. Five start and five sit on the bench. The game will not let you save a squad that breaks the position counts.

What is the salary cap?

$2 million. Every player carries a price and the whole ten has to fit under it. It is a hard blocker, not a warning: an over-cap team cannot be entered. The game tracks your team value as you build.

When does my team lock in?

The first lockout is Saturday 19 September 2026 at 7.30pm AEST, when Melbourne United host the Adelaide 36ers to open NBL27. Until then you can change your team as many times as you like, and save an incomplete one while you are still deciding.

How scoring works

How do my players score points?

Off what they actually do on the floor:

• Two-point field goal 2
• Three-point field goal 3
• Free throw 1
• Rebound 1
• Assist 2
• Block 3
• Steal 3
• Turnover −2
• Double-double 5
• Triple-double 10

A triple-double supersedes the double-double rather than adding to it, so it is worth 10, not 15.

Do personal fouls cost me points?

No. Fouls score nothing in SuperCoach NBL, either way. They are not a negative and they are not a positive, so a player in foul trouble only hurts you through the minutes he loses, never through the fouls themselves. This one is worth saying out loud because it is absent from the scoring table rather than listed at zero, and readers arriving from SuperCoach AFL or NRL usually assume it costs them.

Does that mean the best scorers make the best picks?

No, and this is the single most useful thing to understand. A block and a steal are each worth 3, the same as a three-pointer and more than a two-point basket. An assist is worth the same as a two-point basket. A turnover costs more than a rebound gains. Defensive guards and playmakers score better here than a points-per-game read suggests.

What does my captain do?

You choose a captain every week and they are awarded double their score. It is the biggest single lever you pull each round.

What is the vice-captain for?

Insurance. Pick a vice-captain each week as well. If your captain is a late out and does not play, or you simply forget to set one, the captaincy shifts to your vice-captain and the same doubling applies.

What if my captain AND vice-captain both do not play?

You miss out on double points for that round. There is no third fallback.

One of my players scored negative points. What happens?

It counts, in full, towards your team total. And if that player was your captain or vice-captain, the negative score is doubled too — the multiplier works both ways.

The auto-emergency does not rescue you here either. It only triggers for a starter who does not play and scores 0, which a negative score is not.

How do bench players score?

Your five bench players contribute 50% of their points. Where halving leaves a half-point, that player’s score is rounded up.

What is the auto-emergency, and do I have to set one?

You do not have to do anything, and you do not name one in advance. If a player in your starting five does not play and scores 0, one bench player is automatically promoted for that round and contributes 100% instead of 50%.

The player promoted is the lowest-scoring bench player who actually scored. That is the opposite of most fantasy games, and it is deliberate. A bench player who did not play cannot be promoted, because a score of 0 makes them ineligible.

You get one auto-emergency per round however many of your starters miss, and no more than five players can ever contribute 100% in a round.

Can you show me the auto-emergency with numbers?

One of your starting five is a late withdrawal and scores 0. Your bench scores 40, 32, 28, 15 and 0.

Normally the bench gives you half of each, rounded up: 20, 16, 14, 8 and 0, for 58.

The auto-emergency promotes the 15, because it is the lowest score above zero. It now counts in full rather than as 8, so the bench gives you 65. The player on 0 is not eligible, and the 40 is not promoted, because the rule takes the lowest, not the highest.

What happens when a club plays twice in a round?

You get the cumulative score from all of that club’s matches in the round. Two games is two chances for a player, and for your captain, to score. Reading the double-headers is one of the real edges in the game.

Do Ignite Cup games count?

Yes. Ignite Cup games are included in SuperCoach NBL rounds. They are regular-season fixtures rather than extras, so they count like any other game, and they change which rounds are genuinely doubles.

What if one of my players does not play at all?

No points, and no mercy. If a club has no game in a round, its players score nothing. If a starter does not play and scores 0, the auto-emergency covers you for one of them.

Running your team

How many trades do I get?

Two per round. Plus a third, a Trade Boost, which you can use on up to four occasions across the season, whenever you choose. With trades that tight, form and injuries decide seasons.

Do player prices move?

Yes. Values are calculated from real-life statistics and rise and fall as the season goes on, so a cheap player who performs is an asset twice over.

The icons on your team screen

What do the letters beside each player mean?

They are the team editing controls:

• S substitute a player out of or into your starting five
• T trade the player
• C make the player your captain (2x points)
• V make the player your vice-captain (2x points if your captain does not play)

What do the status symbols beside each player mean?

They tell you whether a player is available before you commit to them:

• Reported injured
• Subject to a fitness test
• Suspended
• Selected in the match-day squad
• Not selected to play in the upcoming week
• Has a bye next round
• Locked and cannot be edited, because the match or round has started
• No longer in the NBL
• May play in multiple matches this round, if selected for one or more

The last one is the one that wins rounds: it flags a player whose club has a double-header.

Research and tools

Where do I find the stats to pick a team?

The Player Research Centre. It is built for both jobs: choosing your initial squad, and every substitution and trade decision after that.

What can I do with the player rankings?

Sort and filter the whole player pool. You can view stats up to any round of the competition, see round-by-round scoring, and filter by club, position and price range.

There is a summarised view and a comprehensive one, the second carrying every stat and fantasy score the competition uses.

Which sort options are actually worth using?

Three that tell you what other coaches cannot see at a glance:

• Most popular, as selected by other SuperCoach NBL coaches, which is how you find a point of difference by avoiding it
• Who’s Hot, the most improved players
• Gone Cold, those in a scoring slump

The last two can be read for the season to date or for the last round only.

What is on a player profile?

Click any player’s name anywhere in the competition, or use the player search, for a full in-game statistics summary and round-by-round graphs.

You can add any player to your watchlist and follow them from your team screen.

How will I hear about injuries and late changes?

Player Notes and Alerts. When there is something you need to know about a player, a short note is posted rather than leaving you to find it in a news article. A note indicator appears next to that player’s listing whenever a new one goes up.

What does SuperCoach Plus add?

Projections, break-evens and advanced data, available alongside the standard rankings.

Leagues

How many leagues can I be in?

Up to 20 private or public mini-leagues, all off your single team entry. Unless you joined by invitation, you are automatically added to a head-to-head public league when you sign up.

What is the difference between head-to-head and an open league?

A head-to-head league has its own fixture: you are matched against another team each round, and you win if you outscore them. The ladder ranks on win-loss record, then on percentage or total points.

An open league has no fixture and no size limit. Everyone is ranked on total points, which suits an office or club competition.

What is the difference between a public and a private league?

A public league is head-to-head and auto-fills to 16 teams. You cannot invite anyone to it.

A private league is yours to run: choose head-to-head or open, invite whoever you like, and add any of the available Experts to play against. As administrator you can also remove teams, up until the league is finalised.

When does my league start, and who plays who?

16-team head-to-head leagues, which is every public league and any private one of that size, begin in Round 2 and every team plays every other once, through Rounds 2 to 16.

8-team head-to-head leagues, private only, begin in Round 3 and every team plays every other twice, through Rounds 3 to 16.

Can I set up a league my own way?

Yes. A custom head-to-head league lets you set the size from 6 to 20 teams, choose the starting round, pick the finals format from Top 5, Top 6 or Top 8, choose whether to play through or skip bye rounds, and decide whether percentage or total points breaks a tie on the ladder.

How do league finals work?

Every head-to-head league plays a four-round finals series over Rounds 17 to 20, whichever of the Top 5, 6 or 8 formats you chose. Depending on league size the bottom half may also play a secondary finals series. Every finals series ends with a final in Round 20, while the regular season competition runs to Round 21.

Why does my draw look uneven?

Custom league settings, or joining the game in a later round, can produce an uneven draw: you might play some teams once, others twice, and some not at all. That is expected rather than a fault.

How do I compare against everyone, not just my league?

Your single team is ranked in several competitions at once: against all of Australia, against coaches in your own state or territory, and against the other supporters of your club.

How are the club and state rankings worked out?

On the average score of the entrants in each club and state league, not on totals, so a club with more coaches has no built-in advantage. There are tables for both, so you can see where your club and your state sit against the rest.

There is also a ranking of the best performing private and public leagues in the competition.

What can I do on the rankings screen?

Sort the top overall rankings by total score up to any completed round, or by that round’s score alone for any completed round. You can filter to one club’s supporters, or to a state of origin.

When is my place in a league locked in?

Teams are entered provisionally and finalised at the league’s starting round. You can leave or switch leagues any time up to that league’s first rolling lockout; once it is finalised, that league cannot be changed.

What happens if my team is incomplete when a league starts?

You lose your place. Your team must hold a full 10 players at the starting round’s rolling lockout to remain in a league. Incomplete teams are removed without notice and replaced permanently, in public and private leagues alike, so the league can start on time.

What if the league itself is not full?

It is merged with another league, or filled with random teams, and then finalised. Anyone already in it with a complete team stays where they are.

Scores and timing

Can I follow my score during the round?

Yes. Live scoring runs during the round for your own team and for your league opponents.

When are scores final?

Usually a few hours after the last game of the round, once everything is processed and confirmed.

Because of the volume of statistics involved, delays happen. Allow up until 3.00pm east-coast time on the day after the round finishes before treating a score as wrong. That is AEST for the opening fortnight and AEDT from 4 October, when daylight saving starts.

When can I edit my team for the next round?

As soon as the round’s scores are final. Processing closes the round and reopens the competition for editing.

Prizes

What can I win?

$10,000 to the overall winner, and $500 to the highest-scoring team in every round.

Every answer here is the published rule, not a summary of one. Scoring, squad structure, the salary cap, the bench, the auto-emergency, trades and prizes come from the official SuperCoach NBL game mechanics; the captain and vice-captain, the Ignite Cup ruling, price movement and the lockout come from the official How to Play guide.
Tap a question to open it. The list works without JavaScript, so it opens and closes even if nothing else on the page has loaded.
Prices move through the season, so any figure quoted in an article is a snapshot with a date on it.