Tasmania JackJumpers: Five things you need to know

• The JackJumpers reached a grand final in their first season and won the title in their third
• They are the newest club in the NBL, entering in 2021-22
• NBL26 ended in the play-in after four players were lost for the season

The JackJumpers are the newest club in the NBL and have already won it. They reached the grand final in their first season, lost it, and won the championship two years later. Five seasons in, they have a winning record, a title, and a reputation built almost entirely on how hard they are to play against.

NBL26 SEASON SUMMARY

• Record: 14-19, finished 6th
• Play-in: lost to Melbourne United 68-82
• Head coach: Scott Roth
• Captain: Will Magnay

They were in the finals race in January and then lost half a team. It is the one season in the club's history that is best explained by its casualty list rather than its basketball.

THE INJURIES THAT ENDED NBL26

All of the following happened in January 2026, during the season, and none of it describes anyone's current fitness.

Captain and Boomers centre Will Magnay was ruled out for the rest of the season with an acute fracture of the second toe on his left foot, suffered in the fourth quarter against Melbourne United at HoopsFest in Perth on 17 January. He had been averaging 10.4 points, seven rebounds and 1.8 blocks.

Within the same week the club lost import guard Bryce Hamilton for the season with a knee injury, and Majok Deng indefinitely with concussion. Sean Macdonald had already missed the entire season with a knee injury.

Scott Roth talked about it after a 101-91 loss to Illawarra at MyState Bank Arena on 24 January.

"It's been an emotional 48 hours for this group," Roth said. "I was lucky enough when I started this franchise to build it, hopefully in a way that would weather a time like it is right now for us. The culture and the standards are the standards, and that's what we'll fall back onto."

Magnay's absence also created a roster problem. Tasmania could have applied for an exemption to add a replacement, but with three imports already on the books it would have had to be a local.

THE CLUB

• Home: MyState Bank Arena, Hobart, and the Silverdome in Launceston
• Founded: 2020, entering the NBL in 2021-22 as its newest club
• Owner: Altor Capital, majority owner since February 2025
• Chairman: Steve Old. Chief executive: Trent Jacobs
• Head coach: Scott Roth
• Captain: Will Magnay

The JackJumpers have played 146 regular season games for 76 wins and 70 losses, reached the finals in four of their five seasons, and won the championship in 2024.

The club changed hands in February 2025, when NBL owner Larry Kestelman sold a 51 per cent stake to the Brisbane private equity firm Altor Capital. ESPN reported the price as $35 million.

TEAM HISTORY

Tasmania entered the NBL in 2021-22 and won their first game, against Brisbane. They finished fourth at 17-11, beat minor premiers Melbourne United 2-1 in the semi-finals, and reached the grand final in their first season. Sydney swept them 3-0.

In 2022-23 they went out in a deciding semi-final game three to New Zealand.

Then 2023-24. Tasmania finished third at 16-12 and beat Melbourne United 3-2 in the Championship Series. Game three in Melbourne is the one everybody remembers: Jack McVeigh hit a shot from near half court to take a 2-1 series lead, and the JackJumpers closed it out in game five. McVeigh was Grand Final MVP, and the club had a championship in its third season.

The two seasons since have been harder. They missed the finals in 2024-25 at 13-16, and NBL26 ended in the play-in.

CLUB LEGENDS

Five seasons is not long, and the JackJumpers have retired no numbers.

Jack McVeigh is the one the club will build a statue to first. He hit the near half-court shot in game three of the 2024 Championship Series and was named Grand Final MVP, and he made the All-NBL Second Team the same year.

Milton Doyle is the only JackJumper to make an All-NBL First Team, in 2023, and made the Second Team in 2024. He left for Melbourne United.

Josh Adams made the All-NBL Second Team in the club's first season.

Will Magnay is the captain, a Paris Olympian and the club's starting centre.

Scott Roth has been the head coach since the club existed, which makes him the only figure who has been there for all of it.

HONOUR ROLL

• Championships: one, in 2024
• Grand final appearances: two, in 2022 and 2024
• Finals appearances: four, in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2026
• Regular season championships: none
• NBL Grand Final MVP: Jack McVeigh (2024)
• All-NBL First Team: Milton Doyle (2023)
• All-NBL Second Team: Josh Adams (2022), Milton Doyle (2024), Jack McVeigh (2024)
• Retired numbers: none

SEASON BY SEASON, THE WHOLE HISTORY

• 2021-22 4th 17-11 Scott Roth, lost the grand final 0-3 to Sydney
• 2022-23 4th 16-12 lost a deciding semi-final to New Zealand
• 2023-24 3rd 16-12 Scott Roth, NBL CHAMPIONS
• 2024-25 7th 13-16 did not qualify
• 2025-26 6th 14-19 lost the play-in to Melbourne United

Five seasons, 76 wins and 70 losses, one championship and four finals campaigns. No club has done more with less time.

FIVE FAST FACTS

1. The JackJumpers reached the grand final in their first NBL season and won the championship in their third.

2. They are named after the jack jumper ant, a venomous species native to Tasmania.

3. Jack McVeigh's near half-court shot in game three of the 2024 Championship Series is one of the most replayed moments in NBL history.

4. The JackJumpers have never finished higher than third on the regular season ladder, despite reaching two grand finals.

5. They are not the first Tasmanian club to win the NBL. Launceston Casino City won the championship in 1981, in only their second season, and folded after three.

CLUB TIMELINE

• 2020: The club was founded.
• 2021: Entered the NBL, won their first game against Brisbane, and reached the grand final.
• 2022: Lost the grand final 0-3 to the Sydney Kings.
• 2023: Went out in a deciding semi-final game to New Zealand.
• 2024: Beat Melbourne United 3-2 for the championship, with Jack McVeigh the Grand Final MVP.
• 2025: Missed the finals, and Altor Capital bought a majority stake in February.
• 2026: Lost four players to season-ending injuries and went out in the play-in.

WHAT NBL27 LOOKS LIKE

Roth is still there, Magnay is still the captain, and the injuries that defined NBL26 belong to NBL26.

The harder question is the one the club has never had to answer. The JackJumpers have been the smallest market in the league and its most consistently overachieving club, and both of those things were easier while they were new. NBL27 is the first season where being the newest club is not an explanation for anything.