2026 NBL1 National Finals Recap: Gold Coast and Knox come out on top in jam-packed weekend

The State Basketball Centre in Adelaide played host to the 2026 Mitsubishi Motors NBL1 National Finals from Friday 21 to Sunday 23 August - the first time the tournament has been staged in South Australia.

12 teams made up of the five NBL1 conference champions plus the defending national champions, battled across three frantic days. By Sunday night, the Gold Coast Rollers had claimed the men's crown and the Knox Raiders had gone back-to-back in the women's competition, capping a tournament that drew more than 3,420 ticket sales and a record crowd for Championship Sunday.

Friday

Friday's action set up the path to the final in perfect fashion, with huge results across both the men's and women's divisions. Headlining the men's action, defending champions the Canberra Gunners - seeded sixth after a tough NBL1 East campaign - stunned NBL1 West champions the Rockingham Flames in a comfortable victory, as Will Mayfield starred with 29 points, six rebounds and three steals.

Elsewhere on the men's side, hometown hopes were ignited when NBL1 Central champions the Forestville Eagles edged NBL1 North winners the Gold Coast Rollers 85–84, with a thrilling Alex Starling winner sealing the victory. Meanwhile, the Frankston Blues secured a hard fought win over the Norths Bears to advance to a semi-final.

In the women's draw, South conference representative Waverley Falcons opened with a win over North conference champions Mackay Meteorettes despite 30 points from Mackay's Chelsea Brook. East conference champions Bankstown Bruins got past West conference winners Warwick Senators, and defending champions Knox Raiders began the title defence with a win over local Central conference champions Sturt Sabres.

Saturday

Saturday's action split into semi-finals for the top performers from Friday and consolation games for the rest.

On the men's side, Canberra's dominant Friday-night win sent the Gunners into the semi-finals as top seed of the remaining four, drawn against a Gold Coast side still stinging from its narrow loss to Forestville. The short-handed Rollers came out firing, leading by 12 after the first quarter and 50–36 at halftime. Canberra clawed back through the second half and briefly levelled at 73–73 with six minutes remaining, but Gold Coast regrouped to close out a 98–90 win and book their grand final berth. In the other men's semi, hosts Forestville Eagles progressed through to set up an all-conference-champions decider against the Rollers.

In the women's draw, Sturt Sabres closed out their tournament with a consolation win over Warwick Senators, powered by 30 points from Paige Padroth. In the semi-finals, Knox Raiders built a second-half lead to beat the Mackay Meteorettes and advance despite having dropped their pre-finals form line, while the Bankstown Bruins denied an all-South-conference decider by defeating the Waverley Falcons to reach Sunday's grand final.

Sunday - Championship Games

More than 1,400 fans packed the State Basketball Centre for Championship Sunday, part of a tournament-record 3,420 total ticket sales across the weekend.

In the men's National Final, the Gold Coast Rollers held off hometown favourites the Forestville Eagles 70–67 in a tense decider. Missing three of their highest-scoring players from the regular NBL1 North season, Preston Le Gassick, Jensen Bradtke and James Whitt, the Rollers instead leaned on Grand Final MVP Ashley McGrath, who finished with 21 points, nine rebounds and five assists, edging out Forestville's Greg Mays, who also scored 21.

In the women's National Final, the Knox Raiders defeated the Bankstown Bruins 86–73 to become the first team to win back-to-back NBL1 national titles. Grand Final MVP Alicia Froling was dominant inside, finishing with 24 points and nine rebounds, with teammates Agnes Emma-Nnopu, Paige Bradley and Haliegh Reinoehl all earning All-Star Five selection alongside Bruins star Shyla Heal, who scored a game-high 30 in defeat.

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