Nick Truelson in the studio! - NBL 26/27 season begins Saturday | Melbourne United CEO (15.09.26)
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Why is the NBL season starting on a Saturday night and how does it fit with AFL and NRL schedules?
Waitley on SEN.
NBL about to roar to life this year. It's the perfect spring-summer compendium and it starts with the footy still at full throttle. Nick Troulson's the CEO of Melbourne United in the studio. Welcome to you, Nick.
Gerard, great to be here. Super excited for our
season to tip off on Saturday night. And will you should be. How challenging to kick off when the footy or the AFL and the NRL are at their climax?
Yeah, no, it's always a bit of a challenge for everybody. But I think when you look at it, starting early is better than finishing late. I think if you hit the AFL and NRL season kickoffs with all teams playing, it makes it a bit more challenging. So I like the way it's set up. And what a great time to be in Melbourne on the back of the NFL last week. And lucky to be there with my son and with over 100,000 people.
What challenges does launching the NBL alongside the AFL and NRL present for fans and broadcasters?
I think, again, shows Melbourne is the mecca when it comes to sports being the capital. And we're super excited to be part of that this weekend.
So Saturday night, John Kane Arena, straight after the footy?
Yeah, so the 5.15 AFL game across the road at the MCG, and we perfectly tip off at 7.30 at John Kane Arena. So yeah, love our fans to get along, make sure it's a blockbuster start. New broadcaster in Channel 9 as well for Saturday nights for the NBL. So we're super excited to start the whole season off against Bryce Cotton and the Adelaide 36ers who have coming off such a great year. And, you know, we're super excited about the roster we've pulled together.
It feels like a completely re-imagined club. Is that how it feels?
Yeah, it's been an incredible four or five months. since the last season finished and we got off to such a great start and didn't quite get to where we wanted to and that's to win a championship and then we had the huge legacy change with Dean Vickerman moving on and going through that challenge of finding a new coach to take us forward and we can't be more excited to have Jacob Chance as our head coach and with that, with the roster we've pulled together and We're excited to have four players who played in the NBA last year. I don't think many teams have ever been able to do that. And to have Joe Ingles come home playing his first game this weekend, we're excited about. And to have Cole Anthony and Luke Travers back from the NBA.
And Joshua Duro, not many people are talking about as our starting center, played three games in the NBA, including a double-double against the Celtics late in the season. And we feel like we've pulled together a roster that's capable of taking us to where we didn't get to the last few years. So
let's pull out a couple of those threads. Jacob Chance is the new coach.
How did Melbourne United select Jacob Chance as the new head coach and what makes him stand out?
How in demand was he globally?
Yeah, I mean, we were lucky enough to have Jacob as a lead assistant a few years ago under Dean. And we saw firsthand what an incredible person he is, what an incredible coach he is. His relationship building is second to none. At 32, already on the Boomers coaching staff, which is super exciting for the future of Basketball Australia, but also for us. And this time last year, we had just said goodbye to him to go to an incredible opportunity at the NBA Spurs and coached their G League team, which he did a great job. And then he got to be part of that incredible run through the final series over there. And You know, we started that process and we had an incredible amount of coaches who were interested in the role coming from all over the world.
And Jacob was definitely one that we saw very early on as someone we really wanted. We went through the first round and he was clearly our number one. And at that stage, the Spurs were keen to keep him. They were still in the final series. And at that stage, it was, you know, we had to keep him. working through different coaches. And we knew we had to just stay, stick to our process and remain really confident that we would find the right person. And knowing that our season finished earlier than a lot of the big leagues, including the NBA, the Euro League, the Asia League.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
Why is the NBL season starting on a Saturday night and how does it fit with AFL and NRL schedules?
0:01–0:50
2
What challenges does launching the NBL alongside the AFL and NRL present for fans and broadcasters?
0:50–2:27
3
How did Melbourne United select Jacob Chance as the new head coach and what makes him stand out?
2:27–3:52
4
Which former NBA players are joining Melbourne United and how will they boost the team’s championship hopes?
3:52–6:26
5
What impact will Cole Anthony have on the NBL and Melbourne United’s fan base?
6:26–8:47
6
How is veteran Joe Ingles expected to contribute on and off the court this season?
8:47–9:57
7
What does the new free‑to‑air partnership with Channel 9 mean for Melbourne United’s exposure and sponsorship?
9:57–10:03
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from Whateley
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