Brisbane Bullets: Five things you need to know

• Brisbane has three NBL championships, in 1985, 1987 and 2007
• They finished NBL26 last at 6-27 and have not played finals since 2018-19
• Will Weaver is head coach and president of basketball operations

Three NBL championships, no finals since 2018-19, and a six-win NBL26. The Brisbane Bullets, explained.

Brisbane are one of the NBL's original clubs and one of its most decorated, with three championships and six grand final appearances. They are also the club that folded and came back. And NBL26 was the worst season of the modern era: 6-27, tenth of ten, eleven straight losses to finish, an import cut in November and a head coach gone by Christmas.

NBL26 SEASON SUMMARY

• Record: 6-27, finished 10th
• Finals: did not qualify
• Head coach: Stu Lash, then Darryl McDonald as interim
• Captain: Mitch Norton
• Club MVP: Tyrell Harrison

The season came apart in stages. Jaylen Adams, the 2022 NBL MVP and a champion with Sydney, was cut after 13 games on 14 November, averaging 12.3 points. Stu Lash resigned in December, in the first season of a three-year contract, and Darryl McDonald finished the year as interim coach. Brisbane lost their last eleven.

It is now seven seasons since Brisbane last played finals. Their most recent appearance was 2018-19, when they lost the semi-final series to Perth.

THE OFF-SEASON

On 11 March the Bullets appointed Will Weaver as head coach and president of basketball operations, a dual role that gives him the roster as well as the bench. Weaver is a 42-year-old Texan who previously coached the Sydney Kings, and he is the club's fourth head coach in four seasons after Justin Schueller, Stu Lash and Darryl McDonald.

Mitch Norton remains captain.

THE CLUB

• Home: Brisbane Entertainment Centre, capacity 10,500
• Owners: Kevin Martin and Jason Levien
• CEO: Malcolm Watts
• Head coach: Will Weaver, also president of basketball operations
• Captain: Mitch Norton

Across 1979 to 2008 and 2016 to now, Brisbane's regular season record is 566 wins and 530 losses. They have made the finals 22 times and won three regular season championships, in 1984, 1985 and 2007.

TEAM HISTORY

Brisbane joined the NBL in 1979 as one of the ten original clubs. Under Brian Kerle they reached the grand final in 1984 and lost it to Canberra, then won the title in 1985 with a 121-95 win over Adelaide. Adelaide beat them in the 1986 final, and Brisbane took the title back in 1987, sweeping Perth 2-0.

Leroy Loggins was the constant. He won three NBL Most Valuable Player awards, in 1984, 1986 and 1987, made eight All-NBL First Teams and four Second Teams, and won the Best Defensive Player award twice. His number 30 is retired.

A sixth grand final followed in 1990, lost to Perth. The 1990s brought Derek Rucker's MVP and Steve Woodberry's, and a run of finals appearances, but no titles.

The third championship came in 2007 under Joey Wright, and it belonged to Sam Mackinnon. He won the NBL MVP, the Best Defensive Player award, All-NBL First Team selection and the Grand Final MVP in the same season, and the club won the championship. One season later Brisbane withdrew from the league over its finances.

The club returned in 2016 and has made the finals once since, in 2018-19.

CLUB LEGENDS

Leroy Loggins is the franchise. He arrived in 1984 after two seasons with the West Adelaide Bearcats and won the MVP in his first year back, then again in 1986 and 1987. Eight All-NBL First Teams, four Second Teams, two Best Defensive Player awards, and the Player of the Game in the 1985 grand final, in a year the league did not award a Grand Final MVP. His 30 is retired.

Sam Mackinnon's 2007 is the best single season in the club's history. MVP, Best Defensive Player, All-NBL First Team, Grand Final MVP and the championship, all at once. He had also made the All-NBL Second Team the year before, and he captained the side in its final season before the club folded.

Larry Sengstock captained the side through the mid-1980s and made the All-NBL First Team in 1982. His 7 is retired, alongside Ron Radliff's 22 and Robert Sibley's 52.

Derek Rucker won the 1990 MVP and Steve Woodberry the 1999, which means four different Bullets have been named the league's best player. Shane Heal was Rookie of the Year in 1988 and John Rillie in 1995.

In the modern era, Torrey Craig was the club MVP in 2016-17 and Best Defensive Player in 2017 before a long NBA career, and Aron Baynes returned from the NBA to play for Brisbane in 2022-23. Nathan Sobey made the All-NBL Second Team in 2024. Tyrell Harrison was the Most Improved Player in 2025 and the club MVP in NBL26.

HONOUR ROLL

• Championships: 1985, 1987, 2007
• Grand final appearances: six, in 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990 and 2007
• Finals appearances: 22, most recently 2018-19
• NBL Most Valuable Players: Leroy Loggins (1984, 1986, 1987), Derek Rucker (1990), Steve Woodberry (1999), Sam Mackinnon (2007)
• Grand Final MVPs: Leroy Loggins (1987), Sam Mackinnon (2007)
• NBL Coach of the Year: Brian Kerle (1984, 1990), Joey Wright (2004, 2007)
• Rookie of the Year: Shane Heal (1988), John Rillie (1995)
• Best Defensive Player: Leroy Loggins (1987, 1990), Ben Castle (2004), Sam Mackinnon (2007), Torrey Craig (2017)
• Most Improved Player: Wade Helliwell (2002), Reuben Te Rangi (2019), Will Magnay (2020), Tyrell Harrison (2025)
• Retired numbers: Larry Sengstock (7), Ron Radliff (22), Leroy Loggins (30), Robert Sibley (52)

THE MODERN ERA, SEASON BY SEASON

• 2016-17   8th    10-18   Andrej Lemanis
• 2017-18   8th     9-19   Andrej Lemanis
• 2018-19   4th    14-14   Andrej Lemanis, lost the semi-final series to Perth
• 2019-20   5th    15-13   Andrej Lemanis
• 2020-21   6th    18-18   Andrej Lemanis
• 2021-22   8th    10-18   James Duncan
• 2022-23   9th     8-20   James Duncan
• 2023-24   7th    13-15   Justin Schueller
• 2024-25   8th    12-17   Justin Schueller
• 2025-26  10th     6-27   Stu Lash, then Darryl McDonald

One finals appearance in ten seasons back in the league, and the win total has gone backwards in each of the last two years.

FIVE FAST FACTS

1. Brisbane have three NBL championships, in 1985, 1987 and 2007, from six grand final appearances.

2. Sam Mackinnon's 2007 was a clean sweep: NBL MVP, Best Defensive Player, All-NBL First Team, Grand Final MVP and the championship.

3. Brisbane were out of the NBL entirely from 2008 until 2016.

4. Four different Bullets have won the NBL MVP: Leroy Loggins, Derek Rucker, Steve Woodberry and Sam Mackinnon.

5. Shane Heal was the NBL Rookie of the Year with Brisbane in 1988.

CLUB TIMELINE

• 1979: Joined the NBL as one of the ten original clubs.
• 1984: First grand final, lost to Canberra.
• 1985: First championship, beating Adelaide 121-95.
• 1986: Back in the grand final, lost to Adelaide.
• 1987: Second championship, sweeping Perth 2-0.
• 1990: Sixth grand final appearance, lost to Perth.
• 2007: Third championship under Joey Wright, with Sam Mackinnon the MVP.
• 2008: Withdrew from the league over its finances.
• 2016: Returned to the NBL.
• 2019: Last finals appearance to date, a semi-final loss to Perth.
• 2026: Finished tenth at 6-27, with two coaches and an import cut mid-season.

WHAT NBL27 LOOKS LIKE

Weaver has something none of his modern predecessors had, which is authority over the roster as well as the bench. That is the point of the president of basketball operations title, and after four coaches in four seasons it is a bet on continuity rather than another reset.

The bar is low and the room to move is large. Brisbane won six games. They have not played finals since 2018-19. Almost anything Weaver does in year one will look like progress, which is its own kind of trap: the honest measure of this appointment is not NBL27, it is whether the club is still building the same thing in NBL29.