It's off-season time so to keep the stories coming, let's take a look back at the stats leaders for the WCB A Grade Men competition, with last season's ranking noted in parentheses.  Gateway players are highlighted in blue.

2-POINT FIELD GOALS
1 (-). Hidden Player (79)
2 (-). Nathan Uebergang (65)
3 (2). Nathan Rice (61)
4 (3). Harry Smith (55)
5 (-). Joshua Uebergang (54)
6 (-). Lucas Brook (49)
7 (-). Kerwin Penn (45)
8 (1). Jonty Smith (43)
9 (-). Mason Manning (41)
10 (-) Brandon Feirclough (40)
10 (5). Callum Iles (40)
10 (6). Terry Sleep (40)

It's off-season time so to keep the stories coming, let's take a look back at the stats leaders for the WCB A Grade Men competition, with last season's ranking noted in parentheses.  Gateway players are highlighted in blue.

3-POINT FIELD GOALS
1 (2). Harry Smith (45)
2 (3). James Parletta (37)
3 (8). Tim Oakley (33)
3 (5). Josip Vucetic (33)
5 (10). Kerwin Penn (26)
6 (-). Lucas Brook (22)
6 (-). Vincent Landry (23)
8 (-). Brodie Sleep (20)
9 (-). Nathan Uebergang (19)
10 (4). Rowan Pullen (18)

Each round we'll bring you the Immer Kitchens or Rise Above Adversity NBL1 Player of the Round award as judged by our editors and anyone else we know who's attending the games or watching on replay from Alice Springs or in this case, the Gold Coast.  Round 18 saw more career highs, with one player posting a career high 27 minutes and 17 seconds court time, 13 field goal attempts, 7 field goals made equal career high 6 two-point field goal attempts, and career high 4 two-point field goals made resulting in a career high 17 points and we're all about career highs here at leaguelineup.com.  With no further adieu, we present the NBL1 Round 18 Player of the Round award to South Adelaide's Jonty Smith.  Congratulations and all the best for the finals ahead.

Round 1 (L):  Jonty Smith 26:29min 12pts 5reb
Round 2 (L):  Jonty Smith 18:38min 5pts 2reb 1stl
Round 3 (W):  Jonty Smith 26:14min 11pts 5reb
Round 4 (W):  Jonty Smith 26:53min 9pts 4reb 1ast 1blk
Round 5 (W):  Jonty Smith 21:30min 0pts 5reb 2blk
Round 6 (W):  Jonty Smith 15:56min 1pt 2reb 3ast 1blk
Round 7 (W):  Jonty Smith 20:41min 4pts 1blk
Round 8 (W):  Jonty Smith 22:08min 4pts 6reb 1ast
Round 9 (W):  Jonty Smith 20:29min 5pts 3reb 1ast 1blk
Round 10 (W):  Jonty Smith 18:50min 11pts 1reb 2ast 1blk
Round 11 (W):  Daniel Smith 18:32min 4pts 4reb 2ast 2blk
Round 12 (W):  Daniel Smith 25:05min 8pts 4reb 2ast 3stl 1blk 
Round 13 (W):  Daniel Smith 26:11min 10pts 8reb 4ast
Round 14 (L):  Daniel Smith 25:08min 2pts 10reb
Round 15 (L):  Jonty Smith 24:47min 14pts 2reb 4ast 2stl
Round 16 (L):  Jonty Smith 26:23min 8pts 1reb 2ast
Round 17 (W):  Daniel Smith 23:17min 12pts 12reb
Round 18 (W):  Jonty Smith 27:17min 17pts 3reb

Each round we'll bring you the Immer Kitchens or Rise Above Adversity NBL1 Player of the Round award as judged by our editors and anyone else we know who's attending the games or watching on replay from Alice Springs or in this case, the Gold Coast.  Round 17 saw a return to career highs, with one player posting an equal career high of 5 offensive rebounds and 7 defensive rebounds, culminating in an outright career high 12 rebounds that bested his previous mark of 10 rebounds.  Add 12 points to the equation and we have his first of no doubt many double doubles and we're all about career highs here at leaguelineup.com.  With no further adieu, we present the NBL1 Round 17 Player of the Round award to South Adelaide's Daniel Smith.  Congratulations and all the best for the season ahead.

Round 1 (L):  Jonty Smith 26:29min 12pts 5reb
Round 2 (L):  Jonty Smith 18:38min 5pts 2reb 1stl
Round 3 (W):  Jonty Smith 26:14min 11pts 5reb
Round 4 (W):  Jonty Smith 26:53min 9pts 4reb 1ast 1blk
Round 5 (W):  Jonty Smith 21:30min 0pts 5reb 2blk
Round 6 (W):  Jonty Smith 15:56min 1pt 2reb 3ast 1blk
Round 7 (W):  Jonty Smith 20:41min 4pts 1blk
Round 8 (W):  Jonty Smith 22:08min 4pts 6reb 1ast
Round 9 (W):  Jonty Smith 20:29min 5pts 3reb 1ast 1blk
Round 10 (W):  Jonty Smith 18:50min 11pts 1reb 2ast 1blk
Round 11 (W):  Daniel Smith 18:32min 4pts 4reb 2ast 2blk
Round 12 (W):  Daniel Smith 25:05min 8pts 4reb 2ast 3stl 1blk 
Round 13 (W):  Daniel Smith 26:11min 10pts 8reb 4ast
Round 14 (L):  Daniel Smith 25:08min 2pts 10reb
Round 15 (L):  Jonty Smith 24:47min 14pts 2reb 4ast 2stl
Round 16 (L):  Jonty Smith 26:23min 8pts 1reb 2ast
Round 17 (W):  Daniel Smith 23:17min 12pts 12reb

2 straight losses followed by 11 straight wins followed by 3 straight losses and now 2 straight wins.  The minor round is now over and it's finals time so we'll soon find out if South are the real deal or not.  South continued their late season revival with at least two players missing training all week due to a Jultopia enforced layoff but they're back and the team is looking better with two Ws in the win column.  South dominated from two-point land at 72% shooting, a sharp contrast to Eastern's 46% and that efficient shooting did the trick.  Final score South Adelaide 101 d Eastern 82 and on to the finals time we go.  Exciting times, exciting times.

Forgive us going all philosophical for a moment but it's times like these you need a Twisties jumper.  South Australia came into the 2026 Survivor Jultopia Gold Coast grand final ready to give it everything and if the chips fell their way, claim the win while at the same time, knowing that an honourable loss is acceptable too provided you've given it all you have.  Do the preparation beforehand, back and lift your teammates during, and exhaust yourself in giving maximum effort - not 110% because that's impossible but your full 100% knowing that if all this isn't enough, then that's OK too.  Have a game plan, know the game plan, execute the game plan.  Sometimes it's enough, sometimes it isn't but don't leave any stone unturned.  It's a best of one series - win or go home.  Actually to be fair, it's win and go home and lose and go home, unless you're relocating there which is unlikely but after today's game, anything is possible.

We won't go into the reasons why because that's a story for another day and someone else's news to share but it was publicly shared at the presentation dinner later on Saturday, that other than captain/coach Ben Johnson, the Queensland team didn't come to the game.  In an unfortunate situation, one of their players was seriously hurt on Friday night and remains in hospital with a serious injury.  From everyone at leaguelineup.com and the Thunder, our thoughts and prayers are with him and the whole team.  The record will show SA 20 d Queensland 0 but sometimes there's more to life than sport.

And so it ends, the minor round wrapped up for another year at the conclusion of the fifth day of the Survivor Jultopia Carnival.  May the best team South Australia win.

d NSW3 76-44
The court was cold that day, my friends, like an old man returning cold soup at a deli very early in the morning and as four players exchanged bacon and egg rolls and coffees on the bench, the more youthful five South Australians engaged in an enthralling matchup with NSW3, the reds in blue for the first time this week.  There were highlights aplenty, topped by right hand triples from Hunter Trego and a series of crazy dunks from the blues, ironic given NSW were in red.  Go figure.  The game was played in good spirits, especially by those on the bench enjoying breakfast, and puncutated by a late Josip Vucetic triple made all the more special by his not even being on court.  SA 76 (Jonty Smith 26, Daniel Smith 14, Hunter Trego 12, Josh Smith 11, Jordan Peel 10, Josip Vucetic 3) d NSW3 44.

SA RED d SA BLUE 65-64
This was the match you always knew you wanted despite it never appearing on the schedule.  With SA's A and B Men teams locked in or out of the finals, the dead rubber took on an entirely different look when the teams traded players, coming up with a relatively even matchup as twin faced off against twin, father against son and on it went.  Josip Vucetic was on fire early for blue and when Daniel Smith dunked all over Jonty Smith, the game looked gone but red refused to say die as Jonty Smith refused to give in, seemingly motivated by the postering from his brother.  There were numerous highlights - the red's Kerwin Penn bearhugging the blue's Daniel Smith to give up an unsportsmanlike foul and two free throws and possession, the red's Jonty Smith seemingly tunnelled by the blue's Terry Sleep as the veteran big man pumpfaked and supposedly undercut the jumping Smith.  It all came down to the final shot though, blue missing a triple and red holding on for a one point win.  SA RED 65 (Jonty Smith 36, Hunter Trego 13, Josh Smith 6, Cameron Hallsworth 5, Kerwin Penn 3, Ben Galway 2) d SA BLUE 64 (Josip Vucetic 24, Daniel Smith 16, Simon Hallsworth 8, Jordan Peel 8, Terry Sleep 4, Lachlan Winter 4).

For the record, the final game scheduled for SA v QLD1 was abandoned at the suggestion of tournament organisers, seeing the two teams will meet again tomorrow morning in the grand final.

And on it goes as we approach the stretch run, the fourth day of the Survivor Jultopia Carnival.  May the best team South Australia win.

d QLD2 88-56
Amidst the controversy of last night's State of Origin victory by NSW, Queensland began strong and took it to the South Aussies, a balanced attack surprising the reds until your favourite team found their groove, all 9 players on the scoreboard and settling in for the all-important Thursday.  Like the 3rd quarter is the premiership quarter, Thursday is where carnivals are won and lost and a first up Thursday victory is more valuable than gold.  SA 88 (Hunter Trego 20, Jonty Smith 17, Kerwin Penn 9, Jordan Peel 8, Terry Sleep 8, Daniel Smith 8, Josh Smith 7, James Smith 6, Josip Vucetic 5) d QLD2 56.

d QLD1 75-54
Mark our words when we say this was not a 21 point margin.  QLD1, buoyed by the performance of their QLD2 counterparts earlier, came to play and were within 3 points just prior to halftime, their grit n grind style contrasting with South Austrlaia's run n gun approach.  Canberra Cannons v Perth Wildcats back in the day as Phil Smyth, Herb McEachin and Andy Campbell battled against Cal Bruton, Kendal Pinder and James Crawford.  Ultimately it was the South Aussies breaking away late but the table has been set and we have ourselves a game, folks.  SA 75 (Jordan Peel 24, Hunter Trego 15, Jonty Smith 14, Daniel Smith 11, Kerwin Penn 7, Josh Smith 4) d QLD1 54.

d NSW2 104-52
There are moments in time that mark us.  Where were you when man landed on the moon, when Princess Diana passed, when Covid struck, when Port won their first AFL premiership?  Moments that time stamp life forever and this was one of those games.  With South Australia hitting everything early including a bevy of dunks that surely would've won this year's NBA dunk contest, they led 64-25 at the half and looked set for a resounding victory.  Wrong.  NSW fought back out of the half as SA's field goal percentage plunged into single figures, their only saving grace an aging veteran who took it upon himself to rescue the reds from a crushing loss.  SA 104 (James Smith 30, Jonty Smith 19, Kerwin Penn 12, Daniel Smith 12, Josh Smith 11, Hunter Trego 10, Josip Vucetic 10) d NSW2 52.

It was a quieter day than normal as each of the South Aussies went about their thing.  Some walked nonchalantly into exclusive golf clubs in footy guernseys and slides, some played golf with varied success, some fought with swords late, some had haircuts by the pool, and nearly all watched New South Wales claim the State of Origin series late.  It was that kind of day as rest was had, golf was played, combatants drew swords, fades were created and trophies won.  On to Thursday we go as the stretch run approaches.

And on to Day 2 we go, the second of five days of the Survivor Jultopia Carnival.  May the best team South Australia win.

d QLD1 76-49
With the State of Origin decider drawing nigh, Queensland dug deep and hit SA hard early, the score 28-21 SA's way at half time after a calamity of calls resulting in a Daniel Smith tech foul and the Brothers Smith banished to the bench as younger brother Josh and older father James led a comeback alongside Messrs Penn, Trego and Vucetic.  Enter the starters back in the second half as Daniel Smith, Jonty Smith, Kerwin Penn and Terry Sleep got going, the result a a 48-28 half that showed a bigger margin than it felt at the game.  These two teams look set to meet in the grand final at the week's end and with a long time until Saturday, it remains anyone's to win.  Final score SA 76 (Jonty Smith 26, Hunter Trego 14, Jordan Peel 13, Daniel Smith 12, Terry Sleep 6, Josh Smith 3, Kerwin Penn 2) d QLD1 49.

d NSW1 110-73
"Boy, these guys can shoot."  That was the sentiment post-game amongst the troops after surviving a spirited performance from NSW who frankly, can shoot.  Guards Josip Vucetic and Kerwin Penn had a heat check of their own late with three second half triples each, accompanied with some ridiculous dunks from Phi Slamma Gold Coast who really need to move away from Court Sunshine soon, lest they all get sunburned and unable to play for the rest of the week.  Final score SA 110 d NSW 73.

And so it begins, the first of five days of the Survivor Jultopia Carnival.  May the best team South Australia win.

d QLD1 62-34
Queensland began strong on the back of a thrilling State of Origin Game 2 win but SA, led by Jonty Smith, fought back and then Hunter Trego entered the court and it was all over, red rover.  The diminutive Kiwi injected pace, zest and fervour into the contest and when his teammates followed, the game turned.  Queensland fought late but it was all over, red rover as the reds claimed their first victory of the week.  SA 62 d QLD1 34.

d TAS 99-31
The battle of the Peels on the sunniest court since the NCAA hosted a game on the deck of an aircraft carrier saw the brothers Peel go at it while everyone else watched.  That pretty much sums up the game from where we sat, staring into the sun as the Gold Coast Suns ironically trained in the background.  Two games, two wins.  SA 99 (Jonty Smith 20, Jordan Peel 18, Daniel Smith 15, Hunter Trego 12, Kerwin Penn 10, Terry Sleep 10, Josh Smith 8, James Smith 6) d Tasmania 31.

d VIC1 136-54
They broke the scoresheet as the scorers complained of having to write extra numbers in the fast reducing space on the papyrus.  VIC fought back with a mid-game flurry but this one was over early in front of a capacity Court 6 crowd.  Three games, three wins.  SA 136 (Jonty Smith 29, Hunter Trego 24, Terry Sleep 19, Kerwin Penn 16, Josh Smith 13, Daniel Smith 12, Jordan Peel 12, Josip Vucetic 11) d VIC1 54.

d VIC2 141-60
Back to the sunshine court in the sunshine state as SA played against a second Victorian team.  Both teams applied SPF50+ to survive the nuclear holocaust but it was SA who shone best once they overcame some early physical play from teammates, opponents, umpires and spectators alike.  Four games, four wins.  SA 141 (Jordan Peel 35, Jonty Smith 31, Daniel Smith 18, Kerwin Penn 16, Terry Sleep 14, Hunter Trego 12, Josh Smith 10, Josip Vucetic 5) d VIC2 60.

(pic to be updated)

Exciting times as the 2026 Survivor Jultopia Gold Coast Carnival commenced today and equally as exciting was the announcement of South Australia's A Grade Men team.  In a first ever - ironic given they wear First Ever and we promise you that joke will never get old - the team has another rookie, welcoming the brother of Phoenix Trego to the red, blue and gold.  With no further adieu, we present to you the South Australia A Grade Men lineup to bring home the bacon and onion chips ..... again.  Let's hope so.

2 straight losses followed by 11 straight wins followed by 3 straight losses and now 1 straight win.  We'll say it - South are back in the game.  After a fortnight of flicking through the yellow pages for the bottoms of shoes - aka sole searching - South rebounded in the only way they knew how with an emphatic win over the Southern Tigers.  Rebound they did with a crazy rebounding margin 56-30 led by Daniel Smith but more on that later.  A good win gets them back in the game and hopefully on another winning streak as the finals approach.  Final score South Adelaide 115 d Southern 91.  Exciting times, exciting times.

Usually there's a break but this year, Jultopia week follows immediately after WCB Grand Final week so there's not a lot of time between drinks.  This year we're going straight into Jultopia so you'll have to wait a week for the WCB Grand Final stories.  In the meantime as a short recap, A Grade Best and Fairest didn't go to the Gateway crew this season, Air Journey's Tim Oakley and CFC's Harry Smith sharing B&F and runner-up B&F respectively.  Gateway thought, did claim the trifecta, with the Blizzard, Heatwave and Thunder claiming victories.  From everyone at leaguelineup.com and the Thunder, congratulations Tim, Harry and all grand final teams and we'll be back with the full stories.  Good times, good times.