The Canberra Gunners make their return to the national stage, taking on the best teams from around the country in the 2026 NBL1 National Finals, set to take place at the State Basketball Centre in Adelaide.

As the Champions of the 2025 edition, the Gunners will join the five conference champions in Adelaide for the three-day tournament, with all teams battling for the crown.

It certainly won’t be easy for Canberra, coming in as the only team to not be a conference champion, but that hasn’t done much to deter the confidence and excitement amongst the squad.“Training has been pretty good the last couple of weeks, the boys are very excited,” said Head Coach Peter Herak.

“It’s another opportunity to get on court and hopefully put our best foot forward in the National Finals.”

The tournament presents the Gunners with a chance to test their mettle against some of the country’s best, with Herak saying that the group is excited to repeat their heroics from 2025.

“Those teams that won their conference are all super tough. They’ve got elite players across the floor and it’s not going to be an easy task.

“The boys are excited. They did it last year and they’re hoping to do the same again next year.”

2026 Gunners MVP and Star Forward Will Mayfield, who was also crowned as National Finals MVP in 2025, says the team is ready to once again have the opportunity to perform on the national stage, this time on the road.

“We’re super lucky. Obviously last year getting it done at home. This year we’re away, it’s a bit different, but we still get to try our luck against some of the best teams in the country,” said Mayfield.

Despite being the lowest seeded team competing this weekend, Mayfield believes the team isn’t backing down from the challenge and is ready to prove themselves.

“At the end of the day, every team can have their day. We’re looking to stretch that out over a couple of different games and try and take a couple of teams by surprise.

“We come in with a little bit of a chip on our shoulder. People go ‘why are we there’. We’ve sort of go to prove ourselves, that we actually deserve to be there again.”

The Gunners take on NBL1 West Champions Rockingham Flames in the first round of finals action, set to tip-off at 8:30pm (AEST) with the match streamed live through Kayo Freebies.