2026 Season Wrap-Up: Championship Men

The 2026 season saw the Hume City Broncos Championship Men put together one of their strongest campaigns, finishing on top of the ladder and progressing all the way to the Championship Men Grand Final for the second year in a row.

The Broncos made an immediate statement to begin the year, winning their opening 10 games and establishing themselves at the top end of the competition. Their first defeat eventually came by just one point against McKinnon, but the group responded to finish the regular season with a 15–5 record and secure the number one seed heading into finals.

Offensively, the Broncos were a difficult team to contain throughout the year. They finished the regular season as the highest-scoring team in the competition, with scoring threats across the roster and an ability to produce big stretches of basketball when games opened up.

The makeup of the roster brought together players from a range of different basketball backgrounds. There was strong representation of the Broncos pathway, with Haydon Mcintosh, Anthony Mariani, Derhyse Matuatia and Dylan Wijayanayake all progressing through the club’s junior programs before becoming key pieces of the senior group.

Ben Galea also returned to Broadmeadows in 2026 after time with Ringwood, having previously been a part of our Championship winning Youth League team in 2023 and 2024. Robbie Coman and Noah McKenzie continued with the group after originally making the move from New Zealand and finding a home at the Broncos, while fellow New Zealander Tanae Lavery was another addition to the roster.

The Broncos also added significant experience through Lachlan Wood, recruited from Eltham’s NBL1 program, and Robbie Heath, who arrived with experience across both the NBL and NBL1. Heath produced one of the individual performances of the season against Sunbury, scoring 46 points and connecting on 10 three-pointers, with much of the damage coming during the huge fourth quarter.

The return of Ricardo Time was another important part of the Broncos’ season. Back in the blue, Time produced a strong year running the team and finished as its leading assist provider. His influence was recognised with an All-Star Five nomination and, internally, the Championship Men Coaches Award.

The group continued to evolve after the season began, with new import Markise Davis joining the Broncos midway through the campaign. Arriving into an already established group, Davis continued to find his place as the season developed before producing a number of big moments during the Broncos’ tail end of the season.

Captain Robbie Coman remained an important part of the group at both ends of the floor. His work defensively resulted in a Defensive Player of the Year nomination, while his leadership alongside the coaching staff helped set the standards and identity of the group throughout the year.

Together, the roster provided a balance of homegrown players, returning Broncos, international additions and recruits with experience at higher levels of the game. Different pathways had brought them to Broadmeadows, but over the course of the season they formed a group with a strong identity and shared understanding of what they wanted to achieve.

Across the season, Lachlan Wood was at the centre of much of the Broncos’ production. He led the team in scoring at 18.64 points per game, while also averaging a team-high 10 rebounds and leading the group in blocks. His season earned him an All-Star Five nomination alongside Time.

Wood’s impact was also recognised at the Broncos Awards Night, where he was named the Championship Men’s Most Valuable Player. Time received the Coaches Award, while Anthony Mariani was recognised by his teammates with the Players’ Choice Award.

Alongside Wood and Time’s All-Star Five nominations, Coman was nominated for Defensive Player of the Year and Head Coach Simon Gray received a Coach of the Year nomination in his first year as Coach of the Senior Men, reflecting the contributions made across the program throughout the season.

The strength of the season, however, extended beyond individual performances.

Over the past three seasons, the Broncos Senior program has continued to build a strong connection with the wider Broncos community. Players regularly stayed back following games to connect with junior players, families and supporters, helping create a level of familiarity between the club’s senior team and those coming through underneath them.

That connection was reflected in the stands. The group played an exciting brand of basketball that consistently brought people through the doors and created an atmosphere around the home games that continued to grow throughout the season.

The Broncos also helped retain the Hume City Challenge Shield against Sunbury for a second consecutive year. Their performances formed part of a successful campaign alongside the Championship Women, keeping the Shield at Broadmeadows for another year.

The group also played an important role in several of the club’s significant themed rounds throughout the season. Pink Round saw the Broncos community come together to raise more than $6,000 for Breast Cancer Network Australia, while Pride Round provided an opportunity to celebrate inclusion and acceptance across the club.

First Nations Round was another significant occasion, with the team proudly wearing the Broncos’ First Nations jerseys as the club celebrated culture, community and connection. The round included the national anthem performed in language by Breanna Lee and provided an opportunity to showcase the artwork of young First Nations artist Dakoda Mark through the jerseys worn on court.

These occasions became an important part of the Championship program’s season, providing opportunities for the players to represent the Broncos beyond the results on the scoreboard and further strengthen their connection with the community around them.

As the regular season moved towards its conclusion, injuries and illness meant the Broncos entered the final rounds with a different-looking group at times, including the absence of Robbie Heath and Markise Davis. Despite the interruptions, their body of work across the season was enough to secure top position and direct passage into a home Semi Final.

That Semi Final brought one of the biggest crowds of the season to Broadmeadows Basketball Stadium as the Broncos hosted Pakenham with a place in the Grand Final on the line.

In front of a packed home crowd, the Broncos delivered an 86–68 victory to book their place in the Championship Men Grand Final at the State Basketball Centre.

There they met McKinnon, the same side that had handed the Broncos their first defeat of the season months earlier. On the competition’s biggest stage, McKinnon prevailed 93–80, bringing the Broncos’ season to a difficult end one win short of the Championship.

While the Grand Final result was a tough one for the group and the wider club, it did not diminish what had been built across the season.

Behind the team was Head Coach Simon Gray and assistant coaches Tane De Silva, Steve Paslawskyj and Ethan Fitzpatrick, alongside team managers Matt Pitt and Lachlan Pitt. Together with captain Robbie Coman, the group created a strong team identity built around collaboration and connection that was evident throughout the season.

The final record reads 15 wins, five losses, a first-place regular-season finish and a second consecutive Grand Final appearance. But the impact of the 2026 Championship Men extended further than the results.

Across three seasons, the program has continued to develop its identity within the Broncos. In 2026, that meant an exciting team capable of producing some of the best basketball in the competition, a home crowd that continued to grow behind them, and senior players who understood the role they could play in connecting with the next generation of Broncos.

The Championship ultimately proved one step too far, but the standard established throughout 2026 provided plenty of evidence of how far the program has come and the foundations that remain in place moving forward.

The conclusion of the 2026 season also marked the end of an era for senior basketball in Victoria, with Big V set to become the Victorian Basketball League (VBL) from 2027.

Our Senior Men now enter that new chapter with a strong identity, an established connection with the Broncos community and a standard they will look to carry with them into the new competition.