Archie takes pride in staying ready

Staying ready is something Archie Woodhill has always made sure he does and that's led to another NBL opportunity with the Brisbane Bullets, and it saw him step up to play a key role across both games last week without Jacob Holt.

Bullets coach Will Weaver could scarcely believe his luck when Woodhill was still available as the start of the NBL season neared and was quick to sign him up as a Nominated Replacement Player for NBL27.

He was fresh off a standout NBL1 South season with the Diamond Valley Eagles where the 24-year-old delivered 17.9 points and 7.5 rebounds a game while shooting 66 per cent from the field and 50 per cent from the outside.

Having already spent time in the NBL with the Sydney Kings and Tasmania JackJumpers, but only hitting the floor on 30 occasions across four seasons, Woodhill continued to just keep himself ready.

He knew that there were no guarantees coming into the season at the Bullets and that he would be behind centre pairing Tyrell Harrison and Jacob Holt, but he liked the chance that had presented in Brisbane.

So Woodhill threw himself fully into getting ready for any chance that might present and then all of a sudden last Thursday night in the win at home over the South East Melbourne Phoenix, both Harrison and Holt went down with ankle injuries.

Suddenly that meant Woodhill was one of the more important part of the roster with the Bullets with two games last weekend that saw him make his Bullets debut against his former JackJumpers team last Wednesdays night.

He then backed up to play a key role in Saturday night's win in Wollongong over the Illawarra Hawks as the Bullets improved to a 4-4 record.

Woodhill just feels it's the confidence Weaver has instilled in the group to perform no matter who's available was key to them worrying about who was there for them, and not who wasn’t.

"I guess we all have a lot of confidence in the structure that Will's put out there and just trust in each other to go out there and play how we want to play," Woodhill said.

"We just trust each other to get it done with next-man up and stuff like that."

Woodhill knows all about being in a position where he could go from not playing at all for a stretch to suddenly being thrown in the deep end.

That happened in each of the past two seasons at the JackJumpers where their big men led by captain Will Magnay at times suffered injuries, and suddenly Woodhill became a go-to man from coach Scott Roth.

That saw him play 13 minutes out of nowhere in a shorthanded team back in January 2025 where he had five points and five fouls against the South East Melbourne Phoenix.

Then last season suddenly when Magnay's season ended when he broke a toe at HoopsFest in Perth, Woodhill went on to average 9.1 minutes over the past seven games of the season.

Now all of a sudden last week with the Bullets, both Harrison and Holt were unavailable on Wednesday night in Hobart and Woodhill was out there for 18 minutes, and produced five points, four rebounds and a steal against the JackJumpers.

Harrison returned on Saturday night in Wollongong, but Woodhill still played another 16 minutes for 10 points with five rebounds on 4/6 shooting from the field.

Staying ready was something he takes pride in always being and he was good to go last week as soon as his name was called, and will continue to be.

"I think that's a huge part of my career so far is just staying ready and I love the opportunity, and I'm always staying ready for that through trainings," Woodhill said.

"Then if I get the opportunity to play I'm just going as hard as I can all the time and proving that I can be out there.

"That's just a credit to all the fellas and the coaches with the trust that they have in me and the confidence it provides me is huge so that I can go out there and do what I do."

Woodhill has always been renowned for his physically playing at NBL1 level whether it was in the East at the Inner West Bulls, Sutherland Sharks or Sydney Comets, or more recently in the South with the North West Tasmania Thunder and Diamond Valley.

That has seen him average 6.5 rebounds across six seasons with 2.2 of those at the offensive end, but he's also been looking to expand his offensive arsenal and become more of a shooter.

He did take 56 three-point attempts back in 2022, 45 in 2023 and 40 in 2024, and while that's been down to only 36 in total the past two years in the NBL1 South, it's not something he has forgotten about.

That was only show last week where he got up four three-point attempts across the two games, hit three of them and he knows he has the backing of his coach and teammates to continue to take the opportunities.

"It's definitely something I've always been working is my shooting and it's another part of my game that I've been developing," Woodhill said.

"Will has a lot of trust in me to shoot it and he says that it's a weapon of mine so he puts a lot of confidence in me to go out there and shoot it.

"Again my teammates are comfortable with shooting those shots and know that I can, and I only took two in this game, but they were good shots I guess.

"I know physicality is something that is a non-negotiable for me and I have to provide that, and then if I get open looks, I get open looks and provide what I can for the team."