Preview: NBL26 R8 Away v Tasmania JackJumpers

The Brisbane Bullets will have had a full week's preparation and will regain inspirational captain Mitch Norton to take on the Tasmania JackJumpers at MyState Bank Arena on Saturday.

The Bullets have played the equal most numbers of games so far this season on the back of three consecutive home matches at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre which included a dominant win over the Cairns Taipans, and defeats to the South East Melbourne Phoenix and Sydney Kings.

That leaves the Bullets sitting on a 4-7 record now coming into Saturday's match up with the JackJumpers at MyState Bank Arena in Hobart.

It's the second time already the two teams have done battle with the last meeting a first home game of the season for the Bullets. It was a physical, tight and tense battle with the JackJumpers winning 84-82 with some big calls made late as Tyrell Harrison went to battle with former teammates Josh Bannan and Will Magnay.

There was plenty to be encouraged by what Brisbane did looking back to that night where Jaylen Adams delivered 19 points and seven assists while Taine Murray had a career-high 17 points and Alex Ducas chimed in with 12 points.

The Bullets battled valiantly that night in the absence of Norton, Casey Prather and Sam McDaniel with new import Dakota Mathias yet to arrive, but he showed encouraging signs across his first two NBL games averaging 13.5 points and 4.0 rebounds.

Brisbane will now not have played since last Saturday night ahead of the trip to Hobart with the JackJumpers coming into this round having lost their past two matches to be 5-5 on the season with a game in Launceston against the South East Melbourne Phoenix on Thursday night.

Bullets captain Norton has been cleared to return from a knee injury that has kept him sidelined since the opening game of the season.

He is understandably jumping out of his skin to get back out there this Saturday in Hobart.

"It's very exciting and obviously I had a long build up before my last game with all the pre-season and everything so to be back out there with the guys, I can't wait," Norton said.

"It's been a long couple of weeks and very stressful, but at the same time I'm super glad with the support network around me because when I'm not playing basketball, and things aren’t going to plan on-court, I can be a difficult person to be around so a big thank you to Sascha and my son."

Norton has also been pleased with the preparation the team has put in this week as they look to rebound from the loss to Sydney and hit the road again to face the JackJumpers.

"It's been a really good week and we kinda came out of a few doubles in-a-row so it was good to just freshen up the bodies for two days and everyone came in raring to go after a big loss as they should," Norton said.

"Training has been really good and we've got a lot of clarity out of this week, which is where guys sometimes may miss an assignment sometimes purely out of fatigue and clarity.

"I think the more clarity you have, the less grey area there is and when fatigue then hits you, we'll be in a better position to adapt on the fly."

Brisbane coach Stu Lash will be making his first visit to Tasmania for Saturday's game on the back of a full week's preparation at home this week.

"We're always excited to compete and I know it's a very tough place to play, and they have a great crowd and they're well coached," Lash said.

"They dropped a tough one too so they are going to be really motivated going into next week and again that's a team that's a top four level team right now.

"The opportunity's there for us to learn from this game and go back out on the road where we have actually got a little comfortable with that routine. I think it's a good challenge for us."

GAME INFO

Who: Brisbane Bullets vs Tasmania JackJumpers

Tip off: 4:30pm (AEST), Saturday 8 November, 2025

Where: MyState Bank Arena, Hobart

Watch: ESPN via Foxtel, Disney+, Kayo and Fetch