NBL1 Central

NBL1 Central

Current season, competition or edition: 2025 NBL1 season
Formerly	SA State League 1957–1997 Central Conference of the ABA / Central ABL 1998–2014 Premier League 2015–2019
Sport	Basketball
Founded	1957
First season	1957
No. of teams	M: 10 W: 10
Country	Australia
Continent	FIBA Oceania (Oceania)
Most recent champions	M: West Adelaide Bearcats (17th title) W: Woodville Warriors (1st title)
Most titles	M: West Adelaide Bearcats (17 titles) W: North Adelaide Rockets (21 titles)
Official website	NBL1.com.au/Central

NBL1 Central, formerly the Premier League, is a semi-professional basketball league in South Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2020, Basketball South Australia partnered with the National Basketball League (NBL) to bring NBL1 to South Australia. NBL1 replaced the former Premier League to create more professional pathways and opportunities for males and females playing basketball in South Australia. As a result, the Premier League became the central conference of NBL1.

History

The South Australian Metropolitan Basketball Association was founded in 1936. This organisation later became known as the Basketball Association of South Australia (BASA). ^[1] The sport of basketball in the state of South Australia was boosted after World War II by the influx of emigrants from Europe especially from the Baltic countries. ^[2] In 2006, Basketball South Australia was formed following the dissolution of BASA. ^[3]

The first official South Australian State Basketball League season took place in 1957. ^{[4] [5]} At the time, there was a summer season and a winter season. The winter season soon took pre-eminence and was eventually referred to as the State Championship season. ^[6] During the 1990s, the league was known under sponsor names "State Bank League" and "BankSA League". ^[7]

In 1998, the SA State League joined the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) as the association's Central Conference. ^[8] In 1999, the CBA was restructured as the Australian Basketball Association (ABA). ^[9] The ABA would not allow South Australia maintaining its competition as a "state league" and required two alterations: a name change and some representation in the competition from outside Adelaide. The competition was initially titled Central Conference of the Australian Basketball Association and later the Central Australian Basketball League (Central ABL) name was adopted and remained in place until 2014, ^[7] despite the ABA folding in 2008. ^[10]

The league was rebranded as Premier League in 2015. ^[11]

In February 2020, Basketball South Australia and the National Basketball League (NBL) announced a new partnership to bring NBL1 to South Australia, with the Premier League being renamed NBL1 Central and becoming the central conference of the NBL1. ^{[12] [13]} However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 season was cancelled. ^[14] The NBL1 Central debuted in the 2021 season. ^[15]

Current clubs

Club	City	State	Arena	Joined NBL1	NBL1 National Championships	Most recent
Central Districts Lions *	Adelaide	South Australia	STARplex	2020	0	N/A
Eastern Mavericks*	Mount Barker	South Australia	St Francis de Sales Community Sports Centre	2020	0	N/A
Forestville Eagles*	Adelaide	South Australia	State Basketball Centre	2020	0	N/A
North Adelaide Rockets *	Adelaide	South Australia	The Lights Community and Sports Centre	2020	0	N/A
Norwood Flames*	Adelaide	South Australia	The ARC	2020	0	N/A
South Adelaide Panthers*	Adelaide	South Australia	Marion Basketball Stadium	2020	0	N/A
Southern Tigers*	Adelaide	South Australia	Morphett Vale Stadium	2020	0	N/A
Sturt Sabres*	Adelaide	South Australia	Springbank Secondary College	2020	0	N/A
West Adelaide Bearcats*	Adelaide	South Australia	Port Adelaide Recreation Centre	2020	0	N/A
Woodville Warriors*	Adelaide	South Australia	St Clair Recreation Centre	2020	0	N/A

* Teams that transferred from the Premier League.

Season by Season Results

Year	League	Champions	Result	Runner Ups	Grand Final MVP	Minor Premier
2025	Women	Woodville Warriors	73-65	Sturt Sabres	Laura Erikstrup - Woodville Warriors	Forestville Eagles
	Men	West Adelaide Bearcats	83-73	Central District Lions	Cameron Huefner - West Adelaide Bearcats	Forestville Eagles
2024	Women	Central District Lions	79-67	Forestville Eagles	Taylah Levy - Central District Lions	Sturt Sabres
	Men	Forestville Eagles	92-90	South Adelaide Panthers	Greg Mays - Forestville Eagles	South Adelaide Panthers
2023	Women	Norwood Flames	80-65	Sturt Sabres	Alex Wilson - Norwood Flames	Sturt Sabres
	Men	West Adelaide Bearcats	106-95	Forestville Eagles	Lachlan Olbrich - West Adelaide Bearcats	West Adelaide Bearcats
2022	Women	West Adelaide Bearcats	82-75	Sturt Sabres	Madelynn Utti - West Adelaide Bearcats	West Adelaide Bearcats
	Men	South Adelaide Panthers	88-58	Woodville Warriors	Alex Starling - South Adelaide Panthers	Woodville Warriors
2021	Women	Southern Tigers	87-77	North Adelaide Rockets	Teige Morrel - Southern Tigers	Southern Tigers
	Men	North Adelaide Rockets	87-72	Norwood Flames	Sunday Dech - North Adelaide Rockets	Sturt Sabres

League Awards

Year	League	Lorraine Eiler (Halls) and Wollacott Medalist	League MVP	Best Defensive Player	All Star 5	Coach of the Year	Merv Harris and Frank Angrove Medalist
2025 [16]	Women	Olivia Levicki - West Adelaide Bearcats	Jasmin Fejo - Woodville Warriors	Jasmin Fejo - Woodville Warriors	Jasmin Fejo - Woodville Warriors Jordyn Freer - North Adelaide Rockets Samantha Simons - Forestville Eagles Ke'Shunan James - Norwood Flames Olivia Levicki - West Adelaide Bearcats	Mark Billington - West Adelaide Bearcats	Keira Gardiner - South Adelaide Panthers
	Men	Keanu Rasmussen - West Adelaide Bearcats	Keanu Rasmussen - West Adelaide Bearcats	Joe Jackson - Woodville Warriors	Keanu Rasmussen - West Adelaide Bearcats Sharif Black - Sturt Sabres Christian Brandon - South Adelaide Panthers Daniel Johnson - Forestville Eagles Efemena Abogidi - Central District Lions	Rupert Sapwell - Central District Lions	Keanu Rasmussen - West Adelaide Bearcats
2024 [17]	Women	Casey Samuels - Central District Lions	Brittany Hodges - South Adelaide Panthers	Zoe Walker-Roberts - Sturt Sabres	Taylah Levy - Central District Lions Brooke Basham - North Adelaide Rockets Casey Samuels - Central District Lions Madison Freer - Forestville Eagles Brittany Hodges - South Adelaide Panthers	Tim Shortt - Sturt Sabres	Madison Freer - Forestville Eagles
	Men	Alex Starling - South Adelaide Panthers	Alex Starling - South Adelaide Panthers	Alex Starling - South Adelaide Panthers	Jordan Forbes - Sturt Sabres Branden Jenkins - Central District Lions Jacob Rigoni - Sturt Sabres Alex Starling - South Adelaide Panthers Greg Mays - Forestville Eagles	Paul Rigoni - Sturt Sabres	Akoldah Gak - West Adelaide Bearcats
2023 [18]	Women	Mikayla Williams - Sturt Sabres	Brooke Basham - North Adelaide Rockets	Tayla Brazel - Sturt Sabres	Morgan Yaeger - Southern Tigers Brooke Basham - North Adelaide Rockets Alex Wilson - Norwood Flames Mollie McKendrick - Southern Tigers Mikayla Williams - Sturt Sabres	Tim Shortt - Sturt Sabres	Madison Freer - Forestville Eagles
	Men	Jawan Stepney - Woodville Warriors	Jordan Forbes - Sturt Sabres	Alex Starling - South Adelaide Panthers	Jordan Forbes - Sturt Sabres Branden Jenkins - Central District Lions Anthony Drmic - West Adelaide Bearcats Alex Starling - South Adelaide Panthers Lachlan Olbrich - West Adelaide Bearcats	Paul Rigoni - Sturt Sabres	Lachlan Olbrich - West Adelaide Bearcats
2022 [19]	Women	Mikayla Williams - Sturt Sabres	Sam Simons - Forestville Eagles	Alex Starling - South Adelaide Panthers	Jasmin Fejo - West Adelaide Bearcats Brooke Basham - Norwood Flames Alex Wilson - Norwood Flames Sam Simons - Forestville Eagles Mikayla Williams - Sturt Sabres	Tim Shortt - Sturt Sabres	Sam Simons - Forestville Eagles
	Men	Jeremy Smith - South Adelaide Panthers	Jeremy Smith - South Adelaide Panthers	Jasmine Simmons - West Adelaide Bearcats	Adam Doyle - Forestville Eagles Jeremy Smith - South Adelaide Panthers David Humphries - Central District Lions Jack Purchase - Forestville Eagles Lachlan Olbrich - Southern Tigers	Scott Whitmore - Woodville Warriors	Lachlan Olbrich - Southern Tigers
2021 [20]	Women	Teige Morrell - Southern Tigers	Teige Morrell - Southern Tigers	Jess Good - North Adelaide Rockets	Teige Morrell - Southern Tigers Morgan Yaegar - Southern Tigers Alex Wilson - Norwood Flames Sam Simons - Forestville Eagles Olivia Thompson - South Adelaide Panthers	Matthew Clarke - Southern Tigers	Sam Simons - Forestville Eagles
	Men	CJ Turnage - Norwood Flames	CJ Turnage - Norwood Flames	Cameron Coleman - Southern Tigers	CJ Turnage - Norwood Flames Sam Daly - Sturt Sabres Michael Harris - Forestville Eagles Cameron Coleman - Southern Tigers Greg Mays - Forestville Eagles	Paul Rigoni - Sturt Sabres	Michael Harris - Forestville Eagles

List of champions

Main article: List of NBL1 Central champions

Team	Total Titles	Men's		Women's		Notes
		Titles	Winning seasons	Titles	Winning seasons
North Adelaide Rockets	27	6	1957, 1958, 1959, 1983, 2007, 2021	21	1957, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1982, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1998, 2004, 2014, 2018	Won both inaugural titles in 1957.
West Adelaide Bearcats	25	17	1967, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1988, 1994, 1996, 2017, 2023, 2025	8	1968, 1980, 1983, 1987, 1992, 1993, 2007, 2022
West Torrens / Forestville Eagles	18	9	1974, 1990, 2003, 2006, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2019, 2024	9	1975, 1976, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2019
Norwood Flames	13	4	1999, 2008, 2009, 2015	9	1995, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2023
South Adelaide Panthers	12	11	1963, 1965, 1966, 1969, 1973, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1995, 1997, 2022	1	1958
Glenelg / Noarlunga City Tigers	11	5	1976, 1977, 1992, 1993, 1998	6	1978, 1979, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1996
Sturt Sabres	10	5	1985, 1986, 2001, 2002, 2010	5	1974, 1981, 2002, 2006, 2008
Vikings	4	0		4	1959, 1960, 1962, 1963
Woodville Warriors	4	3	2000, 2005, 2014	1	2025
Southern Tigers	4	2	2016, 2018	2	2017, 2021
A.S.K. (Adelaide Giants) [21]	2	2	1960, 1964	0
Budapest	2	2	1961, 1962	0
Central Districts Lions	2	1	1984	1	2024
Adelaide [21] [22]	1	0		1	1966
Eastern Mavericks	1	1	2004	0

References

1. "HISTORY OF THE BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA". basketballsa.com.au. Archived from the original on 8 March 2016.
2. "History". southerntigers.com.au. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015.
3. "About". Basketball SA. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
4. "Men's Premiers (1957–2019)". NBL1 Central. Archived from the original on 16 August 2023. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
5. "Women's Premiers (1957–2019)". NBL1 Central. Archived from the original on 16 August 2023. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
6. "SA needs a SuperLeague". botinagy.com. 15 March 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
7. "State League needs a boost from within". botinagy.com. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
8. "History of the ABA". ABABasketball.net.au. Archived from the original on 19 March 2012.
9. "Basketball Australia Annual Report 1998" (PDF). Basketball Australia. p. 28 (36). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 March 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
10. "ACC National Finals 2009 and onwards". Basketball Queensland. 26 November 2008. Archived from the original on 20 January 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
11. "Introducing Premier League 2015". Premier League. 10 December 2014. Archived from the original on 3 January 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
12. "NBL1 Central To Tip Off In 2020". NBL1.com.au. 14 February 2020. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
13. Keam, Patrick (14 February 2020). "Basketball SA and Adelaide Premier League clubs agree to join NBL1 competition in 2020" . The Advertiser. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
14. "NBL1 Season Cancelled". NBL.com.au. 24 March 2020. Archived from the original on 9 March 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
15. Sharrad, Thamsin (17 September 2021). "Congratulations to our 2021 NBL1 Central Champions!". Basketball SA. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
16. "Stars shine at NBL1 Central Awards Night". www.nbl1.com.au. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
17. "2024 NBL1 Awards Tracker". www.nbl1.com.au. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
18. "2023 NBL1 Awards Tracker". www.nbl1.com.au. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
19. "BSA Annual Report 2023" (PDF).
20. "Turnage and Morrell crowned NBL1 Central MVPs". www.nbl1.com.au. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
21. "Eight not enough for Tigers". botinagy.com. 11 September 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
22. Prentice, Tristan (9 August 2024). "2024 NBL1 Central Women's Grand Final Preview". sacrossoverdribble.com. Retrieved 20 December 2024.

External links

• Official website
• 2015 Premier League
• 2015 Premier League Media Guide
• Premier League awards history (to 2019)
• "The Renaming of the Halls Medal to the Lorraine Eiler Medal" at nbl1.com.au