The NBL doesn't play like footy — here's what a round actually looks like
19 September 2026 · 2 min read
If your group’s AFL or NRL competition is winding down and NBL is the obvious next stop, it’s worth knowing upfront: a round of NBL tipping has its own rhythm. Same group, same app, a whole new shape to the week.
Ten teams, not eighteen — and everyone plays everyone 🏀
NBL runs a straight round robin across ten teams, not a conference or ladder-position draw. Nothing to explain about byes or draw quirks — every team’s season is the same shape as every other team’s.
A round doesn’t close on Sunday night 🗓️
This is the one that catches people out. AFL and NRL rounds are (mostly) a Friday-to-Sunday cluster — pick your games, tip by the weekend, done. NBL round 1 runs from Saturday night through to Wednesday night: seven games spread across five days, not stacked into one sitting. If you’re used to clearing a whole round’s tips in one Thursday-night pass, NBL will have games still open on a Wednesday you’d already mentally filed as “next round.”
Practically: tip the early games as they lock rather than waiting for a quiet moment to do the whole round at once — by the time you’d normally get to it, some of the round may already be locked.
A full season, not a four-week sprint 📆
Where AFL finals (the easiest competition anyone starts, because it’s short and everyone’s level) runs four weeks, NBL runs a genuine season — kicking off 19 September and playing through to early March. If your group wants “the same energy as finals, but it doesn’t end in a month,” this is closer to that than a knockout competition.
What’s the same 🔁
Everything that matters stays the same code to code: same group, same rules, free for everyone. Setting up an NBL competition is the same two minutes it took to set up the AFL or NRL one — same app, same rules, new fixture list.
What to know before you commit your group to it 🧭
NBL’s just tipped off, so treat it as new rather than assuming it behaves like whatever competition your group already ran this year. The round shape is the one adjustment worth flagging to your group up front — everything else about running the competition is identical.