Parker Jackson-Cartwright ($405,200) will play twice in the opening round of the NBL27 season.

Eight of the 10 clubs will play once. That is the whole case for handing the Breakers guard your armband in Round 1, and it is worth more than any read you have on form, because the SuperCoach NBL captain is awarded double their score, and a double round pays the cumulative score from every game the club plays.

>> See the full Blitz breakdowns at basketball.com.au

Two games, doubled, against one game for most of the competition. Jackson-Cartwright averaged 39.06 across 33 appearances last season and did not miss a game, which matters more in a captain than it does anywhere else in your side: a captain who does not take the floor hands the multiplier to your vice-captain. If neither plays, the round carries no double at all.

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Nathan Sobey ($379,600) is the other side of that coin, because South East Melbourne are the only other club doubling in Round 1. He averaged 36.59 from 32 games, and the argument for him over Jackson-Cartwright is the fixture rather than the form: the Phoenix double again in Round 3 and Round 5, so the armband keeps paying across the opening month. Sam Mennenga ($303,100) is the cheaper way into the same Breakers double at 29.22 from 27 games, and he leaves money in your side that a Jackson-Cartwright captaincy ties up in one position.

Round 1 locks at 7:30pm AEST on Saturday, September 19, 2026, the same instant the season tips off, and a captain from any of the other eight clubs is a captain on a single game in the week the field is closest together.

But then the schedule hands the competition to Illawarra. William Hickey ($331,600) plays seven double rounds in the first 10, more than any player at any other club, because the Hawks double in Rounds 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9 and 10 and play once in only Rounds 1, 5 and 7. He averaged 31.96 from 27 games and is the highest scoring Hawk. The run from Round 2 to Round 4 is three consecutive double rounds. Adelaide and Cairns share the same stretch, and Illawarra is the only club that does it twice, doubling again in Rounds 8, 9 and 10.

Milton Doyle ($274,700) is the durability pick from the same fixture. He played all 33 games last season at 26.48, which is exactly the profile you want holding the armband across four doubles in five rounds, and Tyler Harvey ($271,700) sits just behind him on 26.19 from 31 games. Any of the three gives you a captain playing twice in seven of the first ten weeks.

Jack McVeigh ($349,800) is the Cairns answer at 33.72 from 29 games, and the Taipans are the third club on six early doubles. Treat the rest of that roster carefully for now, because both Jaylin Galloway and Kyrin Galloway are carrying injuries with no return date attached to either. The depth behind McVeigh is thinner than the fixture makes it look, and any Cairns captaincy plan not built on McVeigh is waiting on a medical update.

Every club in the competition plays exactly 12 double rounds across 21 rounds. What differs is when they land, and the first 10 rounds are lopsided: Illawarra on seven, New Zealand and Cairns on six, South East Melbourne, Brisbane and Melbourne United on five, and Adelaide, Perth, Sydney and Tasmania on four apiece.

The order flips in the back half of the season. Across Rounds 11 to 21, Adelaide, Perth, Sydney and Tasmania each double eight times while Illawarra drop to five. So the edge is timing rather than volume, and timing is worth more now, because the players who bank points in the opening month are the players whose prices rise before anybody has spent a trade.

One detail to carry for the rest of the season: the Ignite Cup games count. They are regular season fixtures, they score, and they are inside every figure above.

The two rounds to put in your planning sit at the far end. Round 17 is the only round in which nobody doubles, five games played one a day, and there is no captaincy edge to be found in it. Round 18 is the biggest round of the year, with 10 games and all 10 clubs playing twice, making it the one week where the armband comes down to form alone.