GEELONG United’s Youth League Boys side are ready to take the next step in their 2026 Big V campaign as they enter their second season in the Championship division.<\/p>\n
After an 11th-place finish in the top division in 2025, United started their season last weekend in a double-header which resulted in one win and one loss.<\/p>\n
They narrowly went down to last year’s grand finalists Frankston by four points at home, before traveling to Nunawading to overcome the Spectres by nine points.<\/p>\n
Head coach Luke Beard said his group learned valuable lessons from their maiden run in the Championship division that they would use to move further up the ladder in 2026.<\/p>\n
“The biggest lesson was definitely around consistency,” he said.<\/p>\n
“We played really good basketball, but if we’re not bringing 40 minutes of really good basketball then we’re not going to get the result.<\/p>\n
“The improvement is going to come through our physicality and\u00a0our defence.”<\/p>\n
As players such as Kuol Reech and Jackson Talbot age out of Youth League eligibility, Beard said this season’s roster brought a strong mix of experience and youth.<\/p>\n
“We’ve got guys coming back that are going to be pushing for NBL1, [like] Ryan Drinkwater, Josh Norling and Bailey Bruce.<\/p>\n
“But then you’ve got generation next with Malik Davis, Keegan Johnson, Phil Wickham, who are really going to step up.<\/p>\n
“You’ve got old heads like Jay Posterino, we got Max Zalakos back from Bellarine – we’re going to bat really deep, that’s going to be one of our strengths.<\/p>\n
“I’m really excited to see the team come together and all those different aspects of skill be put on the floor and result in some really consistent play.”<\/p>\n
Beard was hopeful United could make a genuine finals push in 2026 while developing the squad to eventually move into\u00a0NBL1 contention.<\/p>\n
“Youth League exists to develop the player, it’s a real transition pathway between junior and senior basketball, that’s not lost on us.<\/p>\n
“It doesn’t mean that we can’t be successful in that pursuit while developing players, and I think what we’ve done well is build a culture of expectation and hard work.<\/p>\n
“The logical next step for us is to push for a finals berth and then from there see what we can do.”<\/p>\n
United will take on Eltham tomorrow (Saturday 21 March) at the Geelong Arena. The match will tip off at 7pm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
GEELONG United’s Youth League Boys side are ready to take the next step in their 2026 Big V campaign as they enter their second season in the Championship division. After an 11th-place finish in the top division in 2025, United started their season last weekend in a double-header which resulted in one win and one […]<\/p>\n