ahm NPL '26 Mid Season Shuffle Draft - Official Review

The Deck Has Been Reshuffled. 2 June 2026

The Mid-Season Shuffle Draft is done. New faces. New dynamics. The second half of the 2026 season just got a lot more interesting.

Monday night, the ahm NPL 2026 season changed shape. Following the Round 4 Mid-Season Festival in Homebush, captains across all three conferences made their calls — releasing contracted players back into the pool, and picking up new ones. Some teams stood pat. Others moved aggressively. The draft is done, the contracts are locked, and the second half begins.

Here is every change, by conference.

NSW Conference

Heat ★ Selina Turulja (Captain) · 5.95 Shannon Spencer · 4.99 Ciaran Lavers · 5.00 — NEW Daniel Fogl-Kulich · 5.32 — NEW

Comets ★ Michaela Haet (Captain) · 5.58 Guillermo Jacquet · 5.02 Stefan Djordjic · 4.82 — NEW Tatjana Bozovic · 4.62 — NEW

Dinkers ★ Brian Tran (Captain) · 5.59 Daiki Tanabe · 5.35 Tyra Calderwood · 5.33 Nancy Ferguson · 4.75 — NEW

Stingers ★ Kyle Stoker (Captain) · 5.85 Ryan Henry Louise Oxnevad · 4.61 Gianni Martine · 4.69

NSW Conference — The Moves That Matter

The biggest shake-up came from the Heat and the Comets. Selina Turulja cut Josh Chia and Ashton Chan, replacing them with Ciaran Lavers and Daniel Fogl-Kulich. Fogl brings exceptional doubles expertise while Lavers — a genuine triple-threat who has found success alongside Selina before — is the wildcard. He's had time away from the sport, and how quickly he finds his level could define the Heat's entire run home.

At the Comets, Michaela Haet went hunting — securing Tatjana Bozovic from the Dinkers and injecting serious spark with energizer bunny Stefan Djordjic. The cost? Nancy Ferguson, who walks straight into Brian Tran's Dinkers — a squad she already has years of chemistry with. She'll slot right in, and the Dinkers know it.

QLD Conference

Opals ★ Crystal Mildwaters (Captain) · 5.88 Nicola Schoeman · 5.67 Nicholas Maleganeas · 5.00 — NEW Josh Barber · 5.00 — NEW

Outback ★ Harry Brown (Captain) · 5.92 Kaitlynn Hart · 5.36 Millie Smythe · 5.00 — NEW Aaron Johnson · 5.08 — NEW

Reef ★ James Wilson (Captain) · 5.78 Tayah Cross · 4.86 Conor Robertshawe · 5.42 Deborah Rossi · 5.00 — NEW

Brumbies ★ Andy Horridge (Captain) · 5.49 Aleisha Horridge · 4.75 Joey Farias · 5.00 — NEW Kirsty McCorkindale · 4.61 — NEW

QLD Conference — Up North Just Got Serious

Harry Brown lost McCorkindale and Fogl-Kulich but struck back immediately — pulling Outback alumni Aaron Johnson straight out of Crystal's Opals and pairing him with the reliable Millie Smythe. Johnson and Brown have history from two seasons ago, and the Hart-Smythe friendship off the court could be just as dangerous on it. Don't sleep on the Outback.

Speaking of Crystal — the Opals may now be carrying the most stacked roster in the entire NPL. She reunites with Nick Maleganeas and adds Josh Barber, who turned heads at the Mid-Season Festival. Losing Johnson and Bartos stings, but this squad looks like a genuine title threat.

Andy Horridge and the Brumbies responded to injury and roster losses with two sharp moves — Hall of Famer Joey Farias brings elite doubles and veteran leadership, while Kirsty McCorkindale arrives fresh from the Outback. The Brumbies aren't rebuilding. They're reloading. And James Wilson's Reef made a quiet but calculated gamble, releasing Zoey Daggmarr for the uber-consistent Debbie Rossi. The ladder will deliver the verdict.

VIC Conference

29ers ★ Isabelle Papazyan (Captain) · 5.82 Nives Baric · 4.76 Nigel Lee · 5.01 Daniel Kouznetsov · 5.07

Adders ★ Matt Kouznetsov (Captain) · 5.22 Katherine Westbury · 5.17 Katerina Valos · 4.90 — NEW Liam Jesperson · 5.00 — NEW

Roos ★ Sahil Dang (Captain) · 5.03 Ethan Chung · 4.73 Bee Horsley · 5.00 — NEW Emily Martin · 5.00 — NEW

Tide ★ Ayesha Dang (Captain) · 4.57 Ethan Butson · 5.12 Memory Lelenoa · 4.62 Joshua Fisher · 4.62

VIC Conference — Quietly Brewing

While NSW and QLD made noise, Victoria might be where the most interesting second-half story unfolds.

Sahil Dang didn't panic after losing Kat Valos and Nat Fisher — he brought in proven winner Bee Horsley for mixed and the most in-form player in the NPL, Emily Martin. The Roos look dangerous. The question is whether the combinations click in time.

The biggest winner from the Reshuffle though? Possibly Matt Kouznetsov and the Adders. He's reunited the "Kats" with Katerina Valos crossing from the Roos, and added young gun Liam Jesperson to an already strong squad. The burning question: who plays mixed? In a conference this tight, getting that wrong could cost them everything.

The 29ers and Tide stood pat — backing continuity while others gambled. The ladder will tell us who was right.

New rosters. New chemistry. Three rounds to prove it was the right call.

The draft is done and contracts are locked. Players released into the pool who were not selected are no longer contracted for the 2026 season. There is no matching right, no second chance at a player once passed on. Some teams used both their release slots — a calculated bet on upgrading for the run home. Others held still, backing what they already have. Both are legitimate strategies. The standings will tell the story.

What's Still On The Line

Three rounds remain before Finals. With $150,000 AUD in total prize money, the stakes are real — and the gap between making the top four and missing out is the difference between a paycheck and nothing.

$150,000 Total Prize Pool - ahm NPL 2026

1st · Champion · $60,000 2nd · Runner Up · $25,000 3rd · Third · $16,000 4th · Fourth · $8,000 5th-6th · Semi Finalist · $1,800 7th-8th · Finalist · $1,400 9th · Playoffs · $600

The Road To Finals

Three rounds stand between now and Finals. Every match from here counts toward conference qualification. The 2026 champion will be decided in late August.

• Round 5 — 27 June 2026

• Round 6 — 11 July 2026

• Round 7 — 25 July 2026 ·

• Finals — 28–30 August 2026

• Full match schedules for each round will be published at nplpickleball.com.au. Live scores at lader.sport