Heat, Humour and Hard Matchups: The NSW Captains Set the Tone for 2026

Ahead of the ahm x NPL 2026 season opener, we asked the captains of the four New South Wales teams a few quick questions. The answers gave away a lot: confidence, humour, self-awareness, and a sense that NSW is bringing plenty into this season.

Before a season starts, every team has belief. That part is easy.

What matters is how that belief sounds. Whether it feels borrowed, or whether it feels lived in. Whether it comes out as polished lines and safe answers, or something a little more revealing.

Ahead of the ahm x NPL 2026 season opener on April 25, we asked the captains of the four New South Wales teams a few quick questions about their teams, their own games, and what life looks like when pickleball is not the main event. The answers were funny, loose, specific and, in a few places, quietly telling.

Taken together, they paint a pretty good picture of what NSW is bringing into the season: confidence, personality, and a healthy mix of discipline and chaos.

Michaela Haet set the tone early. Her team, she said, is “the perfect mix of crazy, competitive, calculated and cunning.” It is a strong summary, and probably a fair warning. There is a bit of everything in that sentence. Fire, edge, and enough control to make the chaos useful. That same measured approach shows up in the way she is thinking about her own game this year too. Her focus is the soft game at net — building pressure in the kitchen, staying patient, and trusting consistency instead of trying to finish points too quickly. It is not flashy, but it wins matches.

Selina Turulja brought a different flavour. “Everybody knows the heat comes to play,” she said. “Who doesn’t love the heat?” There is personality in that, but there is also presence. Her team’s imaginary TV show would be Masterchef because they are “ready to cook,” which feels about right. On court, she is working on her left-side game more, while the one shot she would happily steal from someone else is Brian Tran’s backhand. Respect where it is due.

Brian answered like someone equally comfortable talking trash and talking tactics. His team’s TV show title, The Last of Us, comes with the logic that they will be “the last ones standing.” Confident, slightly unhinged, memorable. His own game is heading in a more controlled direction too: less banging, more dinking, while still keeping room for the occasional Kyle Stoker trick shot. That blend feels very NSW in its own way — competitive, but not overly polished. Sharp, but still loose enough to have fun with it.

Then there is Kyle Stoker, whose answers feel grounded in experience. He backed his side because they have four players with plenty of mileage and, more importantly, a willingness to put the team first. That tends to matter more than preseason bravado. His fictional team show, The Jacketeers, takes inspiration from the yellow jacket wasp — aggressive, swarming, relentless — with a wink to the fact this group comes from broader racquet sport backgrounds too. It is a clever answer, but it also says something real about how they see themselves: experienced, layered, and hard to shake.

What makes this group interesting is that the personalities are different, but the edge is consistent.

No one sounds like they are here to simply be part of it. Even the lighter answers carry something underneath. Michaela would steal Selina Turulja’s resets without hesitation, calling her the reset queen. Selina wants Brian’s backhand. Brian is eyeing Selina’s resets too, or maybe Daiki’s backhand. Kyle, meanwhile, did not choose a shot at all — he chose Shannon’s ability to enjoy every second of the game and not get swallowed by competitiveness. That is maybe the most telling answer in the group. Everyone wants more weapons. The really good players also know the value of perspective.

Off court, the mood shifts, but not too much.

Michaela’s best trip was a Pacific Islands cruise built around snorkelling, eating too much and making new friends. Selina’s answer was Europe: food, gelato and good views. Brian’s favourite was Japan, which he described through atmosphere more than itinerary — aesthetic, peaceful, beautiful to look at. Kyle’s best travel memories came through tennis in Europe, where the game opened the door to great people and the chance to see more of the world.

When it comes to switching off, the answers stay refreshingly simple. Michaela runs, eats and watches great TV. Selina shops. Kyle likes a fermented beverage or two after pickle, time with family, and throwing cracked balls around for his three Labradors. Brian claims his team does not rest and that they are dinking all day. Joke or not, it tracks.

That is probably the best part of all this. These answers do not feel manufactured. They feel like competitors talking the way competitors talk when they are not trying too hard to sound media-trained. There is humour, but not for the sake of it. Confidence, without too much theatre. Enough honesty to make the teams feel real before the season has even started.

New South Wales heads into ahm x NPL 2026 with four teams and four captains who all bring something different to the table. Some are built on control. Some on chemistry. Some on energy. Some on experience. All of them sound like they expect to matter.

The season starts on April 25.

NSW sounds ready.