DrinkWise Preview: NBL26 - Round 8, Game 2 v South East Melbourne Phoenix

Saturday night will see us face off against the South East Melbourne Phoenix in one of the biggest Throwdown games in the rivalry's history.

Sitting in first and second on the ladder, the contest will likely determine which team will end Round 8 looking down on the rest of the competition.

After back-to-back losses, we will look to bounce back in a big way on Saturday, fuelled by the noise produced by our fans occupying enemy territory.

For the Phoenix, a fifth consecutive win on Thursday evening has our cross-town rivals full of confidence.

WHAT’S THE WORD?

Eager to reverse our recent form, star forward Finn Delany touched on the importance of Saturday night’s game.

“We have a lot of experienced guys, and this is the NBL, it’s been such a great league over the last five-ten years because anyone can beat any team on any floor on any given day,” Delany said.

“We have to learn from this. We’ve got a big one on Saturday against South East, we’ve got to come out with a different intent.”

Phoenix Head Coach Josh King also broke down what he’s expecting of the contest.

“It should be an exciting game, we should be up for it,” King said.

“They’re coming off two really close defeats. They’re clearly the best team in the league to date and if we want to win on Saturday night, we’re going to have to play better than we have recently. It should be a fun, exciting game.”

WHO’S HOT, WHO'S NOT

While he has been hampered by foul trouble across the past four games, Jesse Edwards has showcased how dominant he can be at both ends of the floor.

In 21 minutes per game, Edwards is averaging 16.5 points on 77.4% shooting, along with 1.8 blocks. 

South East Melbourne will once again look to Nathan Sobey to lead them in the scoring department come Saturday.

The guard is in career-best form, and has tallied 20 points or more in each of his team’s past five games.

GAME INFO

Who: Melbourne United vs South East Melbourne Phoenix

Tip-off: 8pm AEDT, Saturday 8 November, 2025

Where: John Cain Arena, Melbourne

Watch: ESPN

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