
Buried in this season’s regulations is a small change to how games are scheduled. Under 17.9 in the SLB operating rules, teams will no longer be required to play two domestic fixtures on consecutive days — commonly referred to as back-to-back games. Last season, back-to-backs were one of the clearest pressure points in the calendar…

Every team has a fifth option. The player defences are happy to leave alone, the one who is not meant to swing games. For Manchester, that role belonged to Zak Irvin — measured, selective and quietly essential. Before his injury at the start of November, Manchester asked a lot of him. Only Max Jones had…

Surrey have built their season on the glass — everything they do starts there. As Surrey fan Scott Horsburgh said on the Brits Don’t Jump podcast, rebounding has sat at the heart of the 89ers for years. For the last two seasons, we’ve had two rebounding machines in Dame and Saiquan. That focus is still…

Leicester opened last season with a clarity few teams in the league could match. Their starting lineup stayed untouched for nine straight games, the rotation barely shifted, and then Rob Paternostro made one adjustment: Ethan Wright moved to the bench and Spencer Johnson stepped into the starting five. Johnson’s role was simple and useful —…

Few teams in the SLB have shifted more in the opening weeks than Newcastle. Line-ups, roles and rotations have changed almost game by game. Through eight fixtures they have already started seven different line-ups — a team still working out what it has. London have matched that total, but their rotation reflects EuroCup demands and…

Every sport needs a bridge between education and the professional game. When government funding arrived through the Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence (AASE) in 2004 — and later its successor, the Diploma in Sporting Excellence (DiSE) in 2018 — it gave young athletes across multiple sports a dual path: to train like professionals while completing…