Game Report: Hawks @ New Zealand Breakers | RD1 NBL27

The Illawarra Hawks opened NBL27 with a 95-81 loss to the New Zealand Breakers at Spark Arena on Sunday afternoon, beaten by a side that shot it better, went to the line more efficiently and led for 38 of the 40 minutes.

That is the honest version. Here is the other one. The Hawks out-rebounded a front line built around a 211cm rim protector, they turned the ball over ten times against a team that forced sixteen a game in preseason, they won the final quarter, and William "Davo" Hickey played the best game of anyone in a Hawks jersey.

Davo Took The Keys

The preview sold you a three-guard rotation and put Tyler Harvey and Milton Doyle at the front of it. On Sunday the one who carried it was Hickey.

Eighteen points on 8 of 11 from the field. Two from two from deep. Nine rebounds, five assists, a block. He led the Hawks in points, rebounds and assists, and nobody else was close in any of the three. He spent the afternoon taking his defender off the dribble and getting to spots the rest of the team could not find, including a scoop finish through Dejan Vasiljevic in the third that forced a Breakers timeout with just over three minutes to go in the quarter.

Twenty Four Misses From Deep

Here is where the afternoon was decided, and there is no soft way to put it. The Hawks shot 7 of 31 from three. Twenty-four misses.

They were not bad looks either. The ball moved early, and the Q2 stretch where Narkle found Peatling and Blanchfield buried a corner triple for a 39-38 lead was the offence working exactly as designed. The looks kept coming. They just stopped falling, and as the misses stacked up the ball movement went stagnant and the Breakers started running the other way before the Hawks had feet set.

Harvey was the most accurate of the volume shooters at 3 of 8. Kelan Martin went 1 of 8. Doyle went 0 of 5. Those are three players who have all proven they make that shot.

Nine Left At The Line

The free throw line hurt just as much. The Hawks went 16 from 25. The Breakers went 15 from 16.

Nine fewer attempts, one fewer make. That is a fourteen-point loss with nine missed free throws inside it, and it is the most fixable number on the sheet.

Froling Fought The Big Men

Sam Froling played only 15:42 after picking up his second foul a minute into the second quarter, and in that time he pulled down seven rebounds, five of them at the offensive end. The Hawks finished with fifteen offensive boards to New Zealand's seven, and a third of the Hawks' total came from a co-captain who barely saw the second half of the second quarter.

Winning the glass 46-39 against Charles Bediako's length and Sam Mennenga's power was listed as a key to victory before tip-off. The Hawks delivered on it. They just could not convert the extra possessions.

Milton Doyle deserves a mention here too. His shooting line was rough at 2 of 12, but he got to the line seven times, grabbed six rebounds, dished three assists and blocked a few shots, including a first-half stop on a bully-ball backdown that changed the temperature of the game for a stretch.

The Third Was The Gap

At half time, this was still a game. The third killed it.

The Hawks scored fourteen points in ten minutes, their lowest quarter of the afternoon, and went 0 from 5 from three while doing it. New Zealand answered with twenty-two. A five-point halftime deficit became fifteen.

The Breakers did not commit their first turnover until 4:50 remained in that quarter. When a team is that clean with the ball and the shots are not dropping at the other end, the margin goes one way.

Lead for Twenty Nine Seconds

The stat that tells the whole story sits in the footer of the box score. The Hawks led for twenty-nine seconds. Their biggest lead was one point, 29-28 on a Hickey three, and a 39-38 edge that Blanchfield's triple gave them in the second quarter. New Zealand led for 38:05.

Eight lead changes says this was a contest for long stretches. Twenty-nine seconds in front says the Hawks were always chasing.

The Fourth Belonged To Us

For what it is worth, and on the first weekend of a season it is worth something, the Hawks won the last quarter 20-19.

Down sixteen at one point, this group kept playing. Harvey opened the quarter with a triple. Martin finished through contact for an and-one. Hickey scored on a put-back. Wani Swaka Lo Buluk got a cutting layup. Harvey finished with fourteen off the bench on 3 of 8 from deep after starting the game in a reserve role he has not often occupied.

No moral victories on offer. But a side that had been beaten by eight, three and eight in the first three quarters did not stop competing in the fourth.

Mennenga And PJC Delivered

The preview flagged them and they arrived exactly as advertised. Sam Mennenga finished with 27 points on 11 of 17 shooting and eight rebounds. Parker Jackson-Cartwright had 23 points and thirteen assists, thirteen of his team's sixteen. Dejan Vasiljevic was the one who broke it open, 24 points on 6 of 10 from three, including back-to-back triples late in the second and a corner fadeaway to start the third.

Three elite performances in one afternoon. Give them that.

Who Was Your Game MVP

Davo Hickey's eighteen points on 8 of 11 shooting, with nine boards and five assists. Tyler Harvey's fourteen off the bench. Kelan Martin's thirteen. Sam Froling's five offensive rebounds in barely sixteen minutes. Or someone else.

Plenty to argue about, and the argument belongs to you. Voting for the Greater Bank Game MVP, presented by the Hawks' Major Community Partner, is open now

Brisbane On Friday Night

Road trip, game two. The Hawks head to the Brisbane Entertainment Centre to face the Brisbane Bullets on Friday 25 September at 7:30pm AEST, then on to Qudos Bank Arena to meet the Sydney Kings on Sunday 27 September.

Then the doors open at home. Friday 2 October, 7:30pm, the WIN Entertainment Centre hosts the Adelaide 36ers, the same 36ers the Hawks beat by a point in Bendigo.

Tickets are on sale now through Ticketmaster, and after an afternoon like this one you will want to be in the building when this group gets in front of its own crowd.

Get around them, Hawkheads. One game does not make a season.

Check our social media for game highlights, photos and behind-the-scenes content.

STRONGER. LOUDER. TOGETHER.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2026-27 (Boxscore)
NZ Breakers 95 (Mennenga 27, Vasiljevic 24, Jackson-Cartwright 23, Te Rangi 11, Bediako 6, Le'Afa 2, Davison 2)
Illawarra Hawks 81 (Hickey 18, Harvey 14, Martin 13, Doyle 10, Froling 9, Blanchfield 7, Narkle 4, Swaka Lo Buluk 4, Peatling 2)

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Press Conference

Presented by Relativity Films

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Updated: 7:45pm with images and video.