Johny Narkle

Hawks ID: 248

Johny Narkle does not ease into things. He does not settle in gradually, find his feet, work his way into your consciousness over time. He arrives. Loudly. With a banked shot and an immediate steal and a breakaway dunk that makes 5,000 people forget what they were thinking about two seconds ago.

That was his first NBL moment. It set the tone for everything that followed.

Earning the Right

West Australian Narkle arrived at the Hawks in August 2025 as a development player, He made his NBL debut on October 11, chipping in five points in a 116-89 demolition of the Brisbane Bullets. Within a fortnight he had been elevated to the main roster. From that point, the conversation around Johny Narkle changed permanently.

His first NBL points told you everything you needed to know about the man. He banked them in, immediately jumped a passing lane, and took off for a breakaway dunk that brought the WIN Entertainment Centre to its feet. First points. Straightaway. A steal and a slam.  

He finished his debut season with 18 games, averaging 7 minutes and 43 seconds per appearance. The raw numbers were modest: 2.1 points, 1.8 rebounds, 0.4 assists and 0.3 steals per game. Numbers that will not tell you much. What they cannot capture is the way a crowd leans forward when Narkle gets the ball in transition. The way defenders tense up. The way a game shifts in the 90 seconds he spends on the floor.

His season finale said it plainly. Against Tasmania in the final game of NBL26, Narkle logged a career-high 20 minutes and delivered six points, four rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block. All-round. Full throttle. Nothing held back.

History Made

Narkle was part of something bigger than basketball in NBL26. During Indigenous Round, he took the floor alongside teammates Will Hickey and Biwali Bayles to form the first trio of Indigenous Australians to share the court for one NBL team in the same game, against the New Zealand Breakers. History made quietly and powerfully, in front of the faithful at WIN Entertainment Centre.

The Hawks have spoken at length about the Indigenous pathway they have built in Wollongong. Narkle is what that commitment looks like in practice.

The Offseason That Answered Every Question

The 2026 NBL1 West season that followed is where he caught fire entirely. Playing for the Cockburn Cougars in 2026, the reigning NBL1 West MVP is averaging 25.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.5 steals per game (at the time of writing). That steal number deserves a second look. Two and a half steals per game tells you something about how Narkle approaches the end of the floor that highlight packages rarely show.

His most arresting performance of the campaign came against the Goldfields Giants. A 40-point masterclass, capped by 28 of his team's final 29 points in a 91-82 win. The Cougars needed someone to drag them home. Their young guard put the rope around his waist and pulled.

The résumé underneath runs deep. Back-to-back NBL1 West Sixth Man of the Year awards in 2022 and 2023. Two championships with the Geraldton Buccaneers, each accompanied by a Grand Final MVP performance. NBL1 West Youth Player of the Year and All-NBL1 West First Team honours in 2025.

There is a pattern here, and it is not coincidence.

The Road Ahead

Hawks General Manager of Basketball Mat Campbell did not mince words when the two-year re-signing was confirmed. "Johny showed plenty of promise in his first season with us. He earned his spot on the main roster, he competed every single night, and he never looked out of place at this level."

He turns 25 in August. Locked in through NBL27 and NBL28. His best basketball, by every measure, is still ahead of him.

Wollongong has seen a lot of players come through the WIN Entertainment Centre doors across nearly five decades of competition. The ones who last are often the ones who make the building feel different when they walk on the floor.

Johny Narkle makes the building feel different.

‍