Defending Domino’s Men’s Super League and Domino’s MSL National Cup winners Ballincollig BC can ‘already feel the target on their back’, with less than one month to go until the start of the new season, according to captain Adrian O’Sullivan.
The Cork side have been bolstered in recent weeks by the news that forward Josh Steel will return for the 2026/27 campaign. The 6’5″ Englishman was a First Team All-Star during their double winning season alongside the now departed Latavious Mitchell and Latrell Jossell, averaging over 14.8 points and 4 assists per game. Steel joins new signings Jakevion Buckley and Willie Williams at the forefront of head coach Ciaran O’Sullivan’s back-to-back tilt.
Buckley spent the 2025/26 season with LSU New Orleans Privateers, averaging 13.8 points and clocking a season-high 32-point game against Texas A&M Corpus Christi Islanders. Williams also played NCAA basketball last year for the Northwestern State Demons, where he led his side in rebounds, steals and blocks.
Ballincollig won’t be short of challengers to their crown. Belfast Star have made a splash by bringing back Irish international Paul Dick from Killester, while coaxing Shane Bell, who impressed during his debut season before it was cut short through injury to re-sign, adds to an already enviable core. Griffith College Éanna fans will hope the addition of power forward Neil Hopkins can take them one step further than last season’s final four run, while Garvey’s Tralee Warriors and Killester both start the season with fresh faces at the helm in Gareth Moore and Mike Olsson.
No team has managed to win back-to-back Domino’s Men’s Super League titles since UCC Demons a decade ago, but Adrian O’Sullivan believes Ballincollig are well placed to put that record to the test this season.
“Really looking forward to the season ahead, last year was a great year but we are ready to get back to competing,” said O’Sullivan. “There have been some exciting changes and recruits around the league, and I am sure that will bring its own excitement. Last year is done, as great as it was it’s over now and we’ve got a target on our backs, so we will bed the new guys in and get better as the season goes to give ourselves the best chance for more silverware come crunch time.”
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Trinity Meteors’ Irish international Hazel Finn isn’t phased by the prospect of facing a Career Decisions UCC Glanmire team with revenge on their minds on the opening night of the Domino’s Women’s Super League next month.
“They’ll be coming for revenge, and we’ll just have to be prepared for it,” said Finn ahead of the repeat of April’s playoff final. Trinity Meteors came out on the right side of an 87-81 win at the National Basketball Arena on that occassion to lift the title for the first time in more than 20 years, but Finn, who averaged 17.5 points and 6.1 rebounds per game last season knows that finding a rhythm early under new head coach Anthony Dodson will be important for the group.
“It was a great honour to win. It was a tough challenge for us to get there, but at the end of the day, we came out on top, which was great and we’re all absolutely delighted,” said Finn.“But I suppose this year it’s a bit different, because a few girls have already left and we have a few new girls who’ve come in. We’ve Morgan Lenahan and Ava Learn back as well which is huge. It’s a different year, different management and a slightly different team. I suppose we’ll have the same expectations to try and get there, but the way we do it might be a little bit different, but we have to take it game by game.”
“Adapting to the new management is huge. Getting back to basics, getting used to gelling with girls and just getting the swing of the games early in the season is so important.” added Finn.
Dodson has taken over as head coach after joining the staff as assistant coach in 2024. Dodson has been coaching since 2015, racking up multiple trophies throughout his career, including an U18 National Cup title and an U17 Billy Kelly Tournament title. Continuity is important to any prospect of repeating their remarkable achievement of last season and returning Ava Learn to the roster, having been awarded the Finals MVP and averaging 13 points and 11 rebounds per game throughout the 2025/26 campaign is a huge plus along with the retention of Morgan Lenehan for a further year.
Killester’s bid of a three-peat came to an end in the final four, but a summer of reflection has whet the appetite for a return to the winners circle. “It was a tough one for us, losing the semi-final of the playoffs, that one kind of cut deep because we were looking to get that third year in a row,” said former Irish U20 international Leilani Turner. “I think it was ultimately really good for us, just so that we can get back in the right headspace of who we are as a team, who everyone else sees us as and just kind of continuing on that legacy and preparing to just get better.”
Career Decisions UCC Glanmire were just one quarter away from a first championship in three seasons before Trinity Meteors outgunned them down the stretch and should Claire O’Sullivan and Áine McKenna return for one more tilt, they are sure to be important protagonists in April once more with some shrewd recruiting by head coach Mark Scannell. Elsewhere VSC Cavan Eagles have been busy this summer bringing in former Irish youth internationals Ellie and Emma Glavin from UG Mystics, while Naomi Farrington, another standout at youth level for Ireland, has joined from Tolka Rovers. FloMAX Liffey Celtics added to a strong Irish rotation of Sorcha Tiernan, Áine O’Connor and Katie Williamson by signing former Portlaoise Panthers and Templeogue forward Lynn Tunnah and 2024/25 Domino’s Women’s Super League finalists Utility Trust St. Paul’s have brought in Angelina Robles and Paula Reus Piza to feature alongside returning guard Maisie Burnham and Irish international Lorraine Scanlon as they bid to welcome a first Domino’s Women’s Super League title to Killarney.
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