The Tasmania JackJumpers have confirmed that championship guard Anthony Drmic has retired from professional basketball, ending an 11-season NBL career after persistent back problems. The announcement on Monday, 12 October 2026, is a definitive change to Tasmania’s playing group rather than another week-to-week injury update.
The JackJumpers’ official announcement says Drmic informed his team-mates before training. He had spent roughly 18 months dealing with recurring back setbacks, including periods when rehabilitation progress was followed by another injury. The club and NBL’s confirmation leave no ambiguity about his playing status: he has retired, not been assigned another provisional return date.
A champion whose contribution extended beyond the box score
Drmic finishes with 279 NBL appearances across 11 seasons, including 80 games over four seasons with Tasmania. He was part of the JackJumpers’ NBL24 championship team, and the league credits him with 2,266 career points, 1,026 rebounds and 360 assists. His career also included stints with Adelaide and Brisbane before he made Tasmania home.
Those numbers describe a substantial career, but they do not entirely explain his place in the JackJumpers’ story. Drmic became a trusted locker-room voice and was named vice-captain for NBL26. Coach Scott Roth’s tribute emphasised his work ethic and influence on the club’s identity, particularly its insistence on competitiveness and accountability.
From an NBL27 return to a final decision
The announcement is especially poignant because Tasmania had re-signed Drmic for NBL27 in July. At that point, both player and club hoped he could contribute again after a difficult injury period. The attempted comeback ultimately could not survive the repeated setbacks.
Tasmania had already moved to cover his absence. On 29 September, the club signed Kody Stattmann as an injury replacement for Drmic, while Biwali Bayles joined as cover for Ben Ayre. Those signings pre-date the retirement announcement; there is no basis to describe either as a fresh transaction made on 12 October.
What changes for NBL27 fantasy managers?
For SuperCoach managers, the distinction is straightforward: Drmic should no longer be treated as a possible returning option later in the season. His retirement closes that particular availability question. It does not, by itself, guarantee a particular minutes increase for any individual team-mate.
For Buckets Fantasy Draft managers, Stattmann is the logical player to monitor because Tasmania explicitly recruited him to fill Drmic’s injury-replacement place. That is an opportunity to investigate, not proof of a permanent fantasy-relevant workload. Check actual rotation minutes, role and your league’s player eligibility before making a waiver claim. Bayles’ arrival was linked to Ayre’s injury, so conflating the two replacement situations would produce the wrong fantasy conclusion.
Tasmania’s next scheduled home game is against Adelaide on Friday, 16 October, according to the official NBL fixture. That match and Sunday’s meeting with New Zealand offer immediate opportunities to observe how Roth distributes perimeter minutes. The club has two Round 5 fixtures, but two team games do not automatically translate into a breakout for a reserve guard.
The broader story is a career that helped define Tasmania’s early identity, including its championship run. The immediate fantasy takeaway is smaller and more precise: remove Drmic from return-watch lists, then let actual rotations — not an assumed replacement hierarchy — determine whether there is a worthwhile add.
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