Editing 2021 NXL Australia

'''2021 NXL Australia''' was the 2021 season of [[NXL Australia]], an Australian tournament paintball league. Its advertised programme comprised four rounds each in Victoria, Western Australia and a combined ACT NSW competition, followed by national finals.[1]

Documented results include [[Lumberjacks (Australian Paintball Team)|Lumberjacks]] winning Division 2 at the first two Victorian rounds, [[South East Cartel (Australian Paintball Team)|South East Cartel]] winning Division 1 at Victoria Round 2, and [[STK Australia (Australian Paintball Team)|STK Australia]] winning the final Perth round and the Perth series.[2][3][4][5] ACT NSW Round 3 was cancelled following withdrawals associated with COVID and travel concerns. Completion of the full advertised programme has not been established.[6]

== Format and venues ==
The league advertised five-player competition at [[Paintball Games Coldstream]] in Victoria, [[WASP Paintball]] in Western Australia and [[Paintball Sports ACT]] for ACT NSW. The national finals venue was listed as to be announced.[1]

Division 1 and Division 2 were advertised in Western Australia, while ACT NSW offered Division 2. Victoria initially advertised Divisions 1, 2 and 3; its later rounds listed Divisions 1 and 2. The national finals were advertised for Divisions 1 and 2.[1]

== Events ==
Dates and venues below describe the advertised programme unless confirmed by contemporary reports. Confirmation that an event took place does not establish that every advertised division was contested.

{| class="wikitable"
! Event
! Advertised date
! Advertised venue
! Status and evidence
|-
| [[2021 NXL Australia Victoria Round 1|Victoria Round 1]]
| 14 March 2021
| Paintball Games Coldstream
| '''Completed in Division 2.''' Lumberjacks' victory is documented. Completion and results of other advertised divisions remain unconfirmed.[2][7]
|-
| [[2021 NXL Australia ACT NSW Round 1|ACT NSW Round 1]]
| 27 March 2021
| Paintball Sports ACT
| '''Unconfirmed.''' Scheduling is documented; completion, cancellation and results have not been verified.[1]
|-
| [[2021 NXL Australia WA Round 1|WA Round 1]]
| 28 March 2021
| WASP Paintball
| '''Competition reported on the scheduled date.''' STK Australia reported winning at WASP that day, but did not explicitly identify the competition or round. Its association with this round remains provisional.[8]
|-
| [[2021 NXL Australia ACT NSW Round 2|ACT NSW Round 2]]
| 22 May 2021
| Paintball Sports ACT
| '''Unconfirmed.''' Eskimo Avalanche announced its intended participation the preceding day; completion and results remain unverified.[1][9]
|-
| [[2021 NXL Australia Victoria Round 2|Victoria Round 2]]
| 22–23 May 2021
| Paintball Games Coldstream
| '''Completed in Divisions 1 and 2.''' South East Cartel won Division 1 and Lumberjacks won Division 2. Division 3 completion remains unconfirmed.[3][4]
|-
| [[2021 NXL Australia WA Round 2|WA Round 2]]
| 20 June 2021
| WASP Paintball
| '''Unconfirmed.''' Scheduling is documented; completion, cancellation and results have not been verified.[1]
|-
| [[2021 NXL Australia Victoria Round 3|Victoria Round 3]]
| 3 July 2021 in the league calendar; 3–4 July 2021 in PBLeagues
| Paintball Games Coldstream
| '''Unconfirmed.''' The sources differ on the advertised duration. Registrations survive, but completion and results have not been verified.[1][10]
|-
| [[2021 NXL Australia ACT NSW Round 3|ACT NSW Round 3]]
| 7 August 2021
| Paintball Sports ACT
| '''Cancelled.''' The venue announced cancellation following withdrawals associated with COVID and travel concerns.[6]
|-
| [[2021 NXL Australia WA Round 3|WA Round 3]]
| 15 August 2021
| WASP Paintball
| '''Reported completed.''' A publicly indexed STK Australia post explicitly reports winning NXL WA Round 3. Its individual post link has not been recovered; complete standings and divisional identification remain unverified.[11]
|-
| [[2021 NXL Australia Victoria Round 4|Victoria Round 4]]
| 4 September 2021
| Paintball Games Coldstream
| '''Unconfirmed.''' Scheduling is documented; completion, cancellation and results have not been verified.[1]
|-
| [[2021 NXL Australia ACT NSW Round 4|ACT NSW Round 4]]
| 9 October 2021
| Paintball Sports ACT
| '''Unconfirmed.''' Scheduling is documented; completion, cancellation and results have not been verified.[1]
|-
| [[2021 NXL Australia WA Round 4|WA Round 4]]
| 24 October 2021
| WASP Paintball
| '''Completed.''' STK Australia reported winning the final Perth NXL round on the preceding Sunday in its 25 October report, matching the advertised date.[1][5]
|-
| [[2021 NXL Australia Finals|National finals]]
| 6 November 2021
| To be announced
| '''Unconfirmed.''' The final venue, completion, cancellation and results have not been verified.[1]
|}

== Results ==
=== Victoria ===
{| class="wikitable"
! Event
! Division
! Place
! Team
|-
| [[2021 NXL Australia Victoria Round 1|Victoria Round 1]]
| Division 2
| 1st
| [[Lumberjacks (Australian Paintball Team)|Lumberjacks]][2]
|-
| rowspan="3" | [[2021 NXL Australia Victoria Round 2|Victoria Round 2]]
| rowspan="2" | Division 1
| 1st
| [[South East Cartel (Australian Paintball Team)|South East Cartel]][3][4]
|-
| 2nd
| [[ADL Assassins (Australian Paintball Team)|ADL Assassins]][4]
|-
| Division 2
| 1st
| [[Lumberjacks (Australian Paintball Team)|Lumberjacks]][3]
|}

ADL Assassins reported reaching the Division 1 final at Victoria Round 2 without losing a match. The final against South East Cartel was tied 2–2 before Cartel won the golden point.[4]

=== Western Australia ===
STK Australia reported winning at WASP Paintball on 28 March 2021. This matches the advertised date and venue of WA Round 1, although the report does not explicitly identify NXL or the round number.[1][8]

A publicly indexed post from STK Australia explicitly reports victory in NXL WA Round 3. The original post's individual link has not been recovered, and no complete divisional standings have been established.[11]

On 25 October, STK Australia reported winning the final Perth NXL round on the preceding Sunday and securing the 2021 Perth series. This corresponds to the advertised WA Round 4 date of 24 October. The report does not identify the winning division.[1][5]

The Perth series result does not establish a national championship result. No verified national finals standings have been recovered.

== COVID-19 impact ==
COVID-related withdrawals and travel concerns directly affected the ACT NSW programme. Paintball Sports ACT explicitly announced cancellation of the NXL event scheduled for 7 August 2021, corresponding to ACT NSW Round 3.[1][6]

Victorian participant reporting also documents disruption. In a post published on 17 June, Jackson Chandler described returning for NXL Round 2 before Melbourne went back into lockdown. The post confirms the interruption following that event but does not establish the eventual outcome of later Victorian rounds.[12]

Western Australian competition continued later in the season, with STK Australia's October report confirming a final Perth round and a regional series winner.[5] The available evidence therefore supports different outcomes between regions rather than a single league-wide cancellation. Events marked unconfirmed above should not be treated as cancelled solely because results have not been recovered.

== Surviving records ==
PBLeagues' surviving NXL Australia directory lists three Victorian events for 2021, while the league's archived calendar advertises the wider regional programme and national finals.[1][13]

Registration records do not establish attendance or final placings. Conversely, missing database scores do not establish cancellation: contemporary venue and team reports confirm the Victorian Round 2 winners independently of the registration database.[3][4]

== See also ==
* [[NXL Australia]]
* [[2020 NXL Australia]]
* [[Paintball in Australia]]

== References ==
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20210928232530/https://nxlaustralia.com.au/events/ NXL Australia — Events: advertised 2021 dates, venues and divisions, archived 28 September 2021.]
# [https://www.instagram.com/p/CMbDsXph7k1/ Jackson Chandler — “NXL R1 - Div2 with Lumberjacks”, participant report identifying a Division 2 first-place finish, March 2021.]
# [https://www.instagram.com/p/CPPcMBFBjZ9/ Paintball Games — Victoria Round 2 report confirming Lumberjacks as Division 2 winners and Cartel as Division 1 winners, May 2021.]
# [https://www.facebook.com/ADLASSASSINS/posts/172440484883878 ADL Assassins — Victoria Round 2 report describing second place after a golden-point defeat against South East Cartel, 23 May 2021.]
# [https://www.facebook.com/STKAustralia/posts/3406859149439180 STK Australia — Report of winning the final Perth NXL round and the 2021 series, 25 October 2021.]
# [https://www.instagram.com/paintballsports_act/?hl=en Paintball Sports ACT — Instagram account; publicly indexed notice cancelling the NXL event scheduled for 7 August 2021 because of COVID-related withdrawals and travel concerns.]
# [https://pbleagues.com/event/7167/info PBLeagues — NXL Australia Victoria Round 1: date, venue and registration information.]
# [https://www.instagram.com/p/CM9KI9gBV0i/ STK Australia — Report of winning at WASP Paintball, 28 March 2021.]
# [https://www.instagram.com/p/CPIdmDfh5Lk/ Eskimo Brothers Paintball — Announcement of Eskimo Avalanche's intended participation in the Canberra NXL event, 21 May 2021.]
# [https://pbleagues.com/event/7258/info PBLeagues — NXL Australia Victoria Round 3: advertised dates of 3–4 July 2021 and registration information.]
# [https://www.instagram.com/stkaustralia/ STK Australia — Instagram account; publicly indexed post reporting “We won NXL WA round 3 today”.]
# [https://www.instagram.com/p/CQOIfssBgMh/ Jackson Chandler — “NXL R2 2021”, participant post describing a return to lockdown following the event, 17 June 2021.]
# [https://pbleagues.com/leagues/432 PBLeagues — NXL Australia: surviving event directory.]

[[Category:Paintball tournaments in Australia]]
[[Category:2020s in Australian paintball]]