WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: POOL C - CHINESE TAIPEI VS AUSTRALIA

March 4, 2026

Dave Nilsson

Tokyo Dome

Team Australia

Pregame Press Conference

DAVE NILSSON: Excited to be back in Tokyo for WBC. The team have very well prepared and very athletic and very healthy. We cannot wait for the first game and for playing very well in this tournament.

Q. (Can you talk about playing in Fuchu and the support you get there)?

DAVE NILSSON: Yeah, the relationship we have with the City of Fuchu has been built over a long time. We have a wonderful relationship, the people of Fuchu really enjoy Australia coming out there and the players look forward to coming out there.

We look forward to visiting schools and doing clinics for the young baseball players and kids. It's a great home away from home for us, and it's a good feeling knowing that there's a group of people supporting us.

Q. (How does it feel to have the support of people in Japan for Team Australia?)

DAVE NILSSON: Yeah, to all the Japanese people who support Team Australia strongly, we want to thank you very much. We hear your hearing and the team really appreciate all the support you give, and we look forward to playing very well for you supporters.

Q. (What is your strategy for Chinese Taipei and their starting pitcher?)

DAVE NILSSON: Yeah, we're very excited to play Chinese Taipei. They are a very good team. We have a lot of respect for the Chinese Taipei baseball program, and it's always a great clinical every time we come up against them.

As far as their starting pitcher and all their pitchers, we have a lot of information, and the hitters have been working through that. I think we're going to represent really well tomorrow.

Q. Curious when you have a number one pick, guys pretty well established in the U.S., and everyone really aware of him, Travis Bazzana, what does that -- what can that do for baseball in Australia and growing the sport in your country?

DAVE NILSSON: Well, yes, I think any time an Australian does well overseas, the Australian public really support that and given that Travis is a baseball player, that's great for baseball in Australia. It obviously brought a lot of publicity when he was a first-round pick.

But here in the WBC, he's just Travis to us. He's our teammate and someone that the players have known for a long time, and we love having him here and from my point of view, I just want him to be part of the team and contribute.

Q. I know it's the last game that you guys are going to play but just looking ahead a little bit, you have some pitchers with KBO experience. How much are you going to lean into that experience in that particular game?

DAVE NILSSON: Yeah, I mean, that will be an important game, the final game. We're not too focused on that right now. Obviously we have a few games before then.

But as far as leaning into the experience of Australians who have been in the KBO, we will absolutely will lean into that. But we have a lot of information; that will be a small piece of our puzzle that we're going to lean into, and I'm sure it's going to be a great contest.

Q. Given the makeup of the group and with Japan out there, this is going to be an incredibly important game for you guys tomorrow, and sort of similar to '23 where you also got -- you ended up in the deep end from the very beginning. Do you think that experience can inform the way the players approach tomorrow's game?

DAVE NILSSON: Yeah, look, I think it's a about observation. It's very similar first game of the tournament against a team that could really affect the outcome.

I think the takeaway for us from 2023 is that the process of going through that and preparing for it is something we've done before. So the opponent's different but I think we're better prepared.