The Comp Trail — Leaderboards

The Smuggler's Comp Trail

Competition BBQ — Australia & New Zealand

Darryl Rubb here. These are the finest people I know — the ones who set an alarm for 3am, stand in the rain over a smoker, and do it all for a nine-inch box and a bit of pride. This page tracks where they're at, on both sides of the Tasman. Every figure here is pulled from the source and checked. I don't print a placing I can't prove.

Snapshot updated: 15 July 2026 · refreshed monthly with each issue of The Contraband Chronicles.

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🇦🇺 Australia — Heat Beads® Pitmaster Championship (2025-26)

Standings as officially tallied 29 May 2026, after the Riverway Meats Battle. Note: the season finale at Leyburn (27 June) had not yet been tallied into this table at the time of writing — so the final order may still shift. Confirmed table lands in Issue 02.

#	Team	Points
1	Dusty Que	416.95
2	Butterbeard BBQ	399.89
3	Big GC's BBQ	399.86
4	Grillas In The Mist	397.56
5	Smooth N SmOakey Salad Dodgers	385.16
6	Triple B BBQ	383.65
7	Big Smoke BBQ	381.63
8	The Jacks Creek BBQ Team	370.87
9	Butcher's Axe BBQ	369.15
10	Jimmy Brisket	363.94

Top 10 shown — see the full standings at the Australian Barbecue Alliance →
Data: ABA, used with thanks. Go support them.

The Honour Roll

2024-25 Big Smoke BBQ (VIC) · 2023 The Jacks Creek BBQ Team (NSW) · 2022 Big Smoke BBQ · 2020/21 Bluebird BBQ Crew · 2019 Butchers Axe BBQ (VIC) · 2018 The Beard and the BBQ (NSW) · 2017 Big Smoke BBQ · 2016 Suck Knuckle Smokers (SA)

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🇳🇿 New Zealand — NZBA National Championship (2026)

Standings after Meatstock Sydney 2026.

#	Team	Points
1	Cook Cartel	38
2	Rum and Que	31
3	BEERS Championship BBQ	30
4	Meat Loaf	22
5	Joint Smokers	20
6	Big-I-Que	17
7	Barbecue B.O.I	16
8	Smokey Fish Bar Bee Q	14
9	Smoked Out West	12
10	Carbon Addiction	10

Top 10 shown — see the full standings at the New Zealand Barbecue Alliance →
Data: NZBA, used with thanks. Go support them.

The rematch: last season Rum & Que took the Kiwi title by three points over Cook Cartel (316.05 to 313.19), with BEERS third. This year Cook Cartel lead and Rum & Que are chasing. Same three teams, roles reversed.

And note the detail: that Kiwi ladder reads "after Meatstock Sydney." Kiwi teams can cook at any sanctioned comp on either side of the Tasman and bank the points on their own national board. It's not two scenes — it's one Australasian family with a ditch running through it.

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Get amongst it

When a comp lands near you, go. Take a chair, buy the teams' gear, cheer 'til you're hoarse. Best-value entertainment in the country, and they cook better with a crowd.

The ABA comp calendar →
The New Zealand Barbecue Alliance →
The Smuggler's Journal — the full Comp Trail →

Cook with championship pedigree

A couple of the teams above make gear we're proud to stock:

Butchers Axe → — 9th in Australia, and 2019 national champions.
Rum & Que → — 2nd in New Zealand, and 2025 NZ national champions.

Competition data sourced from the Australian Barbecue Alliance (ausbbq.com.au) and the New Zealand Barbecue Alliance (bbqalliance.co.nz), correct at the snapshot date above. We show a top-10 snapshot and send you to the source for the full tables — they do the hard work, they deserve the visit. Spotted an error? Tell us and we'll fix it fast.