Nilsson was invited by Brisbane Bandits CEO Mark Ready to manage the team for the 2014 Australian Baseball League season. Nilsson made numerous team and coaching staff changes which saw the team improve in their previous season standings. Nilsson continued to work on improving the culture and teamwork within the Brisbane Bandits throughout the 2015–2016 season, which saw Nilsson take the team to the 2016 post season and swept the Adelaide Bite to take home the Claxton Shield for the first time in the revamped Australian Baseball League .