Perth normally play horrible @ Cairns, worse so on NYE.

Damian Martin is back for this game.
Hire out means Steindl finally gets opportunity to impress and Wagstaff needs to step up.

Need to start strong, Nate back? They seem to play there best against Perth but that game in the gong was one of the best games I have seen cairns play.

Other than Adelaide every team struggles up there. A win for Perth will go a long way to finishing top two.

Melbourne could take top spot with a Perth loss.

Is NBL.TV working for anyone for this game?

Current mood: :-)

No nbl.tv for me either. Current mood :(

The link anonymous posted is the only one working for some reason

I dunno about that Evans-Wagstaff call.
I'm all for not rewarding flops, but to me that was legal defence, and Jesse moving backwards (and thus providing no resistance when Evans was expecting some) caused Evans to stumble/travel.

Welcome to the team, Clint

Refs won't let Cairns lose

Thanks for the link anon!

Current mood: still :-)
Good energy. Bugger about Cotton's 3rs though.

Yeah, the Egwu matchup suits Cooke better than most 5s

offensive foul city

Current mood: :/
Lucky to be in front by this much after that crappy quarter.

Coooooooke

You coulda had that, Cairns. Too many errors when you had us on the ropes.

Back to the Chocolate Factory Oompa Loompas!!

Cairns had the help fo the refs and still screwed it up.

And for those Cairns fans who go on about how important the NYE game is always a sell out and important to the Cairns community....there were empty seats.

Cooke starting over Brandt proved to be the right choice.
Great to see Steindl step up and more importantly great to see Perth win.
Credit to Loughton though playing like he is 10 years younger

"there were empty seats."

where? a few of the corporate boxes may have had some no shows and some of the members were out of town but it was sold out mid-afternoon today..

Over 5,100 people there out of a 5.5k stadium. Not bad guys

I'm not sure all those 5.5k seats are GA Manu, I do know that all available seats were sold. People were being turned away at the box office a couple of hours before tipoff. So 100% a sellout.

From memory, that's about double what Brisbane got last year.

If there were empty seats they were either seats not available for sale or a member didn't show up. Some members (and i don't approve of this) might have chosen to go on holiday with their family over the holiday period..

Ah yeah it's more like the 5,300 number isn't it?

All I can say is thank God NYE is back in Cairns because they need it.

I would have preferred a win, but i'll take a live game ;)

You’re right though. Can’t remember the exact number, but it’s been reported that it generates an extra few k for the club.

Wildcats!

"but it's been reported that it generates an extra few k for the club."

Thank goodness, that should be enough for pay the Taipan imports for next year.

LoveBroker, yes, when you're a team without a sugar daddy every dollar counts...... You should cut down your salt intake in 2018..


(anon, i was being sarcastic)

Yes Podge....I am forever salty about Cairns having Schoochie, Nannnna and Jerry Jnr. If there is any Sodium chloride, it's from those who keep telling everyone how Cairns have no benefactor or howl that the NBL wants Cairns gone by taking away one NYE game.

Taipans supporters are generally too sensitive. The club needs ca$h but we could probably not have it be every second thing that comes out of our mouths. It's a) a defeatist mentality, and b) what we will become known for.

One thing that I scratch my head about is our choice of import PGs over recent years, going back to Wilson or even prior. They don't seem to fit our system. I guess no good college programs run shuffle or motion offences because that's just not how they play over there. So you won't find a starting quality NBL import come from a school that runs our offence. I dunno, just hypothesising. *obligatory mention of budget... Maybe we don't have enough money as a club to recruit anything but college kids.

And what's up with this C word on a sign?

Do any good college programs run shuffle or motion? Legit question

What did the sign say and at what point in the game did you see it. Were you there or just watched on TV?

HAHAHA classic, but it simply cannot be proved. The club could say the joke was in the jerseys, not the words. If it was a plain picture of Steindl in a single uniform then you'd be suss because you'd be looking around the sign for the actual joke. That is perfect.

I may just be a sensitive Taipans snowflake, but I simultaneously dislike the CLINT sign and don't care about it...

hahaha more anon dynamite.

Everything i do, I do it for you.

"One thing that I scratch my head about is our choice of import PGs over recent years, going back to Wilson or even prior."

I dunno. Ubaka, Wilson in his first year and Wilbekin were all good gets who worked well, Trice was up-and-down last year but I definitely wouldn't call him a bad signing either.

Scoochie hasn't worked out and neither did Markel Starks, but I'd hardly call it a bad record overall.

@Manu Fieldel said: Taipans supporters are generally too sensitive. The club needs ca$h but we could probably not have it be every second thing that comes out of our mouths. It's a) a defeatist mentality, and b) what we will become known for.
--
I agree with you to a certain extent Manu and maybe I'm guilty of that myself occasionally however it becomes annoying when posters exaggerate, jump to wrong conclusions and don't get their facts correct.

@LoveBroker said: Yes Podge....I am forever salty about Cairns having Schoochie, Nannnna and Jerry Jnr. If there is any Sodium chloride, it's from those who keep telling everyone how Cairns have no benefactor or howl that the NBL wants Cairns gone by taking away one NYE game.

--

Yet another one of your exaggerations and inaccuracies LoveBroker. It was not ONE NYE game being "howled" about. The NBL stated at the time the NYE games were going to be shared around and indications were that it could be more than a one off. As well as that, the Cairns fans that were claiming the NBL wants Cairns gone were not saying this solely because of losing the NYE game, it was that combined with the fact that Cairns were given a very fan unfriendly schedule overall for their home games last season which impacted the bottom line.

It would be good if you dealt with facts a bit more often rather than saying what suits you.

Paul, yeah I think we have recruited well over the years, jumped the gun. I rate Wilbekin as perhaps the best Taipan ever. I know we had Cat and he was awesome, but Scottie was incredible.

I was mainly talking about Wilson, Starks and this Smith. Trice's talent made up for the fact that he was a bad fit.

Wilson was awesome in his first year, and had Loughton and Crosswhite not both been injured late in the year Cairns make playoffs.

I reckon where the Fearne-Wilson relationship changes was once Crosswhite left, he used to cover defensive lapses from Jamar and Chewy, and all of a sudden they were getting exposed and Fearne was getting mad!

In that first grand final season I reckon Crosswhite was our most important player. Felt like we were scoring 40 a game and still winning. Didn't he have a lot left in the tank but decided to retire and live on a farm?

We went with Wilson for too long. He was just an iso scorer, but he was pretty good for the most part.

"It would be good if you dealt with facts a bit more often rather than saying what suits you."

I have stated Taipans fans howled over one lost NYE game.

Let's now check the facts.

How many NYE games were 'taken away' from Cairns since the release of the 2016/17 schedule?

PS....I hated using the term taken away because it suggests the NYE game belongs solely in perpetuity to Cairns. It doesn't.

I agree with you Manu about Wilbekin being our best ever import and I also agree with your comments about Crosswhite. He was playing really well when he left.

Paul - your comment about when you felt the Wilson-Fearne relationship started fracturing may well be right. I didn't notice it so much in that 2nd season however in the 3rd season, after Wilson came off the bench due to carrying an injury in the couple of pre -season games he played and then Fearne decided to run with that to start the season (starting McCamey - I think that was his name) instead, things certainly went down hill.

Fearne stated that Wilson wouldn't get his starting spot back until he played better and held that stance until towards the end of the season when he finally relented and that's when Wilson played his best games for that season. He got injured right near the end of the season and that was the end. Wilson stated in an interview the next season that he felt betrayed by Fearne in that 3rd season.

Where Scoochie is concerned, I understand that in general he needs to be more agressive and involved than he is at times, however I also feel Fearne is part of the problem for him losing his confidence. You need to show confidence in your imports and Fearne quite often doesn't do this. Scoochie has some very good aspects to his game. Fearne got his message across by benching him for the Illiwarra game and I understand why he went with that again against the Wildcats however I feel he needs to be put back in the starting side for his and the teams benefit.

I do agree with you Manu in that Scoochie doesn't seem to be the right fit. I think Fearne should work with what he's got rather than expecting miracles from him and I think he would get more from him that way.

@LoveBroker said:

I have stated Taipans fans howled over one lost NYE game.

Let's now check the facts.

How many NYE games were 'taken away' from Cairns since the release of the 2016/17 schedule?
--

Did you not read properly all of what I said. The "howling" was about MORE than last season's “lost” game. Indications at the time were it could become a regular occurrence and the overall home schedule was very unfriendly in general.

Wilbekin is like that ex who's the best you've ever had and the best you will ever have. You keep looking them up online to see where they're at and what they're doing and it turns out she's going really well and hasn't been in contact since they left you. You've written a couple letters and even added her on LinkedIn but haven't heard so much as a peep. It's been three years. You know you'll probably never see her again but you think about what it would be like if you did. And you think about that almost every day. You know it's holding you back from moving on in all facets of your life, but somehow you're okay with it because you're still thinking of them. Thinking of Scottie. That's what Scottie's like.

Hahaha Manu. Magic.

I can't believe this website is free.

Manu

"'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. “
Alfred Lord Tennyson

Maybe you'll write a poetic eulogy about a lost love some day. Just don’t put it on LinkedIn.

"Not sure whether I feel worse for the Taipans or for Manu after reading that description"

I feel worse for Manu's Ex.

Unfortunately for him or her, their AVO didn't stipulate contact via LinkedIn messaging.

"Did you not read properly all of what I said. "

Yes I did, I simply dismissed it.

The games are scheduled at the discretion of the NBL, there is no rule saying Cairns must have the NYE game and only Friday and Saturday nights.

Cairns weren't the first team to get a bad draw and won't be the last.

Difference is most other fans get over it.

Could someone start a thread about lost love and stalking exes using new media?

Haha glad you got a laff guys. That's all it was, a fictitious story about a girl named Caroline. Nothing more to see here.

Seriously though, I was YouTubing Wilbekin earlier and there was a 'Welcome back' video posted by the Taipans. Did he agree to a second contract then renege?

https://youtu.be/0xa3J2HnIj0

He signed with an NBA out clause, clause was activated but he got cut and Europe came calling with 000,000's

I started reading this thread and it made me more sad so I dug out my wilbekin grand final t-shirt. now I'm sitting in the dark drinking whisky and wearing my t-shirt so my kids can't see me crying.

support group meeting Wednesday at 7.30pm.

Followed by a meeting of the Dewey Michaels appreciation society.

"The games are scheduled at the discretion of the NBL, there is no rule saying Cairns must have the NYE game and only Friday and Saturday nights."

No, but they'd be pretty silly if they didn't campaign hard to get the games most favourable to them.