What to make of this season's Cairns Taipans?

The finals are out of reach and a possible wooden spoon looms, but after a hellish injury run and some boilover wins, there's more to Cairns' season than first meets the eye.

Credit: JBC Studios

When the Cairns Taipans landed in Perth last week, coach Adam Forde’s message was simple. “Just hoop, have fun… what’s the worst that can happen?”

It’s what he told his players pre-game and at every opportunity during a wild contest at RAC Arena, one that saw the Taipans hold their nerve and claim an upset win over the Wildcats in double overtime. That came just two days after they caused an even bigger boilover at home, beating ladder leaders Illawarra for the second time in the new year.

“This is what I love about the group,” Forde said after Saturday’s win in Perth. “The boys have just been so resilient throughout the whole season and it’s character building.”

It was a moment to enjoy for the sometimes hard-edged Forde, and a far cry from his message less than one week earlier. There were ups and downs in between those two wins against Illawarra, but rock bottom was a 24-point drubbing on their own home court at the hands of Adelaide. Forde’s post-game response made headlines across the league as he ripped into his team’s starters for their performance.

“This was the first time there was a level of selfishness, they didn’t even bother trying to disguise,” Forde said of his stars. “When it's going our way it's great, and it's all kumbaya and everybody's too nice. But when it's like this, everybody gets sulky and they don't hold each other accountable and don't set up to the standard.”

That was the low point of a month-long rollercoaster ride that just about sums up their entire season, with bright spots and moments of promise outweighed by long struggles. The highs have been dizzying, but incredibly fleeting; the lows have been deep and devastating.