Forde’s blueprint for closing The gap

Attracting top level talent is not where Adam Forde believes the Cairns Taipans need to improve to become an NBL force.

For Forde, the real gap is flexibility. It is the ability to make mid-season moves like the league’s best clubs.

He was pleased with Cairns’ NBL26 recruiting. Jack McVeigh and Reyne Smith came in to support Sam Waardenburg, alongside imports Andrew Andrews, Marcus Lee and Admiral Schofield. On paper, it fit. With a fully fit squad, Forde believed it worked.

That never happened.

Smith played just 13 games. Mawot Mag managed 16. Alex Higgins-Titsha appeared in nine. Waardenburg featured in only eight.

Now, when Forde assesses how the Taipans climb the standings, the answer is clear. They must be able to move on the go.

The contenders have done exactly that. The Sydney Kings added Torrey Craig. The Adelaide 36ers brought in John Jenkins. The South East Melbourne Phoenix found the right fit on their third attempt with Wes Iwundu.

The Perth Wildcats, Tasmania JackJumpers, Illawarra Hawks and Brisbane Bullets have all either upgraded or brought in new imports.

"You look at how the success of let's say the top three teams and it's their ability to do it in three levels," Forde said.

"Firstly it's loading up on the talent and I think Goorj (Brian Goorjian) said it two years ago with the blueprint of you needing two marquees, you need to get the imports right.

"One of the things that's happening now which most teams will do moving forward, is having that third import spot as the injury replacement player if something happens during the season.

"Regardless of whether we get ownership or not, what the club is doing a great job of is trying to put us in a position where we can build that talent, and we've always had no problem with the talent.

"Whether it's Waardenburg, Jack, Reyne or in previous seasons with Taran (Armstrong), we've had no issues recruiting the talent.

"The next step now is to build that depth and having a strong bench, but the third thing which has become more of a necessity now which once was a luxury five or six years ago is being able to bring someone in."

That flexibility simply has not been available to the Taipans. If they had wanted to change an import, or more specifically bring in a replacement anywhere near the level of key duo Waardenburg and Smith, it was not a realistic option.

"It was then a luxury, but now pretty much every team is doing it and you can use those top three teams as an example," Forde said.

"It's also the other teams around us and Brisbane, Illawarra and Tassie were able to change out, so the reality is that when Waardenburg went down at the start of the season, we've gotta be in a position to be able to do that.

"That's what this off-season is primarily about first is trying to put us in a position where we can make those changes to be able to recruit and get the talent we need and build up the bench and the depth we need.

"But then also having that third level for that almost like fire insurance when one of your marquees goes down for half a season that you can sit there and actually pull the trigger."