Forde Bids Farewell to Taipans' Top Two Chances

Cairns coach Adam Forde believes his side's Monday night loss to the Adelaide 36ers will almost certainly relegate the Taipans to third on the ladder come season’s end.

Cairns fell to the Antonius Cleveland and Robert Franks led 36ers by just three points at the Cairns Convention Centre in an up and down clash. If they had won, a top two spot and straight path to a home semi-final would have been all-but secured. Instead they will now wait on New Zealand’s results against Illawarra and Brisbane to help determine their final position.

Forde says the biggest thing he’s concerned on his side missing out on if they finish third is the potential extra rest ahead of the post-season.

“That top two spot gives you a bit of a buffer in terms of a couple of days rest – which is really what we’re looking for,” Forde said following the loss.

“We went all in tonight with that mindset.

“You would assume, no disrespect to the other teams, the Breakers will take care of business. So losing that top two spot is now a quick turnaround.

“We’ll manage some bodies appropriately and see how things fall.”

The loss represented the first time in seven games this season Cairns has lost without star centre Keanu Pinder in the line-up.

The Taipans went on a 6-0 run while he was absent with an ankle injury earlier in the season, but a horror eye injury in just his second game back has seen him take to the sidelines once again.

Sam Waardenburg once again stepped up in the absence of the Most Improved nominee and finished the game with 26 points, three rebounds and three assists.

Forde says fans are only just beginning to see what to first-year pro is capable of.

“He’s always capable of that, and we knew he was capable of performances like that,” Forde said of Waardenburg. “We thought the matchup was good for us and that’s why we wanted to go to him early.

“The good thing is we can expect more from him because that’s not just a flash in the pan from Sam, that’s what he’s capable of doing. Especially with Keanu out we’ll look to rely on that more.”

Pinder was on the sidelines supporting his teammates while sporting a pair of sunglasses and a black eye.

Keanu Pinder during Cairns' Round 17 loss to Adelaide.

Despite suffering the injury close to a week ago, Forde says the fact the centre could even attend the game represents a big step in the right direction.

“He’s getting better. The swelling has gone down but there’s still a sensitivity to light,” Forde said.

“It was cool he could be here tonight – the doctor gave him the clear to get out of the house because he’s been in bed, so he’s progressing in the right direction.

“To now not potentially play the best part of the season I think that’s more disappointing for him than anything else.

“Now the swelling has gone down he can start to see some more specialists and get a better indicator of what his timeline is like.”

The Taipans travel to Perth to take on the Wildcats in their final game of the regular season on Friday, February 3 at 9:30pm AEDT.