How Dennis caught eye of the Taipan

You never know who’s watching, and for new Taipans development player Kian Dennis – a chance encounter with Cairns head coach Adam Forde laying the groundwork for his return to the NBL.

The 22-year-old previously played three games as a member of the Brisbane Bullets in NBL20, but has been fighting his way back to the professional level ever since.

He represented the Southern Districts Spartans this past NBL1 season, and an impressive performance against the Cairns Marlin piqued Forde’s interest.

“We played an NBL1 game in Cairns against the Marlins and he [Forde] came up to me after the game and was like ‘I want you in a Taipans uniform, I love the way you play’,” Dennis said.

“He spoke to me about one play where I had a rebound and just went down the other end and dunked it, ‘I love that, that’s what I want’.

“It was cool and just went straight from there, and I kept talking to him through the few weeks.

“Under 'Fordey' I believe I’ll be playing for Australia. The way he coaches really suits me, and I’m going to develop my body, develop my shot and in a few years, I reckon I’ll be playing for Australia.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Kian Dennis with the steal and SLAM ?<br><br>Watch <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL1North?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL1North</a> via <a href="https://t.co/NEk1I7kIKG">https://t.co/NEk1I7kIKG</a> or the NBL1 App ? &amp; ? <a href="https://t.co/glPm0IWtT8">pic.twitter.com/glPm0IWtT8</a></p>&mdash; NBL1 (@NBL1) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL1/status/1654431581761859584?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 5, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Dennis also cited the impending training battles with Next Star Bobi Klintman as a barometer for his own improvement.

“He’s up there with some of the best athletes in the world,” Dennis said.

“If I’m defending him and going at him every practice, that’s going to really benefit me and get me to the point where I need to be for next season.”

Dennis was signed alongside fellow new Cairns development player Alex Mudronja, who incidentally also represented the Spartans at NBL1 level this past season.

While Dennis has just one season in the NBL under his belt, the Taipans will be the third team Mudronja has played for, following stints with Adelaide and Illawarra.

The pair made the quickfire trip to Cairns together to link up with their new teammates in time for pre-season.

“Two days in the car with a little stop in Mackay ... it was good,” Dennis said about the pair’s impromptu road trip.

“We got a couple of good chats in through the whole trip with a couple of little stops.

“It was a really good drive actually. It was beautiful to see all the surroundings and see the scenery of Cairns through it.”

The Taipans will open their NBL24 season against New Zealand on Saturday, September 30.