Ownership plans to change everything in Cairns

Despite a quiet off-season and the absence of a head coach, the Cairns Taipans may be on the brink of a major breakthrough, according to Pete Hooley.

“They are in advanced talks ... advanced conversations about private ownership,” he said on The Marketplace.

“That changes the entire trajectory of what they’re capable of.”

The Taipans are currently, and have previously been, a not-for-profit community-owned club, which has provided its challenges in the team being able to retain high-level talent and recruit big names.

“Those talks are going hand-in-hand with recruiting marquee-level talent too.”

“This is something that Cairns has never been able to do previously. Not just recruiting that talent, but also retaining it.”

In recent history, Taipans fans have seen the likes of Keanu Pinder come through the program and flourish, only to be lost to a rival team who could afford his hefty price tag. However, that all could be about to change.

“It really seems more of a when this happens, not if,” Hooley said.

“Speaking to the club, they told me ‘We are going all in.’ They understand that they can’t compete to win titles the way it’s previously been.

“This will be a significant change for them. It is super exciting for the whole club and the whole league, because this then puts them right back in the mix with what they’re capable of doing.”

ESPN’s Olgun Uluc pointed to the recent years of spending for the Taipans and how that has impacted their ability to compete.

“Without private ownership, that’s how they have had to operate,” he said.

“This is a team that hasn’t had the capacity to spend without private ownership.

“The Taipans haven’t been sitting on their hands as much as a lot of people believe they have been. They’ve been working out these foundational pieces before making those next decisions.”

As far as their vacant head coach position, Hooley believes that news is also not far away.

“They have said that finalising their coach is imminent,” he said.

“It’s getting very very close. But it does go hand-in-hand with the private ownership and finalising that.

“The type of coaches they have interviewed in this process, I’m told, are NBA level, G League coaches and Europe level also. They’ve gone through it all.

“Credit to the club. Because while everyone is sitting back and saying they’re not hearing anything from Cairns, they are working diligently in getting this done, because they understand if they want to win a title in this league, this is the next step for them.”