Game Preview: Taipans v Breakers

The Kenfrost Homes Cairns Taipans will wrap up their pre-season when they face the New Zealand Breakers on the final night of the 2025 NBL Blitz.

In their fifth game of the pre-season, the Taipans will take on the Breakers before returning home with three weeks to prepare for the season proper. 

Wrapping up the tournament in Canberra, Cairns will be missing both Mawot Mag and Admiral Schofield, with Jed Richardson, Lloyd McVeigh and Lachlan Barker again taking the spots of Ashton Hagans and Reyne Smith.

Where and When

Sunday, August 31 at the AIS Arena, Canberra (6:00pm AEST)

How to Follow

Watch: Live on Disney+ and Kayo

Live Updates: Taipans X

Stats: Box Score

What’s Already Happened

After three warm up games the week prior, the Taipans descended on Canberra for their final pre-season fixtures against Tasmania and New Zealand.

Initially struggling to find the bottom of the basket against the JackJumpers, the side quickly caught fire to hit nine of 12 attempts from range in the second quarter to quickly reduce the margin, with Cairns winning three of the four periods before falling in overtime.

All scoring in double digits, Admiral Schofield, Jack McVeigh, Kody Stattmann, Kyrin Galloway and Sam Waardenburg drained multiple triples each on the night, with Marcus Lee showcasing his reach by capturing 11 rebounds and two blocks.

Whilst the Taipans are preparing for their fifth and final game of the pre-season, they'll face New Zealand who only played their first warm up game on Friday night, when they took care of the Phoenix 109-101.

Despite missing key pieces Rob Baker II, Karim Lopez and Rob Loe, the Breakers were able to utilise their shooting efficiency to push ahead, whilst South East Melbourne looked to shoot their way back into the game from range but struggled to make their shots drop.

Hitting 62.5% of their shots from inside the arc, New Zealand nearly hit more two-pointers than the Phoenix attempted (30 makes for NZ to 34 attempts for SEM) with the Victorians attempting 46 triples and only making 13.

Setting the tone for their lineup, the Breaker's starting unit all shot over 50% from inside the arc, with Sam Mennenga and new import Izaiah Brockington also controlling the boards for the side to combine for 22 rebounds.

The Lineups

Taipans

PG – Kody Stattmann / Kyle Adnam

SG – Lachlan Barker / Lloyd McVeigh

SF – Alex Higgins-Titsha

PF – Jack McVeigh / Kyrin Galloway

C – Sam Waardenburg / Marcus Lee / Jed Richardson

Breakers

PG – Parker Jackson-Cartwright / Taylor Britt

SG – Izaiah Brockington / Izayah Le'Afa

SF – Ruben Te Rangi / Sean Bairstow

PF – Carlin Davison / Max Darling / Liam Judd

C – Sam Mennenga / Josh Leger

Ins and Outs

Taipans

Ins – Lloyd McVeigh, Jed Richardson and Lachlan Barker (nominated replacement player)

Outs – Mawot Mag (hallux sprain), Reyne Smith (ankle), Ashton Hagans (unavailable), Admiral Schofield (adductor)

Breakers

Ins – Josh Leger, Liam Judd

Outs – Rob Baker II (international commitments), Karim Lopez (back strain), Rob Loe

Limited minutes – Taylor Britt (recent ankle injury)