Game Preview: Taipans v Phoenix

The Taipans will hit the court at John Cain Arena for their first game of the season after also playing their first road game at the venue in 2024-25, with the side hoping to repeat their 88-101 win over United when they face the Phoenix.

Where and When

Saturday, September 20 at John Cain Arena, Melbourne (5:30pm AEST)

How to Follow

Watch: Live on ESPN

Live Updates: Taipans X

Stats: Box Score

What’s Already Happened

Just over a month since the two clubs met to begin their pre-season preparations, the Taipans and Phoenix will face each other again as they launch into the regular season with the same match-up.

Falling to the Victorians by 22 points in August, their Round 1 battle will feature a very different Cairns line-up after fielding a side with their bench unit and development squad for the pre-season fixture.

Almost at full strength, the Taipans will be injecting Admiral Schofield, Jack McVeigh, Reyne Smith and Marcus Lee into this game. 

Combining for 42 points and eight rebounds in their only pre-season game together, Schofield and McVeigh are set to from a formidable duo when they hit the court together in Melbourne, with Lee set to slide into the starting line-up in place of Sam Waardenburg.

Lee has already shown his athleticism across his three games in orange with an average of 7.6 rebounds per game, and if needed can contribute at a consistent speed to the scoreboard after he put up 13 points in 18 minutes during his first outing.

Watch your head 🐰

Marcus Lee throws it DOWN!

🔴 LIVE on https://t.co/AxDGjcTiom pic.twitter.com/pBv0FGXmLl

— Cairns Taipans (@CairnsTaipans) August 24, 2025

Opposite them, the Phoenix has played a barrage of games since their August match-up, with the side facing Melbourne, New Zealand and Sydney, before competing in international games against the Ryukyu Golden Kings and Sunrockers Shibuya in Perth last week.

Winning four of their six warm-up games, and their two losses coming with just margins of six and eight points, South East have prepared well for their first full season under Josh King, after the American was appointed Head Coach in Round 7 last year.

Achieving a 14-7 record across the remainder of their campaign, the off-season has allowed the coach to retool, with John Brown joining the league whilst DJ Mitchell returns to Australia.

Joining King in returning, Angus Glover, Owen Foxwell, Jordan Hunter, Malique Lewis and Nathan Sobey have provided a solid core to build upon, with all five men ranking in South East's top seven scorer's last season.

Suiting up for his eleventh season in the NBL (after debuting as a Taipan in 2014) Sobey ranked fifth in the league for assists last year, with Foxwell also showing off his abilities at the point guard role after ranking second across the competition in assist to turnover ratio with 4.1 assists per turnover.

Player to Watch

Preparing for his second season as a snake, Kyrin Galloway will be looking to repeat his heroics from Cairns' trips to Melbourne during the 2024-25 campaign. Galloway made the starting line-up for two clashes against United, with the forward contributing 23 points, seven rebounds, four assists, three steals and a block across the two games, with another 18 points, two boards, 3 assists, five blocks and a steal in their two match-ups with South East.

Galloway with authority 😤

📲 @cairnstaipans | 📺 @espn pic.twitter.com/c4Agbgkkzw

— Cairns Taipans (@CairnsTaipans) November 10, 2024

Already averaging 14.2 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.2 dimes and 1.2 blocks across five pre-season games, Galloway is poised to excel in his second season in the Far North, and in their first match-up of the season will line up opposite the American duo of John Brown and DJ Mitchell.

Making the move from Europe after an accolade-filled stint on the continent since 2016, Brown will make his debut in Australia on the night, whilst Mitchell returns for his third season in the NBL after being a Bullet from 2022-24. Scoring 19 points off the bench when the two clubs met in August, Mitchell has averaged 7.9 points and four rebounds across his time with Brisbane, though was ruled out of the second half of the 2023-24 season with a hip injury.

What’s Been Said

Taipans Head Coach Adam Forde:

“It's been a great pre-season. It's been disjointed for multiple teams for multiple reasons like the FIBA Asia Cup. We didn't get a couple of guys in because of the FIBA Asia Cup, and Reyne obviously came in hurt from that and his return to play timeline has been great, and he'll be ready for Round 1. But from the things that we can control, it's been amazing.

"The squad has come along really, really well. It's been a productive couple of weeks, especially since the Blitz, on the floor. Everybody who is available is in really good shape, so we're just going to keep logging those reps on the training court and then obviously roll the boys out and look forward to playing.

"Jack has a career of making some big shots and some big plays, so we're going to rely on that and that's why we brought him in to do exactly that. But this is the cool thing about this lineup is when you've got one option taken away like Jack – if he's doubled or if he has to move the ball on because he's defended or denied – we've got Scho, we're got Reyne, we've got a lot of guys that are able to make those big time plays. If one option's taken away, we'll have a flow on effect from that.

"It was a random little injury, the smallest of things that Sam has had to go in for surgery yesterday for. We'll find out what his return to play timeline is like, but the good thing is that we've got a lot of depth, so we'll cover for him while he's out."

The Lineups

Taipans

PG – Kyle Adnam / Lachlan Barker / Lloyd McVeigh

SG –  Reyne Smith / Kody Stattmann

SF – Admiral Schofield / Alex Higgins-Titsha

PF – Jack McVeigh / Kyrin Galloway

C – Marcus Lee / Jed Richardson

Phoenix

PG – Owen Foxwell / Hunter Maldonado

SG – Nathan Sobey / Pat Ryan

SF – Malique Lewis / Angus Glover

PF – John Brown III / DJ Mitchell

C – Jordan Hunter / Gorjok Gak / Ellis Biggar

Ins and Outs

Taipans

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

Outs – Sam Waardenburg (ankle), Mawot Mag (toe), Andrew Andrews (unavailable) 

Phoenix

Ins – Ellis Biggar, Pat Ryan

Outs – Vrenz Bleijenbergh (mutual release), Akech Aliir (personal)