Returning to the proven formula

As he re-signs as the Head Coach of the Kenfrost Homes Cairns Taipans, the off-season break has allowed Adam Forde to reflect on his time leading the club.

Facing three straight campaigns without reaching the post-season, the 2023 NBL Coach of the Year has taken the opportunity to dial in on how to return to the heights of the Finals, especially given the compressed off-season that he faced last year.

Originally stepping away from the club in February 2025 and looking for the next step in his basketball career, he later agreed to return to Cairns in June with his focus immediately turning to building his roster.

“A large part of the recruiting and the timing was knowing that last off-season we were late in the recruiting piece, just with the timeline and how everything was trying to fall into place,” said Head Coach Adam Forde.

“And so this off-season, we got in early and we have sort of gone back to what our original DNA is, which is high level recruiting early on to entice local talent to fill out the main spots on the roster, and then trying to be very diligent in finding those gems in the import spots.

“So, we’re sort of going back to what our true identity is in what we’re doing in attracting talent.”

Entering this off-season with only Reyne Smith and Jack McVeigh under contract, it’s given Forde the opportunity to retool his roster nearly from scratch, as the Western Australian looks to his past experiences and other club’s on how to take Cairns to the next level.

First entering the NBL in 2013 with the Perth Wildcats, Forde worked his way through the ranks under experienced coach Trevor Gleeson before joining the Sydney Kings in 2019, where he took the reins the following year.

Moving on from the franchise in 2021, he’s now found a new home in Far North Queensland with 150 games of leading the Taipans to his name, and over 400 NBL games under his belt across the three clubs.

Previously working under private owners both in Perth and Sydney, and now with ownership flagged as on the radar for Cairns, Forde has vowed to return to the recruiting methods of his earlier campaigns regardless of the club’s situation.

“The difference with last season especially was the idea of let’s recruit this group, and similar to what I’ve been able to experience in the past where if it doesn’t work, you go to the owner, write the check, make the change, and change happens," he explained.

“This off-season we’re not relying on something that may or may not happen and so we’re recruiting a group which we’ve always been capable of doing, and we’ve gone back to our DNA of getting sought after players that are looking to make the next step in their career, which we can provide.”

Despite facing multiple rough seasons, his focus is as firm as ever on delivering a championship to Cairns.

“The last two seasons were rough, and they always have been. But what gives us the motivation is knowing that the strides we’re making to close the gap, because the model works, and once we get all the stars aligned, we’re going to walk out of here very successful and say told you so.

“We have to be, because we’re overdue. We’re starved for it. I’m growing impatient with it because there’s multiple times where we can sit here and say that it’d be easy to pivot and go in a different direction. But the changes have been made that now we should have immediate success.

“I feel as impatient as everybody else, and this is what we’re going into this season knowing that these are the results that we want to get. And we’re going to get out of the gate straight away and try and make a splash and fix all the areas that we need to fix.”

Watch Adam Forde lead the Kenfrost Homes Cairns Taipans into battle with a 2026-27 season membership – grab one HERE.