Taipans Pre-Season Games

The CQUniversity Cairns Taipans have secured four pre-season games against Melbourne United and the Adelaide 36ers in Cairns from 31 December – 9 January, with the annual New Year’s Eve blockbuster game set to become the first time the Taipans will play in front of fans at the new Cairns Pop-Up Arena.

Anticipated to be a sell-out, New Year’s Eve will be the first time Scott Machado, Cam Oliver, Nate Jawai, Kouat Noi, Majok Deng, Mirko Djeric, Fabijan Krslovic, Jarrod Kenny and George Blagojevic officially return the court together for the first time since March, when they played game three of the semi-finals in Perth.

Not only will the Orange Army get to see newcomer Jordan Ngatai suit up for a new team for the first time in his NBL career, it will also be Mojave King’s first pre-season game as a pro, in his preparations for the 2021 NBA Draft.

The Taipans will play both teams twice, with one game against each team to remain closed to the general public. This will provide the Taipans with four opportunities to play before the start of the 2021 NBL season, commencing mid-January.

Taipans Head Coach Mike Kelly said that it was brilliant that both United and the 36ers would be coming to Cairns prior to the start of the 2021 competition.

“It’s obviously been a long and interesting off-season with limited opportunities to play other teams, especially with the cancellation of NBL1 and the NBL Blitz.

“This gives our players a great chance to face two competitive sides in a venue they have not yet played in before, in front of a crowd and behind closed doors. Getting to play in these different environments will be really beneficial to all teams involved.”

Tickets for both games will be available to the general public from Wednesday 16 December (online 8:00am and in-store 9:00am) with Taipans members (2020-21 full season members and eight-game package holders) getting early access from tonight.