Skipper praises ‘legend’ Fearne
BASKETBALL DEPARTING Cairns Taipans coach Aaron Fearne knew his days were numbered and confided in his team captain before the hammer finally fell.
Snakes skipper Cameron Gliddon spoke with his sporting mentor of six years in recent days about the team’s future and who might be at the helm.
“We talked a bit about it, and he was anticipating that it might happen so it wasn’t as surprising,” Gliddon said.
“But it’s a huge loss for the Cairns community and the Cairns Taipans.
“The amount of work he does with the Taipans and also the grassroots, all the kids coming up, is crazy. If you’re not around it day-to-day, you don’t understand it.
“They’ve lost a real legend of the community, being around for 19 years since the Taipans’ inception.”
Former Taipan Drew Warren, who now plays in Germany, said Fearne had helped shape him as a person and a player.
“Just wanted to send best wishes to my former coach and friend ... (I) know you will venture into something great,” Warren posted on Instagram.
“This was merely a stepping stone for you. Thanks for taking a chance on a young kid to play for you in a very competitive NBL. I learned a great deal from you that has helped me tremendously.”
Gliddon has been waiting and hoping for a call-up for the national squad for next month’s Commonwealth Games.
“We’ve played a lot of games together with the FIBA Asia Cup and the last few years with the Boomers,” he said.
“If all goes well, I’ll be receiving a call this week from Andrej (Lemanis) and he’ll be letting me know I’m in.”
Gliddon said he did not expect any drastic line-up changes from the Boomers after two wins over the Philippines and Chinese Taipei in Melbourne last month.
“Except if some guys decide to go over to Europe in the offseason, he (head coach Andrej Lemanis) will have to make some changes there,” he said.
“If I was the coach, I’d try keep the same guys together.”
Gliddon’s own NBL future remains unknown with the three-point marksman out of contract and being courted by coaches across the competition. But he said it was too early to talk about a return to the Taipans.
“Free agency starts in about a month’s time, which is quite late, so there will be a lot of sitting on your hands and just waiting,” he said.
The Taipans co-MVP plans to stick around in Cairns during the off-season and visit his family in Western Australia.
“I haven’t taken an off-season since I’ve been here, so I don’t want to waste my opportunity to see what Cairns has to offer.”
... IT’S A HUGE LOSS FOR THE CAIRNS COMMUNITY AND THE CAIRNS TAIPANS.
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GOLD Coast is prepared to offer Tom Lynch a monster deal of up to seven years to keep him at the Suns.
Seven years at $1.5 million a season – with an AFL ambassadorship on top – would make it a bigger deal than Lance Franklin’s $10 million package at Sydney.
Lynch’s management has made clear the star forward will not be in a position to decide until well into the season given the success-starved club’s challenging start to the year.
In the first 10 rounds the Suns travel more than 43,000km due to the Commonwealth Games, playing in Cairns, Melbourne, Perth (twice), Brisbane, Adelaide, Ballarat, Brisbane and China.
It’s understood the length of deal is no impediment to the Suns, with Lynch only 25 and yet to hit his prime.
New Suns coach Stuart Dew conceded in an interview aired on the weekend the decision might take until Round 23.
“He’s gonna make that call at the end of the year, or at some stage. But he’s invested, no question,’’ Dew said.
The Suns already pay Lynch about $1 million a year and have salary cap room.
Paul Connors, from Lynch’s management company, said last year he was “obsessed” with his clients winning premierships – Gold Coast has not made finals in its seven years. But they made a bright start to their eighth year in the competition with strong ball movement and defensive focus in their JLT win over Geelong on Sunday.