Kelly set to shine

Blanchfield a huge fan of his old mentor

BASKETBALL SYDNEY King Todd Blanchfield has endorsed a basketball mentor of his in Mike Kelly to shine in his first NBL head coaching job in Cairns.

The Mackay forward was in the Far North at the weekend as his Meteors kept their unbeaten season alive against the Marlins as well as catching up with Kelly post-game.

Blanchfield, who had 18 points, 15 rebounds and six assists against the Marlins, worked under Kelly at the Townsville Crocs and Mel- bourne United and believes he is ready to take on the top job and excel with the Taipans.

“He has been around, he knows what works and what does not,” Blanchfield said.

“He will have his play book there ready for the group he has, I expect him to do a really good job.

“He has been an assistant coach for so many great coaches in his career, he has picked their brains.”

The North Queensland junior collected the NBL’s Most Improved Player and earned All-NBL second team honours in Townsville before moving to Melbourne, alongside the new Snakes mentor, and Blanchfield admitted having Kelly by his side made the transition much easier.

“Mike helped me out with a lot of things and they came along in leaps and bounds,” Blanchfield said.

“I think he is going to be great in Cairns.

“He will have a real focus on defence and they will be a hell of a tough team to play against.

“It made the transition a lot easier for me knowing that Mike was there. I was a little more relaxed with Mike there every day talking to me.”

Kelly has locked in Jarrod Kenny, Nate Jawai, Rob Loe, Alex Loughton, Lucas Walker and Kuany Kuany into his first squad in Cairns following Aaron Fearne’s departure.

Incumbent Taipan Damon Heuir remains unsigned for the 2018-19 season. BIG RAP: Todd Blanchfield says Mike Kelly is good for Cairns

Marquez flies to top

SPANIARD Marc Marquez (Honda) flew past the chequered flag way ahead of his rivals in the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez de la Frontera on Sunday, climbing atop the MotoGp championship standings in the process. Frenchman Johann Zarco on his Yamaha Tech3 finished more than five seconds adrift of the world champion in second while Andrea Iannone of Suzuki was third at 8.214sec. The race was marked by crashes that took out several of the chief contenders including British pole sitter Cal Crutchlow of Honda, Spaniards Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo and the Italian Andrea Dovizioso

Messi weaves magic