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FAN favourite Alex Loughton wakes up in the same bed every morning, goes to his usual haunt to get a coffee most days but feels like he has relocated to another city of Australia.
The power forward is just one of three returning Cairns Taipans from last season, a campaign that missed the finals, alongside Nate Jawai and Kuany Kuany, and says the 2018-19 squad feels brand new.
After first signing in the Far North in 2010, Loughton is one of the longest serving employees of the Snakes, with Aaron Fearne and Cameron Gliddon departing over the winter.
“It feels like I am in a new location with a new team without all the moving costs,” the affable 35-year-old said yester- day at the club’s Members Day at Tobruk Memorial Pool.
“It is a brand new team and with that will take some time for this thing to evolve.
“I am really going to enjoy this year, I feel refreshed after an off-season that had uncertainty at some points.
“I am really excited about what is ahead.”
While Loughton and his teammates were enjoying the pool yesterday, it gets serious very soon with the reigning wooden spooners Brisbane Bullets waiting for them on Saturday night at Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.
The Bullets will be on the back of a Round 1 doubleheader, visiting the New Zealand on Thursday night.
“We played them twice in the preseason but they will be a different beast now,” Loughton said.