FEARNE’S COMMITMENT

Q It seems like Aaron Fearne is part of the furniture at the Cairns Taipans and in the community. He has been with the club since 2009, you must like what he brings to the table?

A The things Aaron does behind the scenes is massive, his integration in the community from the sports point of view. He does a lot for the development of the sport outside of what you see at the Cairns Convention Centre on game day. He has shown a commitment to the development across the junior programs, boys and girls, he gives up his weekends to educate coaches and players. Sometimes the Taipans will have a game on a Friday night and then he will be at the courts on a Saturday morning delivering a session to a junior rep team. He has shown a commitment to wanting to grow the sport here.

Q Does he need to take the team back to the playoffs in season 2016-17?

A Every year we put the team together and think we are better than the year before. We missed the playoffs last year after we went to the finals the year before. The league has stepped up in terms of talent, it is really hard to say how it all comes together as a team. We are going to be better than we were last year but what is the gap with the rule changes? It is going to take time to find out where the standard of the league is gone. We think we have put a team together to win it all, not just go to the playoffs. We are here to put a championship team together.