Weigh’s rock star reception

FOR most it is just a preseason game but for the Rockhampton basketball community it is a chance to welcome back their greatest basketball product, Taipan Stephen Weigh.

The former Rockhampton Rocket featured in the Taipans and Brisbane Bullets behindclosed-doors game on Thursday night, which the Taipans won 72-63, and will play in front of the adoring faithful this evening.

In the first of the Rockhampton games, skipper Cameron Gliddon came up big down the stretch as he led the Snakes to victory with 20 points and five rebounds.

Darren Richardson, who is the current Rockets assistant coach and sat on the Snakes bench on Thursday night, remembers Weigh’s junior days and said he was always destined to play in the NBL.

“He was always the one touted way back to the under-12s,” said Richardson, who played 21 seasons and 441 games in the state league.

“You could see he had the potential and he had the work ethic too.

“The game would be finished and he would be on the outdoor court shooting ’til late into the darkness.

“He knows the secret recipe and it is all hard work.”

Weigh, who played with the Marlins in the recently completed QBL season, led his hometown Rockets to QBL titles in 2008 and 2011, while his brother Simon also played for the Rockets and Brisbane, and his other brother Tim played in the QBL with Ipswich.

“Stevie is so appreciative and always recognises his roots here,” Richardson said.

“He got all his junior basketball development here in Rockhampton and we love having him back.”