Departing skipper has regrets
Gliddon leaves Taipans on personal high but without seeing championship prize
Cameron Gliddon says he leaves Cairns unsatisfied that he was not able to deliver an NBL championship to the Taipans in his six seasons at the club. “Obviously the main goal was a championship and we did not achieve that, which is quite sad,” he said. Now one of the hottest free agents on the open market, Gliddon has been linked to his hometown Perth Wildcats in recent days as well as the Taipans’ interstate rivals, Brisbane.
CAMERON Gliddon says he leaves Cairns unsatisfied that he was not able to deliver an NBL championship to the Taipans in his six seasons at the club.
Now one of the hottest free agents on the open market, West Australian-born Gliddon has been linked to his hometown Perth Wildcats in recent days as well as the Taipans’ instate rivals, Brisbane.
On Wednesday night, the Taipans declared their former skipper had already signed with a rival club but Gliddon said he was yet to put pen to paper.
In truly bizarre scenes, Gliddon fronted the media at Cairns Basketball on Thursday wearing a Taipans singlet and stood in front of a banner representing the club’s sponsors just hours after he had turned his back on the team that gave him his first NBL deal.
“I can honestly say I put in all my heart and all my effort every day,” Gliddon said.
“Obviously the main goal was a championship and we did not achieve that, which is quite sad.
“I think I have got some great memories here and I gave it my all every time I was on the court.
“You always got a tough game from us no matter what; that is what I will be most proud of, giving everything I had, and hopefully the club, the fans and my teammates can appreciate that.”
The 28-year-old said his decision to leave was on the back of his strong 2017-18 season, when he shared the club’s MVP award with Mitch McCarron, and his stocks being high on the open market.
“I think I had a pretty good year and being off-contract, it all kind of just meshed in there,” Gliddon said.
“I was going to get offers in a good time in my basketball life. Those things just kind of collided at the same time and that led to this.”
McCarron, who recently signed a short-term deal with Slovenian team Olimpija Ljubljana, is also out of contract following two seasons in Cairns, with the Taipans facing an uphill battle to keep another star guard.
Meanwhile, Tall Blacks coach Paul Henare has enlisted former Taipans coach Aaron Fearne for the upcoming Commonwealth Games campaign.
Fearne will be stepping into a support role to Henare and assistant coaches Pero Cameron and Mike Fitchett.
“Our program at the Games is a very condensed one, with games coming and going quickly, and time is of the essence,” Henare said.
“We identified that to be successful we needed extra resources at the Games.
“Fearney will be busy in a scouting role, providing us with team and individual player scouts ahead of each game, while also there as a sounding board for myself and the coaching team throughout the campaign.”
Elsewhere, the Cairns Marlins have signed former Sydney Kings development player Christian Jurlina for the 2018 QBL season.
OBVIOUSLY THE MAIN GOAL WAS A CHAMPIONSHIP AND WE DID NOT ACHIEVE THAT, WHICH IS QUITE SAD CAMERON GLIDDON