Taipans on deck for Blitz
CAMERON Gliddon, Mark Worthington and Cameron Tragardh are expected to train today and play in their NBL Blitz opener tomorrow night in Townsville after all three missed their loss to the Crocodiles on Sunday.
The trio were reduced to spectators with thigh, knee and calf injuries respectively, but have been deemed likely starters against the Perth Wildcats in a rematch of last season’s semi-final series at the preseason tournament.
Cairns lost twice to Townsville on the weekend and were undone by Melbourne United in Ballarat the week before.
But Gliddon, who insists he has recovered from a corked thigh suffered on Friday, said they were not bothered by their form line just yet.
“Not really; last year we went through teething issues at the start of the year and we’ve had a cluster of games quickly so if things go a bit wrong that can happen,” the captain said of their back-toback defeats on the weekend.
“I’m feeling pretty good, I think Trig will be okay and Wortho will be fine ... (new import) Markel Starks and Damon (Heuir) need more reps and to learn more so it was good for them to get more minutes.”
This season’s schedule will feature back-to-back games, many on weekdays, in what will be the ultimate test for each club’s medical staff.
“Everyone is trying to look after their bodies and you can see all over the league guys sitting out games for different things,” Gliddon said.
“We’ll see what happens when this condensed season kicks off.”
The Taipans will play Townsville again on Friday and New Zealand on Saturday in their final games before an October 8 tip-off at home against Illawarra.
The squad was shown through their major sponsor CQUniversity’s city campus yesterday before completing their team induction.
The partnership with the university has grown this season to include last Friday night’s preseason clash with Townsville in Rockhampton.
It attracted a crowd of 1300 and was considered a success.
“It's a tremendous partnership and is growing as the university itself grows,” Taipans boss Mark Beecroft said.
“They started with a small centre in Florence Street and is now in a campus in the middle of the city that we’ve been able to use for different activities ourselves.
“And the chance to take an NBL game to Rocky last weekend was great.”
All games during the 2015 NBL Blitz will be streamed live and free, available from the NBL website and foxsports .com.au
Production company CMS Australasia will be producing the broadcast at the Townsville RSL Stadium, where the Townsville Crocodiles have home court advantage as the defending pre-season champions.