Players’ commitment to Taipans ‘a big tick’

THE Tolga Tornado, Tyzone, is building towards his second chance at the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap after a fastfinishing effort in the Victory Stakes at Eagle Farm on Saturday.

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REIGNING coach of the year Mike Kelly concedes he was not confident under-contract Taipans Majok Deng and Mirko Djeric would remain in their deals following salary cap changes for the upcoming season.

NBL players were able to opt out of their contract for the 2020-21 campaign for two weeks recently from the signing of a new agreement, which saw players’ salaries cut down,

Previously trained by experienced horseman Roy Chillemi on the Tablelands, the six-year-old chestnut settled well back in the Group 2 field over 1200m, before finishing with their rights to be held by their respective clubs.

Taipans under contract, stretch forward Deng (above) and sniper shooter Djeric, elected to continue with their current deals despite the pay drop.

Asked if he had been confident the under-contract duo would remain on cut-price deals, Kelly offered this response:

“No, I just did not know, as just over two lengths behind the winner.

Tyzone had been working towards the feature Stradbroke since finishing second in the race in June of last year to guys who have said that have opted out at other clubs; they just need to look after themselves and their families,” Kelly said.

“That is the same for our guys; they felt it was best to stay within their contracts and stay with the club and go forward.

“You just have to let those guys make the decisions that were best for them and they felt their best interests was to come back with us.

“I had no certainty about

Trekking. The way Tyzone finished off on Saturday over the concluding stages will have connections confident of stepping up to 1400m and going one better at Eagle Farm on that, even though I spoke to the guys about it. I did not try and pressure them one way or another, I just tried to hear them out.”

Deng and Djeric are both young in their careers and have played at a number of NBL clubs, and deciding to stay in FNQ for less cash is a big tick for the franchise, Kelly says.

“The rules were so new to us, with being able to opt out; as I said before, we loved our group and the guys here liked

June 6. “Tyzone … he’ll peak on Stradbroke day,” co-trainer Trent Edmonds said.

Victorem won the Group 2 Victory Stakes on Saturday, with Tyzone finishing fifth. being a part of that too,” Kelly said.

“Them staying in their contracts was a stamp of approval to say, ‘hey, we believe in the process and the Taipans and we want to go forward with it’.

“That felt good and that is what we are trying to do.”

Kelly said he would need to have some hard conversations around their import selection for next season, with NBL rules permitting only two Americans, instead of the three that have been allowed until now.

FOLLOWING the release of the State Government’s Roadmap to Easing Restrictions, Basketball Queensland have confirmed the under-12, under-14 and under-16 State Championships will no longer proceed in July as planned.

BQ have proposed that each tournament, including the U14 boys, be played September 24-27 in Cairns. BQ will conduct a further review of the proposed dates by July 24.