2024–25 Cairns Taipans season

2024–25 Cairns Taipans season
2024–25 Cairns Taipans season
Head coach	Adam Forde
Captain	Taran Armstrong
Arena	Cairns Convention Centre
NBL results
Record	7–20 (25.9%)
Ladder	10th
Finals finish	Did not qualify
	Stats at NBL.com.au
	All statistics correct as of 1 February 2025.
	← 2023–24 2025–26 →

The 2024–25 Cairns Taipans season is the 26th season of the franchise in the National Basketball League (NBL).

Roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

2024–25 Cairns Taipans roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.
G	1	Armstrong, Taran (C)	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)	88 kg (194 lb)
G	2	Edwards, Rob (IN)	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)	93 kg (205 lb)
F	3	Stith, Dillon	2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)	98 kg (216 lb)
G	4	Adnam, Kyle	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)	84 kg (185 lb)
G	5	Dufelmeier, Tad (NRP)	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)	79 kg (174 lb)
G	6	Antonio, Jonah	1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)	88 kg (194 lb)
G	9	Makoi, Jackson (IN)	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)	89 kg (196 lb)
F	11	Higgins-Titsha, Alex (DP)	2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)
F	13	Gak, Akoldah	2.10 m (6 ft 11 in)	102 kg (225 lb)
F	14	Galloway, Kyrin	2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)	98 kg (216 lb)
G	20	Stattmann, Kody (DP)	2.02 m (6 ft 8 in)	91 kg (201 lb)
F	21	Waardenburg, Sam	2.08 m (6 ft 10 in)	100 kg (220 lb)
F/C	22	Groves, Tanner (I)	2.08 m (6 ft 10 in)	109 kg (240 lb)
G/F	32	Bradshaw, Pedro (I)	2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)	82 kg (181 lb)

Head coach

Adam Forde

Assistant coach(es)

Will Lopez
Kerry Williams

Legend

(C) Team captain
(DP) Development player
(IN) Inactive
(I) Import player
(TP) Training player
(SRP) Special restricted player
(NS) Next Star player
Injured

Roster

Updated: 2 February 2025

Depth chart

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench 1	Bench 2
PG	Taran Armstrong	Kyle Adnam	Jackson Makoi
SG	Rob Edwards	Jonah Antonio	Kody Stattmann
SF	Pedro Bradshaw	Dillon Stith	Alex Higgins-Titsha
PF	Sam Waardenburg	Kyrin Galloway
C	Tanner Groves	Akoldah Gak

Standings

Ladder

Pos	2024–25 NBL season v t e
Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PCT	Last 5	Streak	Home	Away	PF	PA	PP
1	Illawarra Hawks	27	18	9	66.67%	3–2	W1	9–4	9–5	2750	2488	110.53%
2	Melbourne United	28	18	10	64.29%	4–1	W3	8–6	10–4	2668	2559	104.26%

3	Perth Wildcats	28	17	11	60.71%	3–2	W2	9–5	8–6	2791	2707	103.10%
4	S.E. Melbourne Phoenix	28	16	12	57.14%	3–2	W1	10–4	6–8	2694	2553	105.52%
5	Sydney Kings	28	16	12	57.14%	3–2	L2	7–7	9–5	2555	2462	103.78%
6	Adelaide 36ers	28	13	15	46.43%	3–2	L2	9–6	4–9	2632	2684	98.06%

7	Tasmania JackJumpers	28	12	16	42.86%	0–5	L6	8–5	4–11	2345	2470	94.94%
8	Brisbane Bullets	28	12	16	42.86%	2–3	W1	6–8	6–8	2590	2738	94.59%
9	New Zealand Breakers	28	10	18	35.71%	2–3	W1	6–8	4–10	2403	2554	94.09%
10	Cairns Taipans	27	7	20	25.93%	3–2	L1	3–11	4–9	2378	2591	91.78%

Updated to match(es) played on 1 February 2025. Source: NBL.com.au

The NBL tie-breaker system as outlined in the NBL Rules and Regulations states that in the case of an identical win–loss record, the overall points percentage will determine order of seeding.

Ladder progression

	Leader and qualification to semifinals
	Qualification to semifinals
	Qualification to play-in
	Last place

2024–25 NBL season
Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19
Team ╲ Round
Adelaide 36ers	8	8	6	5	5	4	4	4	4	6	9	8	8	8	8	7	7	6	6
Brisbane Bullets	6	10	9	9	7	8	7	8	7	9	8	7	5	7	7	8	8	8	8
Cairns Taipans	10	7	4	6	6	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10
Illawarra Hawks	1	1	2	2	1	1	2	3	3	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Melbourne United	2	3	5	3	4	2	3	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	3	2	2
New Zealand Breakers	5	2	1	1	2	3	1	2	2	3	5	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9
Perth Wildcats	4	5	8	7	8	6	6	6	6	5	4	4	6	5	4	3	4	5	3
S.E. Melbourne Phoenix	7	9	10	10	10	10	8	7	8	7	6	6	7	6	5	5	5	4	4
Sydney Kings	3	4	3	4	3	5	5	5	5	4	3	3	3	4	3	4	2	3	5
Tasmania JackJumpers	9	6	7	8	9	7	9	9	9	8	7	5	4	3	6	6	6	7	7

Updated to match(es) played on 2 February 2025. Source: NBL.com.au

Game log

Pre-season

2023 NBL Blitz game log
Total: 0–4 (Home: 0–2; Road: 0–2)

September: 0–4 (Home: 0–2; Road: 0–2)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
1	7 September	@ Melbourne	L 94–87	Rob Edwards (24)	three players (8)	Pedro Bradshaw (4)	Carrara Indoor Stadium n/a	0–1
2	9 September	Sydney	L 77–99	Tanner Groves (15)	Tanner Groves (11)	Jackson Makoi (6)	Gold Coast Sports Centre n/a	0–2
3	12 September	Perth	L 76–89	Rob Edwards (16)	Tanner Groves (9)	Pedro Bradshaw (4)	Gold Coast Sports Centre n/a	0–3
4	14 September	@ Brisbane	L 85–82	Antonio, Stith (16)	Akoldah Gak (7)	Tad Dufelmeier (5)	Gold Coast Sports Centre n/a	0–4

Regular season

2024–25 game log
Total: 7–20 (Home: 3–11; Road: 4–9)

September: 1–1 (Home: 1–1; Road: 0–0)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
1	21 September	Illawarra	L 75–102	Tanner Groves (17)	Bradshaw, Groves (7)	Tad Dufelmeier (3)	Perth Superdrome 2,878	0–1
2	28 September	Adelaide	W 101–97	Rob Edwards (31)	Sam Waardenburg (11)	Kyle Adnam (5)	Cairns Convention Centre 4,141	1–1

October: 2–5 (Home: 1–2; Road: 1–3)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
3	4 October	Tasmania	W 90–78	Taran Armstrong (20)	Sam Waardenburg (7)	Armstrong, Edwards (5)	Cairns Convention Centre 4,538	2–1
4	6 October	@ Melbourne	W 88–101	Rob Edwards (23)	Pedro Bradshaw (9)	three players (4)	John Cain Arena 9,766	3–1
5	10 October	Perth	L 87–90	Rob Edwards (24)	Akoldah Gak (10)	Sam Waardenburg (7)	Cairns Convention Centre 3,750	3–2
6	13 October	@ Sydney	L 99–73	Sam Waardenburg (22)	Sam Waardenburg (9)	Kyle Adnam (5)	Sydney SuperDome 11,076	3–3
7	19 October	Illawarra	L 75–87	Pedro Bradshaw (18)	Pedro Bradshaw (14)	Adnam, Waardenburg (4)	Cairns Convention Centre 4,362	3–4
8	25 October	@ Adelaide	L 99–93 (OT)	Rob Edwards (27)	Sam Waardenburg (14)	Jackson Makoi (6)	Adelaide Entertainment Centre 9,382	3–5
9	27 October	@ Melbourne	L 106–63	Antonio, Waardenburg (11)	Antonio, Higgins-Titsha (8)	Sam Waardenburg (4)	John Cain Arena 9,210	3–6

November: 0–4 (Home: 0–3; Road: 0–1)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
10	2 November	Brisbane	L 88–92	Rob Edwards (27)	Alex Higgins-Titsha (11)	Galloway, Makoi (4)	Cairns Convention Centre 4,445	3–7
11	10 November	@ S.E. Melbourne	L 97–74	Sam Waardenburg (16)	Armstrong, Gak (7)	Jackson Makoi (7)	John Cain Arena 6,384	3–8
12	16 November	New Zealand	L 69–77	Rob Edwards (33)	Akoldah Gak (8)	Taran Armstrong (7)	Cairns Convention Centre 4,767	3–9
13	29 November	Sydney	L 75–81	Taran Armstrong (28)	Sam Waardenburg (10)	Edwards, Waardenburg (2)	Cairns Convention Centre 3,899	3–10

December: 0–6 (Home: 0–3; Road: 0–3)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
14	5 December	@ Tasmania	L 99–90	Taran Armstrong (29)	Sam Waardenburg (7)	Sam Waardenburg (6)	Derwent Entertainment Centre 4,340	3–11
15	7 December	@ S.E. Melbourne	L 99–94	Rob Edwards (24)	Pedro Bradshaw (10)	Sam Waardenburg (5)	John Cain Arena 5,103	3–12
16	14 December	Perth	L 92–128	Taran Armstrong (24)	Rob Edwards (6)	Taran Armstrong (8)	Cairns Convention Centre 4,386	3–13
17	20 December	@ Brisbane	L 107–104	Rob Edwards (27)	Tanner Groves (10)	Taran Armstrong (5)	Brisbane Entertainment Centre 4,599	3–14
18	26 December	Melbourne	L 66–76	Tanner Groves (20)	Groves, Waardenburg (6)	Armstrong, Groves (4)	Cairns Convention Centre 4,428	3–15
19	31 December	New Zealand	L 68–92	Tanner Groves (21)	Tanner Groves (8)	Taran Armstrong (5)	Cairns Convention Centre 4,870	3–16

January: 4–3 (Home: 1–2; Road: 3–1)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
20	3 January	@ Illawarra	W 105–108	Armstrong, Edwards (28)	Bradshaw, Groves (9)	three players (3)	Wollongong Entertainment Centre 5,087	4–16
21	12 January	@ Sydney	L 91–87	Rob Edwards (25)	Rob Edwards (7)	Sam Waardenburg (4)	Sydney SuperDome 10,224	4–17
22	14 January	S.E. Melbourne	L 102–113	Sam Waardenburg (22)	Tanner Groves (7)	Taran Armstrong (6)	Cairns Convention Centre 3,779	4–18
23	17 January	@ Brisbane	W 80–111	Rob Edwards (35)	Tanner Groves (8)	Kyle Adnam (6)	Brisbane Entertainment Centre 5,587	5–18
24	19 January	Adelaide	L 75–99	Tanner Groves (23)	Akoldah Gak (10)	Taran Armstrong (5)	Cairns Convention Centre 4,109	5–19
25	23 January	Illawarra	W 100–94	Rob Edwards (22)	Tanner Groves (9)	Pedro Bradshaw (5)	Cairns Convention Centre 3,845	6–19
26	25 January	@ Perth	W 116–125 (2OT)	Rob Edwards (30)	Pedro Bradshaw (13)	Sam Waardenburg (9)	Perth Arena 13,269	7–19

February: 0–1 (Home: 0–0; Road: 0–1)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
27	1 February	@ New Zealand	L 99–92	Bradshaw, Waardenburg (16)	Sam Waardenburg (6)	Taran Armstrong (8)	Spark Arena 5,625	7–20
28	6 February	Brisbane	0–0				Cairns Convention Centre	–
29	8 February	@ Tasmania	0–0				Derwent Entertainment Centre	–

2024–25 season schedule

Transactions

Re-signed

Player	Date Signed	Contract	Ref.
Sam Waardenburg	11 April 2024	1-year deal	^[1]
Jonah Antonio	3 May 2024	1-year deal	^[2]

Additions

Player	Date Signed	Contract	Former team	Ref.
Jackson Makoi	22 April 2024	1-year deal	Sydney Kings	^[3]
Kyrin Galloway	29 April 2024	2-year deal	Adelaide 36ers	^[4]
Tanner Groves	7 May 2024	1-year deal	SC Rasta Vechta	^[5]
Rob Edwards	24 May 2024	1-year deal	Delaware Blue Coats	^[6]
Dillon Stith	2 July 2024	2-year (club option)	Casey Cavaliers
Alex Higgins-Titsha	11 July 2024	2-year deal (club option)	Inner West Bulls
Kody Stattmann	11 July 2024	1-year deal	S.E. Melbourne Phoenix
Pedro Bradshaw	30 July 2024	1-year deal	Indiana Mad Ants
Kyle Adnam	7 August 2024	2-year deal (club option)	Illawarra Hawks
Tad Dufelmeier	11 September 2024	1-year deal (NRP)	Dandenong Rangers	^[7]
Deshon Taylor	30 October 2024	1-year deal (NRP)	Hapoel Haifa	^[8]

Subtractions

Player	Reason left	Date Left	New Team	Ref.
Tahjere McCall	Parted ways	25 February 2024	Hapoel Holon	^[9]
Patrick Miller	Free agent	12 March 2024	Lokomotiv Kuban	^[10]
Lat Mayen	Free agent	16 April 2024	Adelaide 36ers	^[11]
Bul Kuol	Free agent	30 April 2024	Sydney Kings	^[12]
Bobi Klintman	NBA draft	26 June 2024	Detroit Pistons	^[13]
Josh Roberts	Free agent	17 August 2024	Aris B.C.	^[14]

Awards

Club awards

Club MVP:
Defensive Player:
Players’ Player:
Commitment to Community:
Members’ Choice MVP:
Coaches Award:

References

^ "Sam Waardenburg signs extension with Cairns Taipans". ESPN.com.au. 30 January 2024. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
^ "Cairns retain hot-hand sharpshooter". NBL.com.au. 3 May 2024. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
^ "South Sudan superstar heads to Far North Queensland". NBL.com.au. 22 April 2024. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
^ "Done deal: Taipans officially sign Kyrin Galloway". Taipans.com. 29 April 2024. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
^ "Taipans welcome Tanner Groves". Taipans.com. 7 May 2024. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
^ "Roster heats up with Rob Edwards". Taipans.com. 24 May 2024. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
^ "Roster Update: Dufelmeier named Nominated Injury Replacement". Taipans.com. 11 September 2024. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
^ "Deshon Taylor joins the Taipans". Taipans.com. 30 October 2024. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
^ "Tahjere McCall moves to Israel for the rest of the season". eurohoops.net. 25 February 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
^ "Welcome, Patrick!". lokobasket.com. 12 March 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
^ "Adelaide secures services of hometown hero". NBL.com.au. 16 April 2024. Archived from the original on 16 April 2024.
^ "Bul Kuol signs three-year deal with Sydney Kings". ESPN.com.au. 15 April 2024. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
^ "Timberwolves Acquire a Future Draft Pick and Cash Considerations". NBA.com. 6 July 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
^ "Josh Roberts at ARIS Midea". arisbc.gr. 17 August 2024. Retrieved 20 October 2024.

External links

Official Website

[1] "Sam Waardenburg signs extension with Cairns Taipans". ESPN.com.au. 30 January 2024. Retrieved 11 April 2024.

[2] "Cairns retain hot-hand sharpshooter". NBL.com.au. 3 May 2024. Retrieved 22 September 2024.

[3] "South Sudan superstar heads to Far North Queensland". NBL.com.au. 22 April 2024. Retrieved 25 April 2024.

[4] "Done deal: Taipans officially sign Kyrin Galloway". Taipans.com. 29 April 2024. Retrieved 22 September 2024.

[5] "Taipans welcome Tanner Groves". Taipans.com. 7 May 2024. Retrieved 22 September 2024.

[6] "Roster heats up with Rob Edwards". Taipans.com. 24 May 2024. Retrieved 22 September 2024.

[7] "Roster Update: Dufelmeier named Nominated Injury Replacement". Taipans.com. 11 September 2024. Retrieved 11 September 2024.

[8] "Deshon Taylor joins the Taipans". Taipans.com. 30 October 2024. Retrieved 22 November 2024.

[9] "Tahjere McCall moves to Israel for the rest of the season". eurohoops.net. 25 February 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2024.

[10] "Welcome, Patrick!". lokobasket.com. 12 March 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2024.

[11] "Adelaide secures services of hometown hero". NBL.com.au. 16 April 2024. Archived from the original on 16 April 2024.

[12] "Bul Kuol signs three-year deal with Sydney Kings". ESPN.com.au. 15 April 2024. Retrieved 30 April 2024.

[13] "Timberwolves Acquire a Future Draft Pick and Cash Considerations". NBA.com. 6 July 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2024.

[14] "Josh Roberts at ARIS Midea". arisbc.gr. 17 August 2024. Retrieved 20 October 2024.

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