Cairns Taipans coach Aaron Fearne demands end to travel sickness for play-off push

CAIRNS Taipans coach Aaron Fearne has challenged his men to find their inner beast away from home if they intend on returning the playoffs.

Cairns Taipans v Sydney Kings NBL at the Cairns Convention Centre. Taipans' Shaun Bruce. Picture: Stewart McLean

CAIRNS Taipans coach Aaron Fearne has challenged his men to find their inner beast away from home if they intend on returning the playoffs.

Everyone knows the Taipans lift on their home deck, but an inability to be a force on the road this season has hindered their prospects of making a concerted run up the ladder.

The Snakes have only won once away from Cairns to date, that result chalked up in Adelaide last October against the 36ers.

“We’re hanging on the edge right now,” Fearne said of the Taipans remaining in playoff contention.

“It’s easy to play with that energy and that physicality when you’ve got 5000 people sitting there backing you.

“The challenge is to do that on the road when it’s just the 13 of us away from Cairns. As I said to the guys in the locker room after the Breakers game, that fight, that desire, that tightness as a group that we (regularly) display at home now needs to be shown on the road in hostile environments.”

Riding high after their fighting victory against the defending NBL champions, Saturday’s game against the Kings is the perfect opportunity to start a winning run before a string of four straight home games back in Cairns.

“We know we are yet to win back-to-back games so that’s definitely a focus of ours,’’ Fearne said.

“Sydney will be a difficult side to overcome.

“They played pretty well against New Zealand and Melbourne recently to only just come up short.”

The Taipans’ Stephen Weigh is expected to play after overcoming knee soreness, while import Markel Starks’ return from a hamstring injury is still a few days away.

Originally published as Cairns Taipans coach Aaron Fearne demands end to travel sickness for play-off push