Sport
11 April, 2026
NBL1 team aims for top
THE 20-plus year rivalry with Townsville was front of mind as Cairns Basketball Inc launched its official NBL1 season this week.
From the general manager through to the coaches, everyone is keen to square up to their southern foe when they head in to round one on Saturday 18 April for their first home game.
“It is a bit of a rivalry for us, we get to play them three times, twice at home and one away this season,” CBI general manager Luca Vergari said at the launch on Tuesday.
“We’ve had a really good buzz around the pre-season for both the men and women’s teams this year.”
The return of Marcus Wong as the Dolphins head coach and the appointment of local hero Joel Khalu as head coach for the men’s Marlins team were “no brainer” decisions for the club.
“It’s good for the culture, for our pathways, it shows good leadership, having coaches that have been there and done that,” Mr Vergari said. For Coach Khalu this season was something he had long wanted to be part of.
“Returning home and being able to coach this group is something I’ve always wanted to do and to open the season against our archrivals Townsville, there’s a lot of history that goes back against them, so I am pumped,” he said.
The former assistant coach with the NBL’s Illawarra Hawks has brought a world of experience and intensity to the team during pre-season training, describing it as “super competitive”.
And for good reason. It’s a large training squad, including exciting new Queensland sign-ons and the addition of players from both the under 18 and under 23s.
“They are all keen to go out and make their mark in terms of where they fall in the pecking order and playing time. Things have been really competitive, but everyone seems to be getting along really well.”
Among the new players are Amarco Doyle from Mackay and Luca Yates and Kobe McDowell-White brought in from Illawarra.
“They know what I’m about, they know the expectations that I set for them, their roles.”
As for the Cairns players, they had been “pretty impressive in practice”.
“We’ve got some really good leaders here, Kody Stattmann, James Mitchell, Aron Farmer, those guys have been involved for years,” Coach Khalu said.
Coach Wong said he was very pleased to be able to continue what he started in Cairns with the Dolphins last year.
“We’re still waiting for players to come in, but we’ve been really happy with how it’s been going,” he said.
The return of Mia Loyd, to play this season after competing in leagues across the world, would bring “great leadership” to the team.
