2024–25 Cairns Taipans season

2024–25 Cairns Taipans season
Head coach	Adam Forde
Captain	Taran Armstrong
Arena	Cairns Convention Centre
NBL results
Record	8–21 (27.6%)
Ladder	10th
Finals finish	Did not qualify
Stats at NBL.com.au
Player records
Points	Edwards 19.8
Rebounds	Waardenburg 6.4
Assists	Armstrong 4.7
All statistics correct as of 8 February 2025.

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

On 14 February 2025, Adam Forde parted ways as head coach of the Taipans during the off-season.^[1]

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. Nat. 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
	Team	Pld	W	L	PCT	Last 5	Streak	Home	Away	PF	PA	PP
1	Illawarra Hawks	29	20	9	68.97%	4–1	W3	10–4	10–5	2941	2645	111.19%
2	Melbourne United	29	19	10	65.52%	4–1	W4	9–6	10–4	2771	2652	104.49%
3	Perth Wildcats	29	18	11	62.07%	3–2	W3	10–5	8–6	2903	2811	103.27%
4	S.E. Melbourne Phoenix	29	16	13	55.17%	2–3	L1	10–4	6–9	2787	2656	104.93%
5	Sydney Kings	29	16	13	55.17%	2–3	L3	7–7	9–6	2630	2557	102.85%
6	Adelaide 36ers	29	13	16	44.83%	2–3	L3	9–6	4–10	2736	2796	97.85%
7	Tasmania JackJumpers	29	13	16	44.83%	1–4	W1	9–5	4–11	2435	2553	95.38%
8	Brisbane Bullets	29	12	17	41.38%	2–3	L1	6–8	6–9	2678	2838	94.36%
9	New Zealand Breakers	29	10	19	34.48%	1–4	L1	6–9	4–10	2485	2650	93.77%
10	Cairns Taipans	29	8	21	27.59%	3–2	L1	4–11	4–10	2561	2769	92.49%

Updated to match(es) played on 8 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	20
Adelaide 36ers	8	8	6	5	5	4	4	4	4	6	9	8	8	8	8	7	7	6	6	6
Brisbane Bullets	6	10	9	9	7	8	7	8	7	9	8	7	5	7	7	8	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	10
Illawarra Hawks	1	1	2	2	1	1	2	3	3	2	2	1	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	2
New Zealand Breakers	5	2	1	1	2	3	1	2	2	3	5	9	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	3
S.E. Melbourne Phoenix	7	9	10	10	10	10	8	7	8	7	6	6	7	6	5	5	5	4	4	4
Sydney Kings	3	4	3	4	3	5	5	5	5	4	3	3	3	4	3	4	2	3	5	5
Tasmania JackJumpers	9	6	7	8	9	7	9	9	9	8	7	5	4	3	6	6	6	7	7	7

Updated to match(es) played on 8 February 2025. Source: NBL.com.au

Game log

Pre-season

Main article: 2024 NBL 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

Main article: 2024–25 NBL regular season

2024–25 game log Total: 8–21 (Home: 4–11; Road: 4–10)
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: 1–2 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–2) 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 W 100–88 Taran Armstrong (28) Taran Armstrong (10) Taran Armstrong (10) Cairns Convention Centre 4,145 8–20 29 8 February @ Tasmania L 90–83 Tanner Groves (17) Tanner Groves (8) Armstrong, Bradshaw (4) Derwent Entertainment Centre 4,340 8–21
2024–25 season schedule

Transactions

Re-signed

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

Additions

Player	Date Signed	Contract	Former team	Ref.
Jackson Makoi	22 April 2024	1-year deal	Sydney Kings	[4]
Kyrin Galloway	29 April 2024	2-year deal	Adelaide 36ers	[5]
Tanner Groves	7 May 2024	1-year deal	SC Rasta Vechta	[6]
Rob Edwards	24 May 2024	1-year deal	Delaware Blue Coats	[7]
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	[8]
Deshon Taylor	30 October 2024	1-year deal (NRP)	Hapoel Haifa	[9]

Subtractions

Player	Reason left	Date Left	New Team	Ref.
Tahjere McCall	Parted ways	25 February 2024	Hapoel Holon	[10]
Patrick Miller	Free agent	12 March 2024	Lokomotiv Kuban	[11]
Lat Mayen	Free agent	16 April 2024	Adelaide 36ers	[12]
Bul Kuol	Free agent	30 April 2024	Sydney Kings	[13]
Bobi Klintman	NBA draft	26 June 2024	Detroit Pistons	[14]
Josh Roberts	Free agent	17 August 2024	Aris B.C.	[15]

Awards

Club awards

• Club MVP: Sam Waardenburg^[16]
• Defensive Player: Sam Waardenburg
• Players’ Player: Tanner Groves
• Commitment to Community: Kian Dennis
• Members’ Choice MVP: Sam Waardenburg
• Coaches Award: Alex Higgins-Titsha
• Club Person of the Year: Dr. Josh Guy

See also

• 2024–25 NBL season

References

1. "Forde departs Taipans". NBL Official Website. 14 February 2025. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
2. "Sam Waardenburg signs extension with Cairns Taipans". ESPN.com.au. 30 January 2024. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
3. "Cairns retain hot-hand sharpshooter". NBL.com.au. 3 May 2024. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
4. "South Sudan superstar heads to Far North Queensland". NBL.com.au. 22 April 2024. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
5. "Done deal: Taipans officially sign Kyrin Galloway". Taipans.com. 29 April 2024. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
6. "Taipans welcome Tanner Groves". Taipans.com. 7 May 2024. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
7. "Roster heats up with Rob Edwards". Taipans.com. 24 May 2024. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
8. "Roster Update: Dufelmeier named Nominated Injury Replacement". Taipans.com. 11 September 2024. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
9. "Deshon Taylor joins the Taipans". Taipans.com. 30 October 2024. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
10. "Tahjere McCall moves to Israel for the rest of the season". eurohoops.net. 25 February 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
11. "Welcome, Patrick!". lokobasket.com. 12 March 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
12. "Adelaide secures services of hometown hero". NBL.com.au. 16 April 2024. Archived from the original on 16 April 2024.
13. "Bul Kuol signs three-year deal with Sydney Kings". ESPN.com.au. 15 April 2024. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
14. "Timberwolves Acquire a Future Draft Pick and Cash Considerations". NBA.com. 6 July 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
15. "Josh Roberts at ARIS Midea". arisbc.gr. 17 August 2024. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
16. "Every club's NBL25 MVP winner". NBL.com.au. 27 March 2025. Retrieved 27 March 2025.

External links

• Official Website