Taipans tire of 'insane self-inflicted wounds'

The Hungry Jack’s NBL26 season has been a tough one for the Cairns Taipans, largely due to an incredible injury toll.

Star big man Sam Waardenburg has featured in eight games this season due to ankle injuries, while sharpshooter Reyne Smith hasn’t hit the hardwood since round eight.

Mix in a season-ending injury to promising forward Alex Higgins-Titsha, and missed game by the likes of Jack McVeigh and Admiral Schofield, and it’s been hard for Adam Forde’s side to build any momentum through the first 18 rounds of the 2025-26 campaign.

While all those injuries are out of their control, it was in fact “self-inflicted wounds” that caused the Taipans to lose 118-91 to South East Melbourne on Saturday, after leading by as many as 14 points in the opening half.

“Even in the first half [when we were in front], we had some horrible self-inflicted wounds, some insane stuff and then it all snowballs when we start to tighten up and we're not scoring. We're not in a position where we can afford to be playing for fouls,” Forde said in Saturday’s post-game press conference.

“There's frustrations that build up just because of the season we're having and then there's miscommunication that compounds that.

“When we're up and about, we look good, when we're not and things can turn out like they did tonight.”

Those frustrations were on show when McVeigh because noticeably agitated towards teammate Marcus Lee.

He again vented his displeasure during a half-time interview.

“I don’t know what I’m happy about at the moment, I just want to get a win,” McVeigh said.

“Some dudes aren’t coming to play right now and that’s making me pissed off.”

Forde backed his Paris Olympian’s comments, explaining that McVeigh only wants the best for the club.

“Jack's frustrated and he's a human being, so I can't tell him to calm down and it's just a natural reaction to what's been happening,” Forde said.

“At half-time, I was super-frustrated too because we had so many bad errors and that one with Marcus Lee tipping Jack's shot out was the most glaring example, and I felt we could win the game if we stopped those silly mistakes.

“Everything compounds to a point where we get rattled and when our confidence gets down we drop our effort, and then theirs picks up and it's a nutshell of what our season has looked like from the start.”

The ninth-placed Taipans next host the Tasmania JackJumpers on Friday night, from 7.30pm AEDT, live on ESPN.