Taipans waiting on player availability

Thursday, October 19, 2023

Cairns is waiting on the fitness of Taran Armstrong and Sam Mennenga, and the return of Tahjere McCall.

The Cairns Taipans have returned from their NBLxNBA tour and have their first game back in just over a weeks’ time, but they could be entering the clash without a pair of key guards.

Taran Armstrong arrived back in Australia sporting a moon boot following his appearance against the Washington Wizards and is reportedly set for an MRI, while Tahjere McCall has remained in the United States ahead of the birth of his first child.

Armstrong apparently recovered from the foot injury that kept him from participating in Cairns’ first three games of the season, but remained unused in the Taipans’ second NBLxNBA game against the Toronto Raptors.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The <a href="https://twitter.com/CairnsTaipans?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CairnsTaipans</a> are back in town and will get back into the swing of their <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NBL</a> season with eight days until their next match against the Illawarra Hawks. <a href="https://t.co/XnBxGc8G1U">https://t.co/XnBxGc8G1U</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/jonnyess8?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jonnyess8</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/7NEWS?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#7NEWS</a> <a href="https://t.co/NfGpU98aPE">pic.twitter.com/NfGpU98aPE</a></p>— 7NEWS Cairns (@7NewsCairns) <a href="https://twitter.com/7NewsCairns/status/1714552669073969544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 18, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Forde, meanwhile, is waiting for an update on when McCall will return.

“I don’t know what the latest is, I haven’t checked my phone,” Forde said upon landing back in Cairns.

“It’s still impending, any minute now. It’s life-changing for him and exciting.”

The Taipans were also without New Zealand-born big Sam Mennenga for both NBLxNBA clashes, as the exciting first-year professional was sidelined with a serious illness while in the United States.

The absences of McCall, Armstrong and Mennenga saw Forde call upon former NBA star Elfrid Payton to make up the numbers in the side’s clash with Toronto.

“Long story short I threw out a wide net to see what I could catch,” Forde said of Payton’s one-game stint with the side.

“It was amazing he was available, he was a great guy. Absolutely fantastic.”

The Taipans’ next NBL fixture is set for Thursday, October 26 against Illawarra.