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Forde: Minutes restriction? What minutes restriction.
Cairns Taipans’ Jaylin Galloway is congratulated by Jack McVeigh after their win against the New Zealand Breakers in Round 6 of NBL27 at Cairns Convention Centre on October 25, 2026. Photo: Emily Barker/Getty Images.
Highlights
Nobody told Adam Forde about a minutes plan, so Galloway played 26 minutes and Cairns moved to 5-4.
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NBL26 champion Jaylin Galloway ($196,400) might have been on a minutes restriction, but nobody told Cairns Taipans head coach Adam Forde.
Galloway, 23, suited up for the first time in NBL27 after recovering from shoulder surgery and dropped 18 points in 26:32 minutes to propel Cairns (5-4) to above .500 after nine games for the first time since NBL23.
The Taipans survived the New Zealand Breakers 86-84 in Round 6 on Sunday, October 25, 2026, in Cairns for their third straight home win.
“Well, everyone was talking about a minutes plan,” Forde said about the former Sydney Kings wing.
“No one actually told me about a minutes plan. Maybe they were too scared to.
“It wasn’t a conversation I was looking to invite either. No one approached me, and I didn’t approach anybody. We just went in with an ignorance-is-bliss type mindset.
“What impresses me most about JG is he has this quiet intensity about him. I said it, and I think it was posted in an article during the week.
“He’s someone who is super aware of his surroundings and what’s going on around him, and really comfortable in that environment, whether it be a light practice or a high-intensity, pressure-cooker type game like we had today.
“For a young man to possess that type of mindset and that character trait – they’re the type of things you look for in leaders of government, right? What he’s able to do under duress and pressure.
“It’s been very cool watching him the last couple of months. The fact that we’ve got him for another five or six months is only going to benefit the whole group.”
FIBA Asia Cup star Galloway went 7-for-11, including 3-for-5 from three, with six assists to add another scoring option to support Boomers teammate Jack McVeigh ($349,800), who also had 18 points in 29 minutes.
Breakers star guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright ($405,200) returned to the lineup after missing three games and pulled New Zealand within two at 86-84; Galloway turned the ball over, but emerging star Carlin Davison ($121,600) missed a layup to tie the game with seven seconds left.
“We did everything in our power to try and lose it,” Forde said.
“We missed foul shots, and then JG made a turnover at the end. It was an ugly, ugly way to go about it.
“But again, I’d rather walk out of here with a win and teach lessons, rather than sit there and say, ‘This is why we lost’, and teach the same lessons.
“Obviously, it probably is a different tone of language from me.”
Breakers assistant coach Sebastian Gleim stepped in for 67-year-old head coach Gordon Herbert, who stayed in New Zealand because of illness.
“We didn’t finish great with the field goals, and we didn’t finish great with the free throws,” Gleim said.
“Sure, in a two-point game, it’s really important to make the free throws. But I’m a coach who would never, ever talk about missing a shot. For me, it’s about the right effort, the little things, defence.
“You have to go back to work and get better at the free-throw line, but that’s the last thing in my thinking that we have to put out as a team. This is something that will be better next games.”
What you need to know
- The Cairns Taipans beat the NZ Breakers 86-84 at the Cairns Convention Centre in Round 6 of NBL27.
- The Breakers led 25-16 after the first quarter, 46-39 at half-time and 62-60 at the last change, and by as many as 11 in the third. Cairns won the fourth 26-22, with an 11-0 run that turned a 65-61 deficit into a 72-65 lead.
- Jack McVeigh ($349,800) and Jaylin Galloway ($196,400) top-scored with 18 each, and Sam Mennenga ($303,100) led the Breakers with 22 points and eight rebounds on 7-from-18.
- The Breakers missed 11 of their 23 free throws in a two-point game, including both of Mennenga's with 3:22 left and Cairns ahead 77-76.
- Reyne Smith ($156,300) hit three fourth-quarter threes off the bench, the last for an 84-79 lead with 1:57 left, and Keanu Pinder ($300,000) scored with 39 seconds left after Charles Bediako ($277,000) blocked his first attempt. Parker Jackson-Cartwright ($405,200) cut it to two with 17 seconds left, but Cairns survived a missed Carlin Davison ($121,600) layup at the death.
Milestones
- Keanu Pinder ($300,000) is 19 rebounds short of 1,000 career NBL rebounds after grabbing five (981).
- Jack McVeigh ($349,800) is 140 points short of 3,000 career NBL points after scoring 18 (2,860).
- Kouat Noi ($185,100) played his 192nd NBL game, eight short of 200.
Cairns Taipans
- Jack McVeigh ($349,800) top-scored with 18 points, seven assists and two steals on 6-from-13, including 3-from-7 from three, with no turnovers before fouling out with 2:16 left.
- Jaylin Galloway ($196,400) also scored 18 on 7-from-11, including 3-from-5 from three, with six assists.
- Keanu Pinder ($300,000) added 15 points and five rebounds on 5-from-12, including the basket that made it 86-82 with 39 seconds left.
- Malique Lewis ($207,900) had 11 points, four rebounds, two steals and two blocks on 5-from-7 in 34 minutes.
- Reyne Smith ($156,300) scored nine off the bench, all from three in the fourth quarter.
- Jonah Bolden ($133,600) had five points and a game-high 14 rebounds off the bench.
- Jaylon Brown ($277,000) had three points on 1-from-11, with five rebounds and five assists.
- Cairns shot 31-from-71 from the field, 14-from-35 from three and 10-from-18 at the line, with 42 rebounds, 21 assists and nine turnovers.
NZ Breakers
- Sam Mennenga ($303,100) top-scored with 22 points, eight rebounds and four assists on 7-from-18, including 4-from-8 from three, but went 4-from-10 at the line.
- Charles Bediako ($277,000) added 15 points and 10 rebounds on 5-from-6, with two blocks.
- Parker Jackson-Cartwright ($405,200) had 14 points and a game-high nine assists on 5-from-9, and scored the Breakers' last two field goals.
- Carlin Davison ($121,600) had eight points, eight rebounds and six assists off the bench, with four turnovers.
- Nelson Weidemann ($277,000) scored seven with two steals in 13 minutes off the bench.
- Dejan Vasiljevic ($144,000) had seven points on 3-from-8.
- Mojave King ($189,100) scored six off the bench, both threes in the fourth quarter.
- The Breakers shot 30-from-69 from the field, 12-from-25 from three and 12-from-23 at the line, with 46 rebounds, 22 assists and nine turnovers.
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