Waardenburg injury puts Cairns on back foot

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The Cairns Taipans will be without one of their star players for the early portion of NBL26, with last year’s MVP Sam Waardenburg set to be on the sidelines with an ankle injury until further notice, reports Mitch Turner of CODE Sports.

The 208cm forward, who was set to suit up for his fourth season with the Snakes, picked up what coach Adam Forde described as a “random little injury” which has now required surgery.

“It’s seemed like the smallest of things that he’s now gone for surgery for (on Monday),” Forde said.

“We’ll find out what his return to play timeline is like.

“The good thing is we’ve got a lot of depth so we can cover for him while he’s out.”

Read the full article at CODE Sports

One such member of the group set to cover for Waardenburg is new signing Andrew Andrews, who the Taipans officially unveiled as their replacement for Ashton Hagan.

Hagan was released from his contract due to “personal reasons” at the request of his management, according to a statement put out by the Taipans.

Andrews is set to fly in to FNQ later this week, with a legitimate chance to be available for round 1 against SEM Phoenix.

While Forde didn’t go into the circumstances surrounding Hagan’s release, he said the crew had very much taken a “next man up” mentality especially in the wake of Andrews’ signing.

“This is the industry, this is the business. It’s out with one, in with the other,” he said.

“Andrew is going to bring a lot more scoring punch than Ashton, which is kind of what we need with Waardenburg out for a stretch.”