It's in the West Australian today. It'll be great to have him back.

https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/sport/a/31681139/nate-jawai-could-be-ready-to-commit-to-new-wildcats-deal/

He says he's 100% now after taking some time off. With a full pre-season he should be better than he was last year.

I think the biggest thing he brings to the team is that he forces oppositions to double him. Even when he's not 100% fit he can still demand that kind of attention. When the cats were hitting their outside shots they were almost unstoppable because of that.

Like everything, I guess we'll wait and see, but I'd be happy if he returns. Gives us a solid starting front court, with plenty of backup on the bench, and import slots to burn.

I love his refreshing honesty too: "I'm in no rush, I'll look at the offer and if I like it I'll sign, and if not I'll look at my options."

If he signs for Perth then I think the Wildcats should chase hard after Clint Steindl as Jawai's passing and ability to draw the double team will help Steindl and I think they will both help the Wildcats

Regardless if Jawai stays or goes, the Cats should be targeting Steindl.

If Jawai's already leaning one way it's hard to see him going in a different direction.

Paul, i believe that is called inertia?

Strong rumour in town today is saying he has signed with Taipans

I'll believe it when I see Corea Corea start their million dollar renovations.

Anything,s possible, but I doubt it.
He's already said he's waiting on an offer from Perth.
Can't see Cairns beating Perth's offer, and based on past behaviour I can't see Nate truning his back on Perth until he's considered their offer.

I doubt Cairns would have to beat Perth's offer, if he wants to go home enough he'll be playing for the Taipans. Would be a great story if he does and put Cairns squarely into championship contention.

I don't know Nate personally, and have nothing to judge this on other than what I have read.
Last season he supposedly made an early commitment to the Cats in the event he returned to Australia. He chose to stick with the commitment despite being chased by other clubs.
Hence when he says that he would like to stay with Perth, is waiting on their offer, and will accept if its good enough, I tend to take him at face value.

Easy, just bring his family to Perth, then move back after a few championships and career is over.

Liam Santamaria ‏@liam_santa ·
Sources: Former @PerthWildcats big man Nathan Jawai has signed with the @CairnsTaipans.

Good for Nate. He goes back to play infront of his family and friends. For Perth I guess this means they need to sign a legit 5 with their import slot.Not sure if the Motum rumors were ever legit but signing him makes sense now.

I think Bairstow would be a better signing or both :)

Disappointing if true, but just goes to show that anything can happen.
I'd love to know the full story.
Was the Cats's offer just not good enough to overcome the lure of going home?

Perth really need to get on their bike and start hunting down some imports.

^ I agree.

Assuming it is even true, but yeah I would have nothing but best wishes for Big Nate if he chooses to return to his original club and be closer to home.
And it's great news that he's feeling healthy again as well. (although scary too, as a Wildcats fan)

2 year contract with some out clauses is what I heard . Should be an announcement very soon from Taipans

Makes Burston a pretty good backup centre option for another team now, there's no room left for him at Cairns (unfortunately).

Great pickup for Cairns if true. I think Perth will most certainly splash on a big name inside now - import or Bairstow.

Agree that it's great if Nate goes back to his original club. Just goes to show that money isn't everything as no doubt there would have been larger offers on the table no doubt...

With his (potential) and McCarron's signings it shows that Fearney is doing a good job of staying in touch with players and obviously has a solid environment set up that players who could probably get more cash elsewhere have bought into there...

Sting - Burston has been training with the team (facebook pic the other week) so I'm just assuming he's staying. There is space for him with the expanded roster slots.


Glad Nate's coming home, great for him to play where it all started in front of friends and family, great for fans to see him play again in orange, and (given the issues happening in the Cape at the moment) potentially great for the ATSI community.

Good for the talent spread of the league. Good job Taipans.

Its kinda weird. Wildcats won the championship, and made all the right noises about keeping the team together...
Nate & Jervis were big parts of that win.
Brandt for Jervis is probably an ok swap.
But Nate leaves a big a hole. It shouldn't be too hard to find someone who's a better defensive option, but getting somebody who can so consistently draw the double will be difficult.

Cats have appeared very relaxed in their off-season, everything is "wait & see." Not sure how that's working out for them.

Purely for foul trouble,most teams number 11 should be a big. Burston will be that big for Cairns.

Dazz - Cat's made big noises about keeping the team together to present a strong image to the public. The reason they made those statements is because the situation of the team not being the same this season were very high.

KingPodge I better start looking for the DAs for Corea Coreas new extensions hey lol

hahaha GTS I think they might just build it on the Aquis site!

lol nice one KP
Well 7 local news have officially announced it on tv tonight

I think jawai is most impactful with a team like Perth who have enough to "carry" him through the regular season and then he repays three favour by being a difference maker as he was in the grand final. This is the best formula for him whilst his fitness is enough of a concern that he'd can't dominate all the time, only in short bursts

Cats have appeared very relaxed in their off-season, everything is "wait & see." Not sure how that's working out for them.

"Jawai is a big spend for the return IMO"

That's a fair call, but at the same time, he was the x-factor that got us the title IMO.
The gap between his best & his worst is probably the biggest of any player in the league. He can be unstoppable, and he can also be a foul-prone turnover machine, all within the space of 20 minutes.
Perth had the luxury of not needing to rely on him too much.

If you look at $$$ vs. production for the season, I'm guessing Nate was not great value at all. But if he is a little healthier this time around and can be well utilised he could be great for the Taipans.

wont have to work as hard under Fearne??? Fearne's going to kick his ass. He aint coming here for an easy ride....

^me

Luuuc, they would've been paying him double what the MVP got paid. You could give 10+ players a hefty payrise and get more consistent game-winning output. A streaky shooter playing sparse minutes can be a game-breaker too. Or an intense hustle guy.

Great to keep him in the league though and spread the talent around. Hopefully he fires up the Cairns crowd as much as he did in Perth.

I dunno, Isaac. Is giving 10 players a pay rise really going to make them much better over the course of a season? I would doubt it.
The way the Cats landed Nate last season was certainly not by strategic recruiting, and there were plenty of question marks (including from me) about whether the front court was where we should be adding the talent after Greenwood up & left, but I don't think it's doing him justice to compare him to a budget streaky shooter in the way he can impact games.

Anyway at the end of the day he was not so dominant & consistent as to kill me that the Cats have lost his services, but he's still a serious x-factor and I expect the Taipans to benefit a lot from having him there.
My big concern now is that this is a 3 year contract. Nate seems like a guy who needs to stay motivated, and I don't know that the comfort of a 3 year deal is good in that regard.

Nate is a big family & friends kind of guy, so if he is home in Cairns with heaps of loved ones around him he will be happy and motivated, don't worry too much about that...

Luuuc, sorry, my wording was poor. I meant that there are 10+ players in the league that you could give big payrises to ($50-100k+), still be cheaper than Jawai as a Wildcat and have a more consistent impact.

I'm talking about Lisch, Ogilvy, Penney, Jackson and so on.

Isaac, I don't think there was another player in the league who changed opposition defensive strategies as much as Jawai. To go with that he had the vision and passing ability to punish those plans if they got them wrong. He made his teammates and his team better, which means he was an incredibly valuable piece.

Was he overpaid in comparison to the league? Maybe, but it's not really all that relevant when he was a key piece in a championship team, he did the job that was needed, even if he didn't live up to expectations of fans who didn't understand what he would bring.