Would be great for him to stay in the NBL but he might be better suited to a backup.
Replacing Brandt or Boone would be a big ask.

Fearne & Jawai were joined at the Hip, so its not surprising his commitment to Nate was stronger.

But Kelly needs to be careful. Surely he's been here long enough to understand how we think?
Cairns's fans will have his head on a stick if he doesn't re-sign Nate.
If they need more money for his salary, then they should divert whatever pittance they have in their advertising & marketing budget, because Jawai is it.

Cairns's fans will have his head on a stick if he doesn't re-sign Nate.

I hear a very strong rumour from a close source that he may return to the Wildcats.

i feel like he'd go back to Perth. He was in a good situation there, didn’t have too much pressure on him, and was part of a championship team and franchise. Bet he was on decent coin as well.

Big. Just like Goulding to the Bullets

Matt, why haven't you said anything if you had a source?

Jawai is joining Sydney. Shawn Long is joining Perth.

Nate's done. More time for him to fish off the cape.

Fake rumours a plenty it seems.

Jawai just had a great season

Plenty left in the tank

"Are you really suggesting that they pay Nate whatever he wants? What about contract length? However long he wants too?"

Where did I say that?

The tone of the article quoted suggests they don't WANT him, which is madness.
Obviously he should command less coin at this point in his career.

But I simply cannot conceptualise a scenario under which you would not keep him.
If another team offers him $X over Y years, my understanding is that Cairns just need to be "close enough", for him to stay.
And if he is worth $X to another team, then he is worth twice that to Cairns.

"Can I ask you if Damian Martin went into Troy's office and demanded he be paid the same as Cotton for 3 years (thereby blocking any attempts at White, Long or any gun imports), would you sign him up or let him go?"

That's actually funny, because Perth probably would pay him that if they could. They'd just make the money back selling Bobble-Heads.
If somebody has never been to a Perth game, it may be difficult to comprehend just how popular Martin is.

The issue at Perth, is that they really need Wagstaff and Martin to fit within the bench-cap.
The issue at Cairns is that they have no money, and his doctor has told Nate to knock back the free Fish & Chips.

Nate is far from done. He could easily play a solid bench role on more than half of the teams in the league. He still has unmatched size in this league and that counts for something.

Still has plenty left in the tank and easily one of the most marketable players in the league so I think he is worth whatever Cairns can afford (surely Loughton's contract would be worth more this season than a player back from college say Sam Froling so that extra $ should be used on Big Nate.

Could easily be a valuable contributor on any NBL roster (maybe Adelaide not as much) but if he doesn't stay in Cairns then I think a combo with AJ at Illawarra (you'd imagine they'd both battle it out for a starting spot yet both be very affective off the bench. Or again at Perth and his fitness seemed far greater than his season in Perth and the fans will love having him back.

Agree with sentiments above, NOBODY is as popular as Damian Martin at RAC Arena

I wish I had more Cairns footage from his rookie year. I remember him being incredible to watch, but I only have one game.

I remember him being pretty frisky in the 2007 ASG, but watching it now, the pace looks so slow:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LX42AEpO-EY

I remember how dominant he was as a rookie in a strong crop of rookies.
I hope he plays on while Cairns get another spoon.

That pace does look disgusting Isaac! I shared the same memories as you.

I hope he plays on while Cairns get another spoon.

I hope he plays on while Cairns get another spoon.

Look for all that Jawai has been the punchline of many a fat joke over the years the truth is as a young man he was pretty darn special, good enough in fact to make an NBA roster. If it were not for an irregular heartbeat he may well have spent a good stint of his career in the show but unfortunately we will never find out.

He of course spent several solid years in top flight European leagues but that was stint was sadly again cut short by a freak injury.

His comeback from that injury is particularly noteworthy in that he returned to the NBL to be an absolute key part of a Perth Wildcats Championship and he remains a favourite in that part of the country.

Even now in the later parts of his career he remains someone that will hurt you if you fail to provide him the right amount of defensive effort.Where ever Nate ends up next I am confident he will provide outstanding value.

Personally I hope it's Perth, he seems a good swap for Brandt's presence and is already aware of the "Respect the Bloodline" culture which Perth is known to drives. He is completely aware that he is already a part of that "Bloodline" even if it were for only a short time. I think it would be great for him at this stage of his career to return to somewhere he is wanted and somewhere he has experienced championship success.

Call me crazy, but I think we are a chance of landing Randle

Brisbane have already signed Sobey to be their PG.

What I meant to say was that one of Cairns, Brisbane, New Zealand, Illawarra, Sydney, Melbourne, South East Melbourne are a great chance to land Randle

What I meant to say was that one of Cairns, Brisbane, New Zealand, Illawarra, Sydney, Melbourne, South East Melbourne are a great chance to land Randle

Would any NBL club even want Randle?

Haha, Lovebroker, you're either playing dumb out of spite or need to keep pace with what I say on this forum. Either way, get your shit together mate.

Seriously thinking Cairns are in with a shot

Call me crazy, but I think Cairns would be well served running a mix of Kenny and a young Aussie at point, and spending their imports slots to get better options elsewhere.

Kenny must be the most consistently under-rated PG in the league.
He'll never be a huge scorer, but if you can get scorers elsewhere he doesn't have to be.
Not what you'd call an "A grade" option, and I'm the first to say that PG is the most important role on the court, but maybe he's good enough to allow them to focus elsewhere.

I don't know if Randle would or wouldn't be a good fit??
Yes, the mantle of number one scorer would sit comfortably with him, but they're also likely to have a lot of players depending on him for set-ups.

As for Jawai, if he has to leave, I would love to see him back in Red, provided those long flights don't fuck up his back again.
But I still think Cairns would be mad not to re-sign him.

Kenny looked washed last season.

Cairns desperately needed any offence last season, he was a passenger. I didn't see any genuine on-court positives that would keep him employed.

I think Randle could be in orange next year, he seems to love the league and Cairns is a beautiful place to live so maybe after all the old farts he played with in Sydney he wants to play with some young enthusiastic Taipans that he can help elevate like Sam Froling for example

I have been to or through Cairns three times. It was rainy every time.
But on the plus side, I know someone who lives there on a decent spread, and his garden is incredible. He just sticks things in the ground and they grow. He would sometimes bring them to work, mangos, pineapples, paupaus, you name it, all just growing in his backyard.