The new look Cairns Taipans got their season off on the right foot by winning the local derby against the Crocs on Saturday night.

I must admit I like what the Taipans have done in the off-season as they now have heaps of depth in the line-up.

The best thing for coach Aaron Fearne is that Townsville has had some import issues and their two Americans didn’t arrive in time to suit up. A little bonus for him straight up.

Make no mistake, however, that the local foe at full strength in the next hit out will not be as easy to brush aside as the two new Yankee Doodle Dandy's they’ve recruited are gun players!

The three big off season moves I like from the Snakes are Cameron Gliddon and Clint Steindl – both fresh from college hit outs and look the real deal, and scoring machine Cam Tragardh.

Now with the Gold Coast folding (never seems to end) all clubs got a little stronger but ‘Trigger’ in my opinion gives us an X factor!

This guy was leading the MVP voting for the Melbourne Tigers mid-way through last season and he has got serious game. He’s an automatic 20 point and 10 rebound per game player and if he stays healthy and happy I’m tipping he’ll go close to holding that MVP trophy in six months.

Is it possible he could be holding the Holy Grail as well? Yes!

The Taipans have got the right horses, right coach and the right fan base and organisation to pull it off this year. I’m not saying it will be easy, however, and they’ll need to stay healthy and get some luck along the way.

My top 4 is Perth, New Zealand, Cairns and Wollongong.

Speaking of Wollongong, we play them on Friday night and veteran Glen Saville will tell Roy, Kez and I all about it on the last Saturday Morning Sports Show (107.1FM 9 – 11 am) so tune in for that one.

Cheers and go get ‘em Snakes!