Dusty Rychart will return to the Skytrans Cairns Taipans roster when they host the Perth Wildcats this Friday.

The 304 game veteran was declared fit this week after spending a month sidelined with a hairline fracture in his lower left leg.

Rychart’s return provides the side with additional size and experience as it looks to keep its top-four aspirations alive, says head coach Aaron Fearne.

“Dusty’s return brings us another big man into the rotation, not to mention another guy that has a tremendous amount of experience at such an important time of the year,” Fearne said.

“I’ve had to stretch ‘Trigger’, Alex (Loughton) and Shane (Edwards) in terms of court time, and Grabau has had to slide into the four spot. This will ease those guys back into their regular rotations.”

“The guys have done a phenomenal job with Dusty out, but it’s fantastic to have a veteran like him back on the court,” he said.

The Skytrans Cairns Taipans host the Perth Wildcats this Friday night at the Cairns Convention Centre, tipping off at 7.30pm. Tickets are available at www.taipans.com or via phone (07) 4041 3000.