The Taipans went down in a thriller on Saturday night against local foe Townsville, but it took the hosts regulation and two overtimes to get the job done.

The last double overtime game the Snakes played was in the grand final series against NZ two seasons ago where Ron Dorsey hit a ‘bomb’ to tie it up in the first OT when all looked lost.

That game I will never forget, but the result of this one didn’t have the fairy tale ending! Both clubs before tipoff could still sniff playoffs and that’s exactly how they played it.

Cairns now would need to be flawless for the rest of the season to see post-season action and I feel they’ve been too inconsistent for that with a few too many loose cogs.

Jamar Wilson had 23 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds in this one but the stat that shows up for mine is that he played 47 minutes. This proves there’s nothing wrong with his conditioning as he was rested for most of the third quarter in the loss to Melbourne last week - a decision which proved pivotal in the loss.

Maybe coach Fearne picked up on his mistake watching tape of the game and decided to play our ‘quarterback’ for the games entirety. Smart move!

Cairns, Adelaide and Wollongong are all looking shaky now which means Sydney, Melbourne and Townsville (yep, the same Townsville who started the season with 10 straight losses) must now fight it out for the last two playoff spots.

I’m sticking with Perth to deny New Zealand a ‘three-peat’ and win a three game series for the title.

NZ vs Gong – NZ by 8
Sydney vs Cairns – Kings by 3
Perth vs TV – Tv by 3 (the upset)
Cairns vs Adelaide – Cairns by 12
Melb vs Perth – Perth by 5
Gong vs T/ville – TV by 12
Two wins from Cairns will see them back in the hunt – go get 'em fellas!