The Skytrans Cairns Taipans tip off their 2012/13 iinet NBL Championship campaign against the Townsville Crocodiles at 7.30pm this Saturday.

Coach Aaron Fearne said his troops were firing in practice ahead of the North Queensland derby against the Crocs.

“We’re very talented offensively; we have arguably two of the top three scorers from last year in Jamar Wilson and Cameron Tragardh,” he said.

“A healthy Alex Loughton is a top player in this league, then you’ve got the younger guys—Gliddon and Steindl—who can shoot the ball which was the main reason I recruited them.

“We should be able to put the points on the board better than we have in the past,” he said.

209cm Forward Tragardh, nicknamed 'Trigger', said the Taipans’ potent scoring attack would see sponsor McDonald’s regularly making good on its standing offer of one cheeseburger per fan when the team reaches 85 points and wins.

“We have so many scoring options this season, I think McDonald’s might be in trouble with that cheeseburger deal,” he said.

“Jamar Wilson can get to the hoop whenever he likes, and Alex Loughton and myself are pretty comfortable at that end of the court too.

“Then with Cameron Gliddon, Clint Steindl and Aaron Grabau on the perimeter, we should be able to keep that scoreboard ticking over,” he declared.