SPORT
Friday July 09, 2021
| 27
Cairns Local News
From a hobby to a dream come true BERTA PEREZ-BERMUDEZ CANDELA
FOR many athletes, the transition from playing for fun to playing for your future can be a gradual process. For Cairns Taipan’s bigman, Mirko Djeric, it was the World Championships in Lithuania where he realised that playing basketball was no longer a hobby it was his future. As a 17-year-old playing for Australia at the 2012 World Basketball Championships, the game took a turn and became his future and a career. The tournament was memorable for many reasons. Djeric is Australian born, his parents migrated from Croatia to Australia in 1993. In the semi-finals Australia played Serbia with local media really playing up the Serbia v Croatia angle of this matchup. Born and raised in Western Sydney, Djeric’s introduction to basketball started early in life. “I started when I was five
years old, because my dad used to play. “Since I started I always wanted one thing and it’s just to play basketball, and I don’t see it as a job at all today”. After years playing in many teams around the world, in 2019, Djeric, joined the Cairns Taipans in the NBL League. With the NBL currently in the off season, he is playing for the Cairns Marlins, MBO League to keep his fitness and skills sharp for the coming NBL season. “You don’t have to play for the Marlins, but I just decided to stay in Cairns because I love it. It’s awesome and we’re playing at The Fish Tank and it’s good fun”. He is training individually every day to keep himself fit but because it is an off season league, they play twice a week as a team. As a professional player, routine is a key, even more so before a game. “On game day, we go to the stadium to shoot around a bit and train-
ing, after that, I like to have a nice little lunch like pasta, have an hour nap and listen to some Serbian music to prepare myself mentally”, he says. It’s really nice to see how
slowly “our normal life is returning back”, after a year of craziness due to COVID. The 2020/21 NBL season was supposed to start in October, however with the ever-changing lock-down
and COVID restrictions the season started late, with constantly changing schedules along with extended periods in hotels away from home and team ‘bubbles’. “We were in Melbourne for a whole month, it was pretty difficult and a bit tricky, but we are lucky because we had a good group”, Djeric says. Where he is today as a 26-year-old is not because of luck, behind every game and every day, is discipline, a lot of effort, hard work and sacrifices. “To this day I don’t think I have ever been on a holiday, because every off-season I want to just train and play and get better for next season” he says. When speaking to teenagers and younger athletes Djeric stresses the most important thing is just to do what you love most, “where the biggest joy for you comes from”. He says, “you need to be really focused, don’t get distracted, take it seriously and
MUDCRABS RUCK
N O R T H E R N
B E A C H E S
M U D
& MAUL C R A B S
R U G B Y
U N I O N
C L U B
MATCH REPORT Mudcrabs During the weekend both Crabs squads took on the Cairns Wanderers in what were integral matchups for both squads. For the men, it was the chance to avenge their only loss of the season, round 1 to Wanderers. The men’s team were relentless on their way to a 34-0 shutout of the Wanderers. The Mudcrabs did it tough, missing front-row stalwarts Sam Taylor and Shadrach Cane-Toby. But the boys didn’t miss a beat with front rower Zac Bryan stepping up in their absence putting in a dominant display. Jarrod White (Diesel) also played well at No.8 and Aidan Daley starred in his last game for the club. The women suffered a 26-5 loss against the team they beat in last year’s Grand Final. Despite strong efforts from Moera Blair and Anita Pere the team found it hard to keep the ball to string attacking opportunities together. They did well on defence but succumbed to the mountain of possession given to their opposition. It was a learning opportunity for a young crabs’ squad looking to go back-to-back in the 2nd year of the women’s competition. The men are hoping to make it 7 straight this Saturday 11/07/2021 at 1.30pm at the Crabpot, Yorkey’s Knob. The women also look to bounce back this Saturday at 3:00pm following the men’s game.
Mudcrab’s Halia Cowley (left) and Teresa Cowley (right) Name: Halia Cowley Age: 17 Nickname/s: Hal’s or Cookie Position/s: anywhere in the backs Job/occupation: Student Hobbies/interests: playing heaps of different sports Crab you’re most looking forward to playing with this year and why: Getting to play with my mum for the first time because on the field is the only time I get to yell at her.
Name: Teresa Cowley Age: 41 Nickname/s: Lulu Position/s: Forward Job/occupation: Aged care support worker/A.I.N Hobbies/interests: Crafty stuff making things Crab you’re most looking forward to playing with this year and why: Halia of course lol first time and probably the last so I hope I can make her proud to be her mum and learn a thing or two from her.
CUP LADDER TEAM
PLAYED
WINS
DRAW
LOSSES
PTS
WM SEAGULLS
11
10
0
1
20
DEVILS
11
10
0
1
20
SEAGULLS
11
8
1
2
17
MAGPIES
11
7
0
4
14
BEARS
11
7
0
4
14
DOLPHINS
11
7
0
4
14
PRIDE
11
6
2
3
14
BLACKHAWKS
11
6
0
5
12
FALCONS
11
5
0
6
10
TIGERS
11
3
0
8
6
HUNTERS
11
3
0
8
6
JETS
11
1
1
9
3
CAPRAS
11
0
2
9
2
CUTTERS
11
1
0
10
2
INTRUST SUPER CUP ROUND 13 S A T U R D A Y
Federal Member for Leichhardt
y t i l i b ta S d n a ip h Leaders warren.entsch.mp@aph.gov.au
07 4051 2220
warrenentsch.com.au
Authorised by W. Entsch, Liberal National Party of Queensland, 200 Mulgrave Road, Westcourt QLD 4870.
WarrenEntschMP
J U L Y
1 0
Bears V Seagulls. Falcons V Hunters. Tigers V Jets. Pride V Blackhawks. Cutters V Capras. Dolphins V WM Seagulls. S U N D A Y J U L Y 11
Warren ENTSCH MP 200 Mulgrave Road, Westcourt QLD 4870
just be professional and responsible.” When he is not suited up to play for his Taipans, he loves to hang out with friends, watch Netflix or any sport (especially football) and bring some happiness to his tummy with yummy Serbian or Greek food. He is immensely proud of his family and feels he made it as a professional with their help. “This is not just about me; this is about all of us (family) because their sacrifice helped me to get here.” He confesses that his inspiration and idol apart from his dad and his coaches is Drazen Petrovic, an NBA and European basketball legend. Today, his dream and biggest challenge is to win the NBL title. “I want to win with Cairns, that’s definitely one of my goals”. At the end of the day, his dreams are coming true. “I’m pretty lucky that I can do something that I love and get paid for it”, Djeric said.
Devils V Magpies.
