The Cairns Marlins are an Australian basketball team based in

Cairns, Queensland Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

. The Marlins compete in the men's

NBL1 North NBL1 North, formerly the Queensland Basketball League (QBL), is a semi-professional basketball league in Queensland and Northern Territory, Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2020, Basketball Queensland partnered wit ...

league and play their home games at

Early Settler Stadium Cairns Basketball Stadium (known commercially as Early Settler Stadium and locally as The Fishtank) is a basketball facility in Cairns, Queensland, Australia. Comprising a centre court, four side courts, a sports science centre, a weights r ...

. The team is closely affiliated with the

Cairns Taipans The Cairns Taipans are an Australian professional basketball team based in Cairns, Queensland. The Taipans compete in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at the Cairns Conventio ...

and Cairns Basketball, the major administrative basketball organisation in the region.

Team history

Entry into the QBL

After operating a successful basketball program in

, Cairns Basketball joined the Queensland State Basketball League in its second season in 1987. They fielded two teams, the Cairns Marlins in the men's competition and the Cairns Dolphins in the women's competition.

Expansion to the NBL

Between 1993 and 1998 the Marlins won four championships, prompting calls for Cairns to join the Australian National Basketball League. The

joined the NBL for the 1999–2000 season, with Marlin's head coach Rod Popp coaching the team. Since the Taipans' entry into the NBL the two teams have remained very close, often sharing development and training players over the NBL off-season and the QBL season.

Championship dynasty

The Marlins are the most successful team in the QBL, holding nine championships since the team joined the league. They also make regular appearances in the playoffs, making 19 appearances over 26 seasons since 1993.

Transfer to NBL1

After a successful first season in 2019, in 2020 the

NBL1 NBL1 is a semi-professional basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Australia, consisting of NBL1 South, South, NBL1 North, North, NBL1 Central, Central, NBL1 West, West and NBL1 East, East Conferences with both men's and women's compet ...

expanded into Queensland and replaced the QBL. After this change, the Marlins transferred to the

Season by season

Current squad

References

External links

Cairns Basketball's official website
{{NBL1 North Queensland Basketball League teams Basketball teams established in 1987 Basketball teams in Queensland 1987 establishments in Australia Sport in Cairns