THANK goodness Brisbane Broncos coach Wayne Bennett was not there.

The sight of his star centre Justin Hodges running into a concrete block wall at full tilt, falling onto his back and then performing a backward somersault on court probably wasn’t the idea he had in mind when he agreed to him playing an exhibition for the Hoop Dreaming basketball side.

But it was just one of the exhibits that thrilled a crowd already buzzing with excitement over basketball on a day when Nathan Jawai was drafted to the NBA.

Hoop Dreaming won the exhibition against the Cairns Marlins 103-95 but the score was of little importance to the hundreds of fans that flocked to the free match to watch their heroes in action.

Taipans coach Alan Black was among those in action, although his interpretation of the contact rules seemed a little loose when he shepparded Hoop Dreaming co-ordinator Joel Khalu into the opposition bench. Khalu did a magnificent job organising top players for the match.

NBL and WNBL players Michael Cedar, Kerry Williams, Renae Camino and Naomi Pedro were among the Hoop Dreaming players, with Taipans Scott Cook, Matt Smith and Black and NCAA player Jade Kennedy in action for the Cairns Marlins.

Aaron Grabau and Gary Boodnikoff coached the team Hoop Dreaming, with Dwayne Vale and Martin Cattalini guiding the Marlins, with Vale turning the tables on his Taipans mentor and giving Black the look he usually receives at the end of the bench.

"When we started the Hoop Dreaming program one of the things we wanted to do was put on a free game for the community," Khalu said.

"We’re going to do it again next year bigger and better.’

Renae Camino was named the match MVP.

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