GARY Boodnikoff is feeling refreshed and it's great news for the Cairns Taipans.

Boodnikoff has been among the Taipans’ best in their recent practice games, benefiting from off-season surgery and a break to recharge his batteries.

Arthroscopic surgery on his ankle to remove a bone spur that was "jamming the joint" has helped the swingman enter the new season moving freely and feeling fit.

Boodnikoff had major ankle surgery in 2006 after injuring the joint in the Snakes’ semi-final series against Sydney.

And while he returned to the court for the following NBL season and played in the Cairns Marlins’ successful ABA campaign last year, the grind started to tell during his last Taipans campaign.

"It started from when I did my ankle the first year, it didn’t rehab as well as I thought it would, it took a bit longer that year to get back," he said.

But the latest, successful surgery coupled with a long break has Boodnikoff raring to go and in fine form.

He finished with 25 points – on six-of-10 shooting from three-point range – in the Taipans’ 107-89 win against the Townsville Crocs last week, a showing that had coach Alan Black saying he had "found his niche".

"He shot the ball really well, I thought his defence was great," Black said.

"I thought towards the end of last year he was starting to find his straps but we had such a strange year, he wasn’t able to show the things he can do.

"Hopefully he’ll build on that but I was really pleased with what he did (against Townsville), as I was (in the Snakes other pre-season game) against Perdue, I thought he did really well there as well."

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