TAIPANS captain Martin Cattalini says he is grateful police nabbed him drink-driving when they did or the fallout from his night of partying could have been worse.

In an exclusive interview with The Cairns Post yesterday, Cattalini reinforced his commitment to the Just Think campaign, launched by The Cairns Post with the Taipans to encourage people to think about their actions when drinking.

The basketball star had been out celebrating his 35th birthday and blew .117 when police pulled his car over on Kenny St, Portsmith, early on Saturday morning.

He will face court later this month charged with drink driving and has been stood down from the Taipans' game against New Zealand tomorrow.

But he knows the ramifications of his decision to get behind the wheel while drunk could have been much worse.

"God knows what could have happened if I'd driven all the way home, anything could have happened," he said.

"You see it on the news all the time. You hear about stories where people have been drinking and they lose control (of their car). A lot worse can happen. If I'd hit someone, that would be the worst possible thing in the world.

"Not only for me, for the families - and that's inexcusable.

"In that way, when I had time to think about it, thank God they picked me up when they did because I was well over the limit."

Cattalini said his car had been parked in the casino car park and he made the wrong decision to drive home after waiting unsuccessfully for a taxi.

"About 4.30am, when I was dripping wet because it was raining, in my state, I said, 'Bugger it' (and decided to drive) which you should never do."

A father of two young children, Cattalini said he now knew how difficult it was to make good decisions with impaired judgment. His commitment to the Just Think campaign had not diminished.

"That campaign, I should take note of my own saying, you do have to think," he said.

"You go out and you see it all the time, guys fighting.

"They don't realise when you're drunk, with an impaired sort of mental capacity, that one punch can kill.

"One punch, that's all it takes. It doesn't even take a punch, a push - guy falls over, cracks the back of his head, it's over."

Cattalini said there would be no repeat of his actions.

"To err is human isn't it? To do it twice is stupidity," he said. "And there definitely won't be a second time. This is a good wake-up call and hopefully for some other people as well."

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