THE task does not get any easier for the Cairns Marlins and Dolphins, who will spend a second consecutive weekend on the road to open the Queensland Basketball League.

Cairns leaves for the state’s southeast this morning for games against Brisbane (tonight) and the Gold Coast (tomorrow afternoon) in another difficult double-header.

The Marlins started the season in the best possible way last week, beating North Queensland rivals Townsville and Mackay in results that will boost their chances of eventually earning a home playoff.

Coach Brad Burdon was full of praise for his team last week but wants his players to rise to the challenge again against two of the most talented clubs outside the northern pool.

"The fact is we’ve got probably the most difficult early part of the season," Burdon said.

"The positive to that is if we can get four wins (after the weekend), or be 3-1, we’re out in front of everybody.

"If we can have a good two weeks to start off, it really sets up the season.

"But definitely the quality of opposition we’ve got, it makes it pretty tough."

Point guard Kerry Williams admitted the task ahead would be tough but the Marlins were better equipped to deal with it this season than last year when the squad was hit by injury.

"It doesn’t (get any easier) but we’ve added (Aaron) Grabau back into our roster (this season) which is a big help, Dwayne (Vale) is healthy which is another big plus, Deano (Brebner) has been playing very well and guys off the bench like Deba (George), he’s a big spark," Williams said. "And the big thing is we play team defence which is a key thing for our team this year."

Burdon said the Brisbane combination was among the deepest the Marlins would face this year.

"Brisbane obviously is just very experienced," he said.

"During the early 2000s, they had some very, very good teams where they had a lot of the Brisbane (Bullets) development guys and a lot of guys that had played NBL and they’ve put those guys back together.

"While they might not have anybody you might describe as a bigtime, superstar player, they’ve got seven or eight guys that are all legit.

"For them to have that kind of rotation, they’re going to be difficult.

"The other teams you go to, they can put a pretty good (starting) five on the court but when they make one or two subs and the game wears on, they can wear teams down."

While the Gold Coast did not boast the same depth, the addition of Bullets legend Ron Radliff as coach would bolster the team.

"He’s a playing legend, he’s very experienced," Radliff said.

"So what they might lack as talent across the board, I’m sure they’ll make up for with his talent as a coach and ability to get the best out of these younger guys."

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