Aaron Kelly | 28th October 2011 |The Morning Bulletin

HOURS spent crafting his game at Hegvold Stadium will pay off for Rockhampton's Mitch Philp in Cairns tonight.

Philp, 22, will to suit up for his NBL debut for Cairns when the Taipans host the Wollongong Hawks to tip-off round four action at the Cairns Convention Centre.

The Rockhampton Republik Nightclub Rockets point guard moved north earlier this month after signing with Cairns as one of two Snakes' development players.

Speaking from Cairns this week, Philp said he was loving everyday life as a professional basketballer.

"It's going really well, I'm really, really enjoying it," the lightning quick Rockhampton star said.

"The training's definitely a step up from anything I've ever done.

"If I get the chance to suit up, I'll definitely be excited."

Philp, who has been one of the QBL's best starting point guards in recent seasons guiding the Rockets to back-to-back grand finals, is also enjoying coming up against the likes of Cairns' US import Jamar Wilson and other guards Kerry Williams and Deba George on the training court.

"Jamar's really impressive and really tough to go up against so I'm learning every day," said Philp, who will don the No.7 singlet for the Taipans.

"The daily workload I have is crazy. We train from 8 to 11.30 in the morning then have a weights session and shooting in the afternoon."

The Rockets and Cairns are two of the fiercest rivals in the QBL and Philp admitted he had already been the subject of some friendly fire on-and-off the court.

"All the boys have a shot at me every day," he said.

"I've been getting the Beef Capital jokes. We had a barbecue the other day and a few of the boys thanked me for bringing the meat all the way from Rockhampton."

Cairns, fresh from the bye last weekend, are coming off a 91-82 victory over the Gold Coast on the road to make it two wins from three games to start the 2011-12 NBL season.

Wollongong, led by former Rocket Rhys Martin, arrive in Cairns tonight after back-to-back losses to the Gold Coast and Sydney last weekend.

Meanwhile, Rockhampton product Stephen Weigh returns to Perth tonight when his new team Adelaide take on the Wildcats.

The 36ers are still winless after three games and will be hoping for another big match from the Rockets star, who scored 11 points in their 94-71 loss to Sydney last weekend.