THEY'RE the twin towers Terry Lindeberg hopes can take the Ipswich Force to this year's QBL playoffs.  They are two-metre monsters - Steven Broom (pictured right) and Ryan Stolberg.  Both are noted scorers. Stolberg played a lone hand for the Force last year, averaging 21.1 points per game.  Meanwhile, Broom gave the Logan Thunder plenty of scoring power, chipping in 20.6 points per outing.

Both know what's required to make it at elite level. While Stolberg admits he didn't make the most of his opportunity at the now-defunct Brisbane Bullets in the mid-1990s, 21-year-old Broom is eager to prove he's worthy of an NBL contract as he returns from double shoulder surgery. And both suck down rebounds like a vacuum cleaner.  It's a combination Lindeberg believes will make the Force a team rivals will hate to match up against.

“Last year Stolly ruled the boards pretty well with nearly everyone he played, so giving him the back up with Steve there is only going to support him,” Lindeberg said.

“And Stolly's got an outside game as well, so we can utilise that and drag big players out, because if they don't mark him outside he'll hit the three.”

From his time with the Thunder, Broom knows firsthand how hard it is to contain the wily Stolberg.

“That'll be a good challenge because every time I played him last year with Logan he always beat me up a bit,” said Broom of lining up alongside the 34-year-old veteran.

To ensure he holds his own this year, the former Townsville Crocodile wants to add some size to his 2.05m frame.

“I'm working on getting in the gym a lot, putting on some kilos and really starting to beef up,” he said.

“Once I start running my weight will probably go down a bit (from 108kg), but then I want to pack on that muscle, so I probably want to be about 115kg, 120kg bulk.”

With more signings likely before the start of the season, the playoffs are a realistic goal according to Broom.

“Stolly and me are the bigs,” he said.

“Get a decent point guard in there and a couple of middle guys who are decent and then we can win against some alright teams.”

While keen to add to his team's talent, Lindeberg was wary of neglecting the strong Ipswich junior base. “We've still got young local lads here, we've got to look after them . . . I don't want to buy a team,” he said.

By Lee Gaskin, The Queensland Times