A cheeky Secret Santa present is keeping the Cairns Taipans locker room lighthearted while the practice court remains intensely competitive.

The Taipans returned to training on Monday after a two-day break for Christmas ahead of a crucial home game against Melbourne United on Thursday night.

Guard Cam Gliddon is expected to start after scoring 18 points in a rare outing coming off the bench against Illawarra Hawks last week.

The team captain said the break had loosened players up ahead of the United encounter and a New Year’s Eve clash with Brisbane.

“It gives you the chance to refresh, take some time off and come back in a positive mind frame,” Gliddon said.

“The practice sessions the last couple of days have been very intense.”

United trounced the Bullets on Boxing Day with a whopping 97-59 win at Hisense Arena in new import Josh Boone’s first game for the club.

“They were very impressive,” Gliddon said.

“They held Brisbane to a low score and defended the three-point arc well which is something we have to do too.

“They brought Boone in to rebound and be a physical presence inside. He’s been in the NBA and played all around the world. He’s a good player who’s fit in pretty easily.

“We’ll need block out and show better intensity on the boards.”

Taipans big man Nnanna Egwu said he’ll be ready for anything going up against Boone.

“Nothing surprises me in this league. You just have to be prepared every game,” he said.

“The plan is to come out harder and tougher than the other team and throw the first punch.”

Snake re-gifts for ‘Secret Santa’

New Taipan Jarrad Weeks has emerged as a quality prankster and master of re-gifting unwanted Christmas presents this holiday season.

Taipans players pranked the guard for Christmas by autographing his training jersey before practice earlier this month.

“He [Weeks] even signed it himself,” Egwu said laughing.

Not to be outdone, Weeks had the jersey framed and gave it to his ‘Secret Santa’ - Gliddon.

“So now I have a nice framed Jarrad Weeks jersey,” Gliddon said smirking after practice.

It is unknown whether the framed jersey has taken pride of place in Gliddon’s home yet but teammates appreciated the gesture.

“It definitely got a lot of laughs around the locker room,” Egwu said.