New approach to power Saints’ title push
Combinations on and off the turf are driving Saints in their quest to claim their first Cairns Hockey Association A-grade men’s premiership since 2015.
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Combinations on and off the turf are driving Saints in their quest to claim their first Cairns Hockey Association A-grade men’s premiership since 2015.
Saints cruised to their third win of the season in a dominant 5-1 demolition of Brothers at Cairns Hockey Fields on Saturday night.
Coach Peter Swain said the club’s unorthodox coaching set-up, which put more of the onus back on players in terms of the team’s performance, was starting to produce results.
“We have a different structure in the way we operate,” Swain said.
“I don’t work out of the dugout. I sit up on the tower or something like that and the assistant coach, Ash Hart, will be down in the dugout.
“I’ll come down about five minutes from halftime and have a chat, and then we’ll have the team split up into their groups.
“We’re working on teams within teams, so we have our strikers, our midfielders and our defenders, and those three teams work independently and then we pull them all together, and it seems to be working.
“We’re just starting to develop a really good combination, even with our coaching staff. It’s something different, but I just work to Ash’s strengths and he works to mine.”
While there were plenty of positives for Swain to take from his side’s strong performance, he said it would need to keep building.
“It’s been one of the most bizarre seasons I’ve ever been involved in so the main thing is just to maintain a squad that’s willing to take ownership,” he said.
“It’s their team, they’re responsible for team performance — I’m too old to be out there showing them — but my focus is to develop the right culture and that’s starting to happen.”
Swain said he was pleased with the way his back four controlled the ball and how the forwards and midfielders were able to execute.
“The two captains, Cam Anderson and Ryan Coffey, just held it all together out there, and the other player that was a standout for me was Mitch Birt,” Swain said.
“He had a game in the midfield and he controlled that really well.
“Goalkeeper Damien Agius had probably one of the best games he’s played for a while. He made three crucial saves when it was nil-all and that caused the momentum shift.”
Swain also had praise for the opposition. “They’re a very young side and I was just impressed with the way those young fellas stepped up to A-grade,” he said.
Originally published as New approach to power Saints’ title push