Cairns Hockey: Coffey primed to lead Saints to title triumph
Midfielder Ryan Coffey is determined to etch his name into Saints’ folklore by leading the club to its first Cairns Hockey Association A-grade men’s title in five years.
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Midfielder Ryan Coffey is determined to etch his name into Saints’ folklore by leading the club to its first Cairns Hockey Association A-grade men’s title in five years.
The Saints co-captain has tasted success with the club before, as part of its premiership-winning side in 2014 and 2015.
CAIRNS POST TO LIVESTREAM HOCKEY GRAND FINALS
This Saturday, he will take a leading role as the club chases the same glory in the A-grade men’s decider against Souths.
“It’s been a little while since the last one,” Coffey said, remembering 2015’s back-to-back triumph.
“I was coming off the bench back then,” he said.
“I had only been playing hockey again for about two years after taking a bit of time off to play tennis.
“I ended up playing big minutes because we had a few injuries.
“We’ve got a good solid young bench that are ready to step up if we have any of that sort of stuff happen again.”
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Coffey said Saints would be fresh heading into the decider.
“It’s always good to finish minor premiers and have that week off and be able to sit back and watch the other teams on the Saturday night,” he said.
“The boys had a few opportunities to spend some time together and just enjoy the week.
“It was really good to rest the bodies, but I think we’ve kept enough touches.
“It’s easy to get complacent having that week off, but I think the experience we have in our team has made sure we haven’t done that.”
Coffey has been sharing the captaincy duties with defender Cameron Anderson.
“We’ll discuss it on the night who actually wears the captain band, but it works well having both of us there to share the role” he said.
CAIRNS HOCKEY GRAND FINAL COVERAGE
> Young Saints star driven to turn sacrifice into two premierships
> 20 rising stars to watch in the under-18s grand finals
> Coffey primed to lead side to drought-breaking title triumph
CAIRNS HOCKEY’S GRAND FINAL SCHEDULE
■ FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4
6.15pm: U18B Women’s
Brothers TAS v Souths (on Rainforest Turf)
6.15pm: U18 Men’s
Brothers v Saints
7.45pm: A Grade Women’s
Souths v Saints
■ SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5
2pm: C Grade Men’s
Saints v Brothers
3.30pm: B Grade Women’s
Saints v TBC (Souths v Stingers semi-final on Tuesday, 7.45pm)
5pm: B Grade Men’s
Trinity Stingers v Brothers
6.30pm: U18A Women’s
Brothers v Saints
8pm: A Grade Men’s
Saints v Souths
The Cairns Post will stream finals on Reef Turf, starting with the U18 Men’s on Friday and B Grade women’s decider on Saturday.
Originally published as Cairns Hockey: Coffey primed to lead Saints to title triumph