Cairns Hockey: Shortened season to ramp up the pressure
Cairns Hockey clubs will have little room for error when they finally get back on the turf to resume the A-grade men’s and women’s seasons on Saturday night.
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Cairns Hockey clubs will have little room for error when they finally get back on the turf to resume the A-grade men’s and women’s seasons this Saturday night.
The teams will be presented with an entirely new challenge than what they are used to, with a short and sharp schedule leaving just eight rounds to be played before finals.
Cairns Hockey Association coaching mentor David McNeil said teams couldn’t afford a slow start in the return if they expected to be there at the pointy end of the season.
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“It’s going to be a lot like most sports this year, they’re definitely going to have to hit the ground running,” he said.
“When you’ve got an 18 or a 21-week season, you’ve got time to build into it and results at the start of the season, while they do affect things at the end, don’t necessarily have the greater amount of effect that they are going to have in 2020.”
He said teams that retained a lot of the same players from before the COVID-19 shutdown would be at an advantage in the condensed season.
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“It’s going to be interesting to see who’s decided just to have a break for eight weeks and who’s decided to come back, and what effect that is going to have,” he said.
“In talking to a number of clubs, there’s no doubt there’s a deficiency in numbers now.
“Clubs that adapt the best to having new people out there in new positions are going to be the ones that probably have the most success.”
McNeil said it could open the door for future A-grade players in the region to get an early taste of the top level.
“I think there’ll be some young athletes named in the A-grade teams that weren’t there pre-COVID,” he said.
“It’s going to give a lot of junior players the opportunity to put their hand up.”
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Tonight’s four A-grade games will cap the first week of hockey’s return in the region, which started when the six Masters women’s teams hit the turf on Wednesday night.
It was the first time competitive hockey had been played in Far North Queensland since March 14.
The seven-team Masters men’s competition followed on Thursday night, while junior fixtures, including under-18s, returned last night.
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THE DRAW
Round 3 — Saturday, July 25
6.30pm: Brothers v Stingers (A-grade women’s)
6.30pm: Souths v Saints (A-grade men’s)
8pm: Brothers v Stingers (A-grade men’s)
8pm: Souths v Saints (A-grade women’s)
A GRADE WOMEN’S LADDER
1. Souths 6 (4)
2. Saints 4 (1)
3. Stingers 1 (-2)
4. Brothers 0 (-3)
A GRADE MEN’S LADDER
1. Souths 6 (3)
2. Saints 6 (3)
3. Brothers 0 (-3)
4. Stingers 0 (-3)
Originally published as Cairns Hockey: Shortened season to ramp up the pressure