Cairns Hockey: Whipp, Devlin to do clubs proud in grand final battle

You go out to win. It’s become somewhat of a mantra in the Whipp household at this time of the year.

Caitlyn Whipp and Kayla Devlin will compete for the Eileen Connolly premiership shield when Souths and Saints battle against each other in the Cairns Hockey Association A Grade Women's grand final match. PICTURE: BRENDAN RADKE

You go out to win.

It’s become somewhat of a mantra in the Whipp household at this time of the year.

Daughter Caitlyn will lead Souths in tonight’s A-grade women’s grand final, with mum Susan taking up a spot in the defensive line, before son Liam leads the club in tomorrow’s A-grade men’s decider, with dad Carl in the coach’s seat.

Both games will be livestreamed on the Cairns Post website.

“We always say that you go out to win,” Caitlyn said.

Cairns Hockey. Saints v Souths women on Rainforest Turf. Saints’ Liv McArthur and Michelle Senior chasing down Souths Caitlyn Whipp. PICTURE: STEWART McLEAN

“As soon as you cross that white line, especially in a grand final, 60 minutes is all that’s left – there’s no tomorrow, there’s no next week – so you go out there, play hard, leave nothing on the pitch and you do all the little things, because they’re the things that contribute to putting in that extra effort and going all the way.”

She said Souths would need to play to their strengths in tonight’s A-grade women’s decider against Saints.

“We’ve got quick forwards and we’ve got a lot of experience across the field,” she said.

“I think we’re going to use that to our advantage; get our match-ups right and get on top of them early will be the aim.”

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Saints’ American defender, Kayla Devlin, who moved from Melbourne to Cairns at the start of the year, said she had enjoyed her first season with the Sky Blues.

“Even though we had to take a break for a while, we’ve been able to build every week and it’s been a lot of fun playing for them,” she said.

Cairns Hockey. Saints v Souths women on Rainforest Turf. Saints’ Kayla Devlin and Souths’ Bella Cochran. PICTURE: STEWART McLEAN

But while she may be new to the club, Devlin said the significance of making the grand final was not lost on her.

“From what I’ve heard and what they’ve shared, I know that Saints has historically been a strong club,” she said.

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Souths' Caitlyn Whipp and Saints' Kayla Devlin will compete against each other in the Cairns Hockey Association A Grade Women's grand final match. PICTURE: BRENDAN RADKE

“It’s exciting for us to continue to prove our name and make it to the finals again.

“Being new to that, I really felt that club mentality and it would be cool to represent them and bring home the premiership shield.

“We’ve shown over the season that we can play good hockey together.

“A big thing for us is just taking everything we know and that we can do well and putting it into the game.”

Originally published as Cairns Hockey: Whipp, Devlin to do clubs proud in grand final battle