New coach eyes flag
Saints lose two star players but focused on premiership
SAINTS have lost two star members of their undefeated 2022 AFL Cairns premiership side but the Griffiths Park club’s third coach in three years is eyeing a big season.
The three-times premiership winning Saints, who have won 39 games straight have locked in a new coach for the third time in three years as they prepare for their premiership defence.
Kale Triplett, from country Western Australia will take over the reins as he prepares for the one of the toughest jobs in the women’s competition – taking over a team which has dominated the league for the past three years and maintaining that success.
Triplett said he was ready for the challenge.
“It’s exciting that is for sure, knowing that the whole competition is gunning for us,” Triplett said.
“At the end of the day a winning streak has to come to an end.
“It doesn’t bother me if it happens on my watch,” Triplett said.
“We are here to do one thing and that is chase that premiership and we have the talent to do it again.
“We have lost a few players to injury, moving interstate and retiring but we have some younger players coming through that will fill that void.”
The Saints will be without last year’s captain Kate Fowles and the grand final’s best on ground Grace Perry, who have signed state league contracts to play for Maroochydore in the QAFLW.
Both played key roles in the club’s success over the years, with Perry’s five goals in the 2022 grand final enough to land Best on Ground honours.
The Saints have won the last three premierships in a row and have gone undefeated in the last two seasons.
They will face a tough test out of the gate when they take on the team they beat in the grand final, Cairns City Lions, on Saturday, April 15.