Stingers skip wary of ‘healthy’ Souths

STINGERS will take all the momentum into Saturday’s Cairns Hockey Association Agrade men’s elimination semifinal, but skipper Apara Brewster-O’Brien knows you can never discount a champion side like Souths.

The teams have endured opposite results over the final rounds of the season after Stingers notched three wins and a draw in their past four outings compared to Souths’ three losses and a win.

But recent history will count for little when they meet in the do-or-die game.

Stingers will take confidence into the match after scoring a 2-1 victory over Souths in Round 7, but Brewster-O’Brien is expecting a different Souths to show up with their season on the line.

“It’s certainly going to be a tough game,” he said. “Our main focus will be sticking to our structure that we’ve been practising for the whole season and I think we’re seeing that really pay off the last few weeks.”

Souths captain Liam Whipp said they would be fielding their healthiest side in weeks, with several players battling through injury of late.

“We’ve had three or four guys carrying injuries the last few weeks and they’re feeling a bit stronger this week,” he said.

“They’re feeling a bit better so that will definitely help.”

While Stingers took out the most recent meeting, Souths won the first two games between the sides this season.

“They got us a couple of weeks ago, we just have to try to play our own game and hopefully we have a good outcome,” Whipp said.

He said while Souths would love nothing more than to make it three premierships in a row, the team would not be getting ahead of itself.

“It’s something we dream about but we just go week by week at the moment and focus on the next game,” he said. “We’ve got Stingers on Saturday, so that’s the goal at the moment.” The game starts at 6.30pm.