Two local sports dynasties have gone to greater heights, after the Sunshine Coast Hockey Association grand finals were held at Buderim on Saturday night.
Nambour’s division one women’s team and Flinders’ division one men’s side added more silverware to their already loaded trophy cabinets, with victories in their respective competitions.
The former captured their 10th title in 13 years, while the latter won their fifth premiership in a row.
Nambour coach Ruben Wyld said the Blue Demons had experienced an amazing run of success.
“They’ve been pretty dominant,” he said.
“It’s been a good decade or two, it’s been impressive.
“It’s certainly a rare achievement (to win so often), but the club has been good at developing players. We’ve always had good young players coming through.”
They won 18 games, drew two and lost two in this year’s six-team competition, including a 2-0 win over Maroochydore in the decider.
“There wasn’t a single week where we had a full line-up, but the club has got heaps of depth, so we were able to field a team that performed each week, which was pretty handy,” he said.
Wyld said there were high expectations for Nambour leading into this year’s campaign.
“There was a bit of pressure to try and keep the tradition going this season, so it was pretty good (to win again).”
He said they might be able to continue their winning run in years to come.
“There is the potential for it,” he said.
“But there may be a stepping back from the more dominant performances (of recent years) to bring in some more young girls. There might be a bit of a lull and then they’ll get back to their winning ways.
“This generation (of the team’s core group) that is there now has been very strong and has played with each other for a long time, but there will be a point where they will step out and more younger players will come through.”
He lauded player-of-the-grand-final Courtney Mackay for her efforts during the season, when she assumed a dominant position in the backline in the absence of an injured team-mate.
“She does what she needs to do and is rock-solid in defence,” he said.
“She stepped up and filled that (main defensive) role.”
Flinders’ fantastic five
Flinders continued their reign by winning a fifth title in succession, via an impressive but testing campaign.
They won 13 games, drew two and lost four in the five-team league, capping their season with a tough 2-1 grand-final win over minor premiers Buderim.
Ryan Wareing, who has coached the team during their winning stretch, said this year’s triumph did not come easily and he praised the players for their grit.
“Five years in a row is fantastic,” he said.
“We sort of dominated the last four years, but it was a good learning curve this year, learning to scrap to win.”
He said some tough games during the season steeled them for the decider.
“We knew we would need to scrap against Buderim, a young team that is probably fitter and faster than us,” he said.
“We knew we would not get a lot of opportunities to score in the final but when we did, we put them away, which got us home in the end.”
In the absence of a strong junior base and the departure of key players from last season, Flinders relied on a core group and again called on players who hail from other regions, including Hervey Bay, Toowoomba and Bundaberg.
“The team is made up of a lot of guys who have moved to the area for work and uni and the biggest thing for them, because they haven’t grown up together, is that their teammates threw their arms over their shoulders and got them into the group,” Wareing said.
“They built relationships away from the field, which transferred on to the field.”
But Flinders’ depth was tested in 2023.
“It was a long season and we struggled to keep the same team on the field,” Wareing said.
“We relied on a lot of division three players.”
Wareing praised goalkeeper Wil Tolputt for playing a key role.
“He had a huge year. He won us a lot of games,” he said.
“There were some games we probably didn’t deserve to win but we did, through his defensive efforts in the net. He had an outstanding season.”
Wareing, who won three straight titles as coach of a team in Maryborough before experiencing success at Flinders, said he was ready to hand over the coaching reins there to someone else.
“It’s time for a new voice,” he said.
“That might reinvent them and rejuvenate them a bit, but winning five in a row has been great.”
Without a strong junior base, he said the club would likely need to continue attracting players each off-season for the division one side to remain a force.
“The club only has about three junior teams and maybe, in the future, that is a concern, because you don’t have the kids coming through,” he said.
“So, you’re constantly relying on other guys, and if guys move away then you’re hoping that a few more blokes move to town and you can keep filling the gaps.”
Subscribe to our FREE daily news feed. All it requires is your name and email at the bottom of this article.
