Coffs Lions already have the minor premiership cat in the bag in the Coastal Premier League – but drill down into their success story, and you’ll realise their ace card is being ‘united’ in purpose as much as they are in name.
Coffs U have been the benchmark in 2021, and will receive their trophy before what should be a bumper home crowd against cross-city rivals Coffs Tigers.
The Lions and the Tigers are running one-two on the first grade ladder and their clash sets up a tantalising Super Saturday.
“I wouldn’t say we had a shaky start to the season but it took a while for us to get our things together,” United coach Glen Williams said.
“We’ve had a fair few injuries but we’ve got a lot of depth too.
“We’ve blooded some really young guys – 16 and 17-year-olds.”
Glen said the firsts and reserves were a tight-knit bunch – and the players’ buy-in to the big picture made personnel movement between the squads relatively seamless.
Make no mistake – this is one engaged group.
“They’ve been training twice a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays, since January. That’s seven months and a big commitment in amateur sport – and hardly anyone has missed a training,” Glen said.
While the minor premiership has been comfortably secured, the Lions will now focus on the remains of the regular season and the finals.
“The hunger’s there for the players. They are fighting for their positions,” Glen said.
Just this week, the CPL decided to truncate the finals series from three weeks to two in a bid to complete the season before any untimely intrusion by COVID.
The tweaked format will see straight eliminator semi-finals – one versus four and two v three, with the winners marching straight to the Big Dance on September 11.
“We will just have to be really switched on,” Glen said of a straight-shootout finals’ format.
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