Hockey NT snubbed in favour of second Melbourne-based Hockey One team

While NT hockey languishes in terms of facilities and no access to the national competition the Labor government has pledged half a million dollars to a second Melbourne-based HockeyOne team to provide pathways for Indian national players.

Hockey NT chief executive Jason Butcher.

Despite the Northern Territory producing some of the biggest names in Australian hockey, it has been locked out the country’s only national franchise – Hockey One.

While the Territory has been denied a spot in the competition - which features teams from every other jurisdiction in the country - a second Melbourne team focused on providing pathways for Indian talent, both national and international, looks poised to enter Hockey One after receiving significant government funding.

After its comprehensive bid for a Hockey One side was in late 2024 knocked back by the competition and pleas for funding not met, the NT Hockey fraternity was on Thursday disappointed to learn Federal Labor had provided $500k to bankroll a second Victorian team.

The money will go towards facilities at a planned high-performance development in Cloverton in the north of Melbourne for the Melbourne Cobras.

Assistant Foreign Minister Tim Watts and Federal Member for McEwen Rob Mitchell announced the funding in Cloverton, McEwen on Thursday afternoon.

The Melbourne Cobras have been positioned as a team to grow the game through Northwest Metropolitan and Regional Victoria and become a symbol of aspiration for the Indian diaspora.

Hockey Victoria chief executive Andrew Skillern thanked the Albanese government “for their support of our vision to establish Australia’s first Indian-centric sports franchise”.

Hockey One League executive manager Sash Herceg heralded the Melbourne Cobras project as aligning with the League’s ambitions to explore expansion and expand its international footprint.

Meanwhile, NT Hockey’s premier sides, the Stingers, were forced to source pathways abroad, having joined the Malaysian Hockey League to ensure Territory players could thrive despite being rejected by Australia’s leading competition.

Thursday’s funding announcement for Victoria also follows a landmark $1.5m investment from the Australian government in Canberra’s National Hockey Facility, and other investments in Queensland and Western Australia.

But no commitment has come the way of the NT, which remains in desperate need of funding towards its facilities.

Hockey NT chief executive Jason Butcher said it was disappointing it came at a time Territory sports needed investment in their facilities.

Hockey NT chief executive Jason Butcher. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

“It’s certainly disappointing to see a federal election promise directed toward a second Victorian Hockey One franchise, particularly given the NT’s current exclusion from the national senior pathway,” he said.

“At a time when all sports across the Territory are facing urgent and growing needs for facility and infrastructure upgrades, it’s a strange allocation of support.

“We’ve submitted detailed briefs to both major parties outlining the critical needs of our facilities, so like cricket in the news on Thursday, they’re well aware of our situation.

“That said, we continue to receive strong backing from the NT government and remain focused on creating opportunities for our community.”

When queried on the second Victorian team, Hockey One said the NT Stingers “didn’t make it to the next stage of the EOI process designed to expand the League due to concerns around financial viability”.

Among the players produced in the Territory are national stalwarts such as Nova Peris, Jeremy Hayward and Brooke Peris, but without the pathway in the national competition future talent will struggle.

NT People, Sport and Culture minister Jinson Charls said the CLP government would continue to “work with Hockey NT to support player pathways”.

“This announcement shows exactly where Labor’s priorities are and it’s not with regional or remote communities, and certainly not with the Northern Territory,” he said.

Originally published as Hockey NT snubbed in favour of second Melbourne-based Hockey One team