Mackay hockey player Jacob Anderson resigned to Kookaburras for 2022

A Mackay hockey export continues his bid for Olympic glory after a recent national squad signing.

For the past three years, Mackay hockey prodigy Jacob Anderson has continued to climb the nation’s sporting ranks.

In 2022, the 24 year old will add a fourth consecutive year with the Australian Kookaburras squad to his resume.

But the impressive forward still has more goals on his bucket list.

Despite narrowly missing out on selection in the Tokyo Olympics team, Anderson still has his sights set on qualifying for an Olympic Games – and this recent re-signing is just the beginning.

“It was a bit of a disappointment (not being selected for the Olympics) … it didn’t go my way preparation wise and because I wasn’t at the level I should have been,” he said.

“Now I’m able to assess myself better, and after this year I can see areas where I need to improve and things I was probably not looking at last year leading into the Olympics before it got postponed.

“I want to be selected for the Paris Olympics in 2024. That would be awesome.”

After an Olympic year, some countries lose a number of their senior players.

“We lost four players and three of them all had 150 games each,” Anderson said.

Kookaburra and Brisbane Blaze striker Jacob Anderson returned to his hometown of Mackay during COVID-19 while all international filed hockey competitions were on hold. Picture: Tony Martin

“But we’re probably one of the best countries in terms of the spread of the (ages and experience of the) squad.

“Belgium is our closest competitor and I don’t think they have anyone new. I think we’re in a good position (for 2022).”

Anderson made his international debut for the Kookaburras in 2018, in a test match against Argentina.

After impressing team selectors, he was then picked for the Australian team line-up at the 2018 Mens’ International Hockey Open in Darwin.

That November, he was named in the Kookaburras squad for the 2019 season.

“We haven’t been able to travel much, but last year we went to India,” he said.

“We’ll have the Commonwealth Games in July in Birmingham. Hopefully that will go ahead.”

Throughout his three years with the Kookaburras, Anderson has continued to grow as a hockey star.

“I think I’ve just gotten better at the smaller things,” he said.

“Overall I’ve become better at assessing myself and being accountable for what I do.”

At the moment, the Kookaburras are scattered across the world – with half the team at home and the other half enjoying a European break.

“Rather than coming home and having to quarantine, they went over and played. Their season goes on during our summer,” Anderson said.

“At the moment, there are probably 12 Kookaburras in Perth training.

“I think we’ve got speed testing this week, fitness and strength testing, and next week we start out the Christmas block where we go up to December 16 and then have two weeks off over Christmas then get back into training.”