Hockey One 2023: Hockey One’s biggest talking points of round five

The men’s Hockey One champs NSW Pride may not have played at their best, but found a way to keep their winning streak alive. Kate Allman reviews a tense round five in Hockey One.

The Pride are still undefeated. (Photo by Martin Keep/Getty Images)

The NSW Pride men almost lost their grip on an undefeated season and Amy Lawton appeared out of sorts as Brisbane blazed past Melbourne.

Meanwhile, the Adelaide Fire’s finals hopes are all but extinguished.

Here are the biggest talking points of Hockey One round five.

NSW LEFT SOUL-SEARCHING AFTER SHOOTOUT

The undefeated, two-time premiers NSW Pride men are now so powerful a shootout win may as well be a loss.

The Pride slunk from the turf looking defeated Saturday night – despite clinching a 1(6)-1(5) win against the in-form Tassie Tigers.

The Pride entered round five as heavy favourites at home, having run riot all season with 21 goals across three previous matches and a record score of 11 goals in round three. Rookie Kookaburra Ky Willott slung a drag flick to the net early but the match ground into an end-to-end arm wrestle after that.

Late drama saw Tigers captain Hayden Beltz’ sneak a nifty touch in from a penalty corner after the full-time siren. But NSW goalkeeper Ash Thomas saved the day by denying Jack Welch in the sixth one-on-one penalty. He was the only player roaring in triumph for the Pride victory.

“It’s quite a sombre mood in the changeroom which is evident that we didn’t perform. We have really high standards and expectations on each other, and really were fighting to get the result,” head coach Brent Livermore OAM said.

“It’s disappointing, just debriefing with the boys now and we need to do some soul-searching to do better next time.”

Ky Willott scored a crucial late goal. (Photo by Martin Keep/Getty Images)

SOFT PENALTIES?

Two penalty strokes awarded in dubious circumstances were the talking points in the NSW Pride women’s 8-1 drubbing of the Tassie Tigers in Sydney.

When Pride midfielder Grace Young was tripped driving into the circle at speed, she still had a defensive player and goalkeeper Evie Dalton to beat before the goal line. A deliberate infringement in the circle earns a stroke but the fall seemed accidental and unavoidable at Young’s pace.

In the second half, an almost-identical situation occurred when Brisbane player-turned Tassie Tiger Jade Smith drew a shoulder bump and a wayward stick check. The Tigers’ most promising young prospect Maddi Brooks put the stroke away, but it was little commiseration for the winless cellar dwellers in their fifth loss.

Rainbow socks for the Pride in Pride Round helped NSW resurrect their attacking dominance, and four goals from striker Laura Reid helped put the team back in finals contention.

“We were sharper today but we were also a lot smarter. The execution in lines and the tackling was substantially better,” head coach Scott Barker said.

WIZ KID

Corey Weyer continues to decorate his Paris selection resume, finding outstanding form in Hockey One and an MVP award in Brisbane Blaze’s 3-1 win against HC Melbourne.

Weyer, known as Wiz among Blaze teammates, is a powerful proponent of the in-vogue overhead pass. He demonstrated its threat in the eighth minute of Friday’s match with an enormous 80-metre aerial to team captain Jake Whetton, who lasered a tomahawk into the waiting stick of striker Cale Cramer. It unfolded in seconds and left the home side’s defence dumbfounded.

Wiz proved to be the gamechanger in a tense battle, setting up a goal and conversion for teammate Scott Boyde and almost finding the net himself in an instance that was overruled due to a prior infringement.

Weyer debuted for the Kookaburras in 2017 but has been in and out of the squad with just 43 international caps to his name since then. As the Olympics approaches, he’ll be in the mix among 32 different players who have worn Kookaburra colours in 2023 alone, under Australian men’s coach Colin Batch.

Brisbane Blaze were too good for Melbourne. Pic: Hockey Australia/Andrew Wiseman

MISSING MIDFIELD

Hockey Club Melbourne’s marquee player Amy Lawton had as good as zero impact during the women’s 2-5 loss to the Brisbane Blaze.

Lawton was voted the league’s most valuable female player in the 2022 season, when Melbourne ended the regular season as minor premiers but fell short of making the grand final. She’s typically a turnover machine who lines up in the midfield transitioning defence to attack.

With Melbourne’s circle inefficiency having become a problem in previous matches, Lawton was sent forward to play striker, leaving gaping holes for Brisbane to blaze through.

Aggressive pressing from a Hockeyroo-heavy Blaze front line forced high turnovers and kept Lawton out of the action with barely a touch in the first half. There was little veteran Melbourne goalkeeper Rachael Lynch could do to defend a barrage of shots including two identical drag flick-deflection goals from the Fitzpatrick sisters Savannah and Maddy.

Friday was the first time Melbourne have faced Brisbane since they went down in the semi-final last season. This week’s loss puts them in a precarious position in fourth, still to sit out their bye and face an in-form Canberra Chill in the final two rounds.

Amy Lawton has not been at her best in recent times. Pic: Hockey Australia/Andrew Wiseman

ADELAIDE SEASON EXTINGUISHED

The Perth Thundersticks have nailed what look to be final bolts in the coffin of Adelaide Fire’s 2023 finals hopes, with dual wins over the red and blue on Sunday afternoon.

The Fire men started the season with oomph, earning their first win in the history of Hockey One in round two against Melbourne. But the excitement of signing former Kookaburras Kieran Govers and the electricity of youngster Jack “Hollywood” Holland were short-lived.

A shootout loss to Canberra Chill in round four will haunt the Fire after they went down 0-3 to the easily stronger Perth Thundersticks this week.

Likewise, the Adelaide women have been unable to find spark despite Hockeyroos Brooke Peris and Jane Claxton delivering well above their pay level. Their pace and impressive antics in the midfield couldn’t stem a 0-4 loss to Perth’s well-drilled defence.

Originally published as Hockey One 2023: Hockey One’s biggest talking points of round five