Hockey One 2023: Kate Allman previews the finals of the Hockey One season
Hockey One 2023 will culminate in a two-day finals series this weekend in Canberra, can anyone stop NSW from lifting the trophy? KATE ALLMAN previews the finals series.
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The NSW Pride men finished the regular season undefeated, while hometown heroes the Canberra Chill women are chasing a fairytale finish in the nation’s capital.
Hockey One 2023 will culminate in a two-day finals series this weekend in Canberra.
The semi-finals are on Saturday and grand finals for both men and women on Sunday.
Here’s how the series looks set to play out.
MEN’S SEMI-FINAL 1: NSW PRIDE V TASSIE TIGERS
It’s the story of the season: NSW Pride has made history by going undefeated through the regular seven rounds of Hockey One.
The side enters the finals as minor premier and two-time champion.
The NSW name is already engraved on the existing two trophies of the first two seasons of Hockey One.
The side has scored 32 goals by using all varieties of shot, many of them electric volleys off half-chances by Tom Craig.
With more international caps that any other team, the versatility of Tim Brand plus the rocket launcher of Blake Govers’ stick, calling the side favourite might be an understatement.
Just one team came close to beating the Pride this year and, fortuitously, it was the Tassie Tigers.
“If Tassie get into the semi-finals, we could come up against them and we often haven’t done really well against them. That’s going to be a challenge for us,” coach and former Kookaburra Brent Livermore said after the Pride ticked off a 7-3 win against Adelaide Fire on Saturday night.
The Tigers kept the Pride to a 1-1 draw and forced a penalty shootout in round 5.
Tassie also has plenty of international class, including FIH World Player of the Year nominee Jeremy Hayward.
However, it would take a serious upset to derail the red-and-gold steam train on its way to a threepeat.
Prediction: Pride wins 7-3
WOMEN’S SEMI-FINAL 1: BRISBANE BLAZE V PERTH THUNDERSTICKS
One of the stingiest defences in the league faces off against the hottest goalscoring side in the women’s competition.
Brisbane Blaze women finished the regular season first on goal difference and have scored 27 goals over six matches.
They beat the next-best team NSW Pride by a whopping eight goals.
On the other side of the draw, the Perth Thundersticks have built a reputation for stifling other teams with the dour defence of Hockeyroos Penny Squibb and Karri Somerville.
These teams have recent insight into each others’ games after meeting on Sunday afternoon in round 7.
Hockeyroo Steph Kershaw slammed an opening goal within four minutes and set up the Blaze to win 6-3 and secure the minor premiership.
Aside from crowd favourite and tomahawk machine Line Malan, the Thundersticks don’t have the pace and thrill of the Blaze.
However, Perth’s ability to suffocate counter-attacks could work in its favour.
“We are focusing on what we can improve on, including fine-tinkering our press” Perth coach Phil Hulbert said after the loss in Brisbane.
“We have to quickly bounce back because we play each other next week.”
The Blaze is vulnerable while missing under-21 Jillaroos Hannah Cullum-Sanders, Claire Colwill, Madeline Kenny, Jade Reid and Tatum Stewart.
They are all unavailable while preparing for the Junior World Cup that hits off on November 30.
The squad has depth to replace them, so long as it can activate Queensland excitement machine Rosie Malone, who was nominated for FIH World Player of the Year over the weekend.
Prediction: Blaze wins 4-2
MEN’S SEMI-FINAL 2: BRISBANE BLAZE V HC MELBOURNE
HC Melbourne is the surprise finalist of the men’s competition after finishing sixth last year and struggling to maintain consistency despite glimpses of genius.
Like its women’s side, the Melbourne men have developed an over-reliance on penalty corner goals that don’t always convert.
Josh Simmonds and Damon Steffens netted a few missiles each but single scores will not be enough in a semi-final against one of the highest-scoring men’s teams, the Brisbane Blaze.
Adding difficulty is the lack of under-21s talent. Playmakers Cooper Burns, Liam Henderson and Craig Marais are all rumoured to be unavailable for the finals while the Burras prepare for the men’s Junior World Cup in Kuala Lumpur, which starts next month.
The Blaze has been the only line-up within reach of the NSW Pride.
The Queenslanders dominated Perth Thundersticks on Sunday afternoon when striker Joel Rintala returned to the team with a dazzling hat-trick.
His one-touch crashing tomahawk goal reinforced his deserving rise to the Kookaburras this year and bodes ominously for Perth.
Last year, the Blaze bombed out in the semi-final. This year’s draw gives the side a chance to go one better in Canberra – an opportunity captain Jake Whetton won’t want to miss. Prediction: Blaze wins 5-3
WOMEN’S SEMI-FINAL 2: NSW PRIDE V CANBERRA CHILL
After missing the finals last year, the Chill women leapt up the ladder to finish impressively in third by knocking out the 2022 minor premier HC Melbourne on Friday night.
Former Hockeyroo Kalindi Commerford again played an enormous role.
She provided a supreme assist to set up 18-year-old striker Lauren Yee for a diving finish behind Australia’s most-capped former Hockeyroo goalkeeper Rachael Lynch.
The Canberra men went out swinging in a hard-fought 6-4 loss to Brisbane Blaze two weeks ago, leaving the women as the only home side left in contention for a medal.
Two shootout wins have kept Canberra on lower ladder points than other sides (five points for an outright win and three points for a shootout win) and hide the fact it has only lost one game all year.
For Canberra, getting past the NSW Pride in the semi-final could be a tougher battle than the next day’s grand final.
Defending premier the Pride has flexed it muscle throughout the season with an unmatched ability to counter-attack and score.
Hockeyroo midfielders Mariah Williams, Greta Hayes and Abigail Wilson collaborate with style and creativity, while Grace Stewart and Laura Reid have an uncanny magnetism for goals.
The Canberra Chill women are chasing a fairytale finish but the story seems likely to be cut short on their home turf.
Prediction: NSW Pride wins 3-1
TALKING POINT: WHAT HAPPENED TO THE HC MELBOURNE WOMEN?
HC Melbourne fans must be wondering where it all fell apart after new women’s coach Dan Mitchell managed the 2022 minor premier through a spiralling season in which the side missed finals for the first time.
Mitchell threw the kitchen sink at Melbourne’s last-round match on Friday night.
He pulled goalkeeper Rachael Lynch off with six minutes to go and delivered what appeared to be a blistering three-quarter-time pump-up speech.
Yet the women were unable to climb into fourth place over the Canberra Chill when they lost 2-1 in a nailbiter.
“It’s not the way that we started the campaign,” Mitchell said. We wanted to enjoy the process and not think too far ahead.
“That’s the way sport goes sometimes. Someone has to win and someone has to lose.”
HC Melbourne scored just seven goals for and allowed 10 against during six matches. Hockeyroo Amy Lawton’s absences due to national squad “load management” hurt the side.
Midfielder Krissie Bates was left scrambling to haphazardly assemble the troops.
Originally published as Hockey One 2023: Kate Allman previews the finals of the Hockey One season
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