Six players from Grafton Men selected in NSW Under-21s and one for NSW Country after strong Division One showing.

Young side rewarded for state championship efforts with multiple players earning higher representative honours.

Grafton players celebrate a goal during the side's 2-1 win against hosts Metro South West in their first Pool B match at the 2021 NSW Open Mens Field Hockey Championships at Moorebank on Saturday, 12th June, 2021.

Reece Gaddes and Nathan Czinner have today both been named in the NSW Arrows side after helping Grafton return from the brink to once again earn its place among the best hockey teams in the state with a formidable showing in Division One at the NSW Opens Mens Field Hockey Championships.

After experiencing several years in the relegation scrap, the once all-conquering men in purple, who won the tournament in 2009, finished fifth - Grafton’s best since it finished third in 2013.

The three-day tournament at Moorebank in Sydney’s southwest was the first time Grafton had competed in Division One since being relegated in 2018. The side won Division Two in 2019 to earn promotion, but had to wait a year for their return to the top tier after the 2020 tournament was cancelled due to covid-19.

“On the whole it was pretty a successful weekend for Grafton given the last six years has either been a relegation or promotion match,” Grafton coach Peter Kelly said.

“We had a bit of transition from older players to this current crop of players. It is a very young side on paper, but they’re very mature and made a lot of wise decisions on the pitch and managed the pressure situations.”

Grafton’s resurgence on the NSW Hockey scene began early in the first quarter of their opening contest on Saturday morning as underdogs against hosts Metro South West.

LIVESTREAM: Check out all the action from DAY ONE of the 2021 NSW Open Mens Hockey Championships

Just seven minutes into the exclusive NewsCorp livestream, a long range Reece Gaddes lob was brought under control perfectly by his younger brother Tyler Gaddes, who fed Jake Lambeth in the goal circle to deflect the opener.

Grafton players celebrate a goal during the side's 2-1 win against hosts Metro South West in their first Pool B match at the 2021 NSW Open Mens Field Hockey Championships at Moorebank on Saturday, 12th June, 2021.

Grafton doubled the advantage midway through the 2nd quarter, again fed from the right for Brad Smith to score.

Metro South West captain Troy Sutherland scored a consolation goal with less than two minutes remaining with Grafton winning the clash 2–1.

On Saturday night Grafton lost 4-0 to eventual champions Illawarra South Coast, then on Sunday defeated Central Coast 3-1 before losing to arch rivals Tamworth 2-0 to finish third in Pool B.

LIVESTREAM: Check out all the action from DAY TWO of the 2021 NSW Open Mens Hockey Championships

“Even the result against Illawarra was a bit skewed, as we were only down 1-0 going into the final quarter and if it wasn’t for a five-minute switch off we could’ve been pushing them to the final buzzer,” Kelly said.

“And it was a similar thing against our nemesis Tamworth, who scored two late goals.”

Grafton easily brushed aside Pool A third placegetters North West Sydney 6-1 to win the playoff for fifth spot overall.

Meanwhile, Illawarra’s 10-2 win over Pool A runners up Lithgow and Tamworth’s 1-1 draw with Pool A winners Newcastle in the semi-finals, Metro South West’s 9-1 win over North Sydney in the playoff for seventh, and Central Coast winning 1-0 against Sydney East in the relegation battle, followed by Illawarra’s 3-0 win over Newcastle in the final suggested Pool B was by far the stronger of the two.

“We definitely had the tougher of the two pools,” Kelly said.

LIVESTREAM: Check out all the finals on DAY THREE at the 2021 NSW Open Mens Hockey Championships

Apart from the return of 52-year-old legend Robbie Green, who captained Grafton to its 2009 triumph, the side captained by Brendan Purser was one of the youngest ever fielded by Grafton.

This was evidenced by the fact six of the eight players to be selected for higher representative honours this week were for the NSW Under-21s.

Reece Gaddes, pictured playing for Barbarians Hagars in Grafton, has been selected to play for the NSW Pride side at the Hockey Australia National Championships in July.

Reece Gaddes and Armidale based Nathan Czinner were both named on Thursday in the Brent Livermore-coached NSW Arrows squad to contest the second season of the Sultana Bran Hockey One League from October 1 to November 21 later this year.

Meanwhile Justin Alford was selected for NSW Country Opens to compete at Cairns in August, while Czinner joined Rhys Cropper, Tyler Gaddes, Jake Lambeth, Zachary Young and Brad Smith in the 2022 NSW Under-21s squad.

City Bears midfielder Justin Alford makes a play to get the ball around Barbs star Tyler Gaddes during a Grafton A Grade match. Both players have been selected for higher representative honours after impressing for Grafton at the 2021 NSW Open Mens Division One Hockey Championships.

Meanwhile, 19-year-old Eli Fahey was Grafton’s leading goal scorer with four for the tournament.

GRAFTON MEN: Justin Alford, Tom Brown, Hugh Cameron, Rhys Cropper, Nathan Czinner, Eli Fahey, Reece Gaddes, Tyler Gaddes, Scott Garner, Robert Green, Jake Lambeth, Cody McCann, Brendan Purser (c), Jesse Sampson, Bradley Smith, Zachary Young. Coach: Peter Kelly. Manager: Harry Fahey.