Hockey World Cup: young gun Nathan Ephraums ready to shine for Australia

He might be the youngest Kookaburra at the World Cup, but Australian striker Nathan Ephraums is ready to make his mark in India.

During big events like world cups, most of the attention is on the old hands, the superstars – those who have been there before and will be going round again.

In the case of the Kookaburras, there are plenty to choose from.

They are led by none of other than the legendary Eddie Ockenden, the most-capped Kookaburra of all time with more than 400 internationals to his name. He’s a veteran of the 2010 and 2014 World Cup-winning teams, and is his hoping to make it a hat-trick in what is his fourth world cup.

Then there are the likes of Andrew Charter, Jeremy Hayward, Jake Whetton and Aran Zalewski who’ll be playing in their third world cups.

But while these big events are often a platform for experienced players to carve out their legacy – hello, Lionel Messi – there are always young guns looking to properly announce themselves to the world stage.

For the Kookaburras, young striker Nathan Ephraums is one hoping to make his mark.

“The World Cup will be one of my first real major tournaments and a good chance to get some exposure to teams that I haven’t played yet,” said Ephraums, who is from Keysborough in south-eastern Melbourne.

Ephraums in action against India in the test series in November last year. (Photo by Mark Brake/Getty Images for Hockey Australia).

One of five World Cup debutants, the 23-year-old is officially the baby of the squad – and he can’t wait to rip into the tournament.

“We’ve all been playing with each other for a good stint this year and are coming off a good performance at the Comm Games, so I’m just excited to face off against the best and give ourselves the best chance to win a medal,” he said.

Indeed, 2022 was somewhat of a breakthrough year for the Melburnian. While he made his debut for the Kookaburras in early 2020, Ephraums played 24 of his 32 games for the national team last year.

He finished the year as the team’s third-highest goalscorer with 13, including six in Australia’s gold-winning Commonwealth Games campaign, bolstering his reputation as one of the most exciting young strikers in world hockey.

“I’m feeling really good and looking forward to having a crack with these few games,” he said. “The good Comm Games performance really helps to feed the confidence and helps drive my performances moving forward as well.”

Ephraums had a bumper 2022, scoring six goals at the Commonwealth Games to be Australia’s second-highest goal-scorer at the tournament. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

As the youngest in the squad, Ephraums is soaking up the opportunity to learn from some of his more experienced teammates in a major tournament setting.

“It’s unreal to have so many guys in the team who are so experienced and there’s a wealth of knowledge that we all draw on,” he said.

“But I think the best part about our team is that it doesn’t matter if you’ve played a lot or just a few games – everyone works together really well, we all learn collectively and use all of our intelligence as one.”

Growing up with a hockey-mad dad, it’s perhaps no surprise to see Ephraums make an impression on the world stage at such a young age.

“Dad’s Sri Lankan and he played growing up, and when he moved to Australia he taught me,” says the 23-year-old. “I started playing when I was about three or four, just because I was always around the hockey field.”

The Keysborough local started playing hockey at the age of three or four, and was identified as an elite talent from an early age.

Back home in Melbourne, he’ll certainly have plenty of fans cheering him on, with plenty of former teammates and coaches at his junior club, Moorabbin’s Southern United, which is incidentally also the home club of Hockeyroo Amy Lawton, set to tune in to watch the Kookaburras.

“They’re always watching on and I always get a few messages,” says Ephraums. “I’m still quite close with my old head coach at Southern United Jesse Workman, he really helped me get to where I am.”

And while he’s always keen to hit the back of the net, Ephraums says his ambitions in India go far beyond individual goal tallies.

“Playing at striker, it’s always good to score goals, but for me it’s just doing my role and helping the team,” he says.

“Our quest is to be the world’s best hockey team and this is our opportunity to prove it. It’s what we train every day for and build towards, and we’re striving to be the best we can and bring home the goal medal.”

The Kookaburras kick off their World Cup campaign against France on Friday 13 January at 8:30pm AEDT.