‘Take the hurt’: Kookaburras and Hockeyroos ready to confront Olympic demons
Australia’s national hockey sides will have an immediate opportunity to address their disappointing Paris 2024 campaigns as they prepare for the FIH Pro League matches in Sydney.
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The Kookaburras and Hockeyroos will have a chance to confront their Paris 2024 demons this week as they begin their FIH Pro League campaigns in Sydney.
Both sides will face the teams that knocked them out in the quarter-finals of last year’s Olympics. The men will take on the reigning gold medallists, the Netherlands, while the women will play the silver medallists, China. They will also contest matches against the Spanish men’s and women’s sides.
The two Australian teams were left bitterly frustrated by their performances in Paris and as a result, ushered in a new era of change.
Former Kookaburra Mark Hager will coach the team for the first time with a squad that includes eight potential debutants. The Hockeyroos have also welcomed three new youngsters into their first national side, as well as a new assistant coach, Rhett Halkett.
The Kookaburras, in particular, will be looking to use the Pro League to regain their form, having won the most recent edition in 2023-24.
“It’s really disappointing that we didn’t get the result we wanted (in Paris) and maybe at that point we didn’t play in the style and it didn’t quite click for us,” Jake Harvie said.
“We had some good hockey leading in and had some success in the Pro League but it just didn’t come together. It’s an opportunity now to move forward, lean into the energy of a new group and start fresh to some degree.
“We’re going to be looking to compete really hard and it’s a great start against two teams like Spain and Holland that had a really successful year last year.”
While the hunger is there for revenge for the Kookaburras, the Dutch have arrived in Australia ready to spoil the party.
Despite having the tag of Olympic champions, the Oranje are far from satisfied with just one gold medal to their name as they look to kickstart their own LA 2028 preparations.
“That’s the disease of an athlete I think, it’s never good enough,” Netherlands’ Joep de Mol said. “Even though we had an incredible summer, our coaches are immediately back into it.
“It can be a bit confronting, you’re like, ‘Okay, we achieved the epitome of what an athlete can achieve’. But we’re also looking to achieve something even more beautiful. Our coach said to us that becoming an Olympic champion is cool, but becoming an Olympic champion twice, like he did, is even cooler.”
NSW local Grace Stewart believes the chance for the Hockeyroos to begin their new Olympic cycle on home soil is the perfect opportunity for them to move forward as a team.
While the group have only made slight changes in the months since Paris under head coach Katrina Powell, the 27-year-old forward hinted this week’s matches in Sydney could be the start of a long-term evolution.
“(Paris) is always going to be there in the back of your mind,” Stewart said. “Obviously (we) take that hurt and use it as motivation, but ultimately you don’t want to dwell on it too much.
“Going up against (China) is going to be a challenge and one we will hopefully be ready for this time and get the better of them.
“We lost a lot of key players in some big positions, but getting these new faces in is super important. Yes, we want to get wins on the board because that’s a nice feeling, but it’s about improving each game and making sure we are putting the type of play we want out on the field.”
The Pro League matches in Sydney begin on Tuesday at Sydney Olympic Park, with the Kookaburras and Hockeyroos playing their first games on Wednesday night.
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Originally published as ‘Take the hurt’: Kookaburras and Hockeyroos ready to confront Olympic demons
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