Tokyo Olympics: Ric Charlesworth appointed selector of Hockeyroos

The appointment of Ric Charlesworth as a Hockeyroos selector has caused some rumblings but he has vowed to help get the team’s Olympic campaign back on track.

Legendary Hockeyroos coach Ric Charlesworth has vowed to spend more time listening to current players in the national women’s squad to properly comprehend the problems they have encountered to help get their Olympic campaign back on track.

Privately, there have been some grumblings from existing squad team members about the appointment of Charlesworth on the national selection panel after recent comments he made that implied the players didn’t like being told to train hard or they needed to get fitter.

Players were angry that he hadn’t properly looked into their complaints, which included reports of body-shaming, bullying and intimidation as well as players developing serious eating disorders, self-harming and quitting the sport.

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Charlesworth has since said he was unaware of the full extent of the issues that led to the breakdown between players and Hockey Australia staff and has promised to do everything he can to help heal the divisions so the team can get back to focusing on the game.

“Anybody who’s been watching from a distance would understand that this has been a turbulent, difficult time,” Charlesworth said. “But it’s only by being closer and seeing up close that you get a better perspective.”

Ric Charlesworth will join a four-member selection panel for the Hockeyroos. Picture: Colin Murty

Appointed by the Hockey Australia board, Charlesworth will join head coach Katrina Powell as well as assistant coaches Katie Allen and Jeremy Davy on a four-member selection panel.

But in addition, Charlesworth has also offered to provide extra support to players and staff because of his unmatched record as a coach, which includes leading the Hockeyroos to back-to-back Olympic gold medals in 1996 and 2000.

Used to being in charge, the 69-year-old said he would be taking a back seat to the current coach Powell, who was one of his star players when he was calling the shots, but happy to step in with advice when needed.

“Rather than coaching, you’re talking about mentoring and supporting,” he said. “I’ll be attending training, watching practise matches, sometimes sitting in the back of the room.”

With just three months to go before the start of the Tokyo Olympics, the Hockeyroos are only just starting to rebuild after a seismic few months which has included the exodus of head coach Paul Gaudoin, high performance director Toni Cumpston, the assistant coach Steph Andrews and a handful of staff and directors.

Powell’s appointment as head coach has been universally welcomed, though some players are understood to be surprised Brent Livermore was not hired as an assistant after he was encouraged to apply.

Katrina Powell is in charge of the Hockeyroos after a major shake-up of the coaching staff. Picture: AAP Image/Jeremy Ng

It’s also understood some senior members are unhappy that star goalkeeper Rachael Lynch and former captain Georgina Morgan are listed as ‘Visiting Athletes’ rather than full squad members for the team’s upcoming training camp in Darwin after winning an appeal against their exclusion, though Hockey Australia sources said that was normal procedure.

Time is already running out for the squad to gel but Charlesworth believes any lingering fractures are not fatal to the team’s chances of winning a medal in Tokyo.

“It hasn’t been the ideal preparation but no one’s going to have had an ideal preparation for Tokyo but there’s still going to be a tournament and there’s still going to be a winner,” he said.

“Not all teams are perfectly harmonious and coherent, and indeed I’ve seen teams that were divided be successful and I’ve seen teams that have had issues and trauma recover from it.

“It’s never linear. Progress is always up and down. There’s always potholes in the road, you just have to deal with those and get on with it.”

Ric Charlesworth knows what it takes to win gold medals at the Olympics.

‘UNWANTED’ HOCKEYROOS BACK IN TOKYO RACE

The two senior Hockeyroos who were surprisingly left out of the preliminary squad for the Tokyo Olympics won their appeals last month to be reinstated.

An independent tribunal upheld the appeals from star goalkeeper Rachael Lynch and former captain Georgina Morgan to be considered for selection, though it’s no guarantee they will be picked when the new selectors sit down to choose the final squad.

However, the decision means they will at least be considered after they were told last year they were unwanted.

“Hockey Australia accepts the decision of the tribunal and will now move to provide both players with an opportunity to be considered under a new selection panel,” Hockey Australia said in a statement.

“This appeal decision does not automatically mean the duo gain automatic re-entry into the

national squad, however both players will again be eligible for selection.

“The timing of any further squad selection will be determined by the selection panel.”

The players lodged their appeals last year, and their case was finally heard by a panel made up of Australian cricket legend Belinda Clark, ex-Australian Olympic Committee chief Fiona de Jong and former rugby league judicial expert Alan Sullivan.

Former captain Georgina Morgan won her appeal to be reinstated in the preliminary squad for Tokyo.

The decision has been welcomed by past and present players, who have complained bitterly about the toxic culture within the women’s national program.

Head coach Paul Gaudoin sensationally quit his job last month, joining the exodus of high-profile resignations that preceded the damning review into the way the program was being run.

High performance director Toni Cumpston, the assistant coach Steph Andrews, independent selector Sharon Buchanan and a handful of staff and directors also left.

None of the selectors who omitted Lynch and Morgan from the squad remain with Hockey Australia, with Katrina Powell named last month as the new head coach.

A legendary player who has forced a reputation as a great coach, Powell be one of the three selectors on the new panel, which is yet to be finalised.

The panel will decide the 16-player Olympic squad in mid-June. With the addition of Lynch and Morgan, there are currently 25 players in the roster for contention.