Tokyo Olympics, Ric Charlesworth Classic: Iconic coach on Kookaburras, Hockeyroos success

Neither Australian hockey team has claimed Olympic Gold since the men in 2004 – but despite a turbulent build-up, legendary coach Ric Charlesworth sees things changing in Tokyo.

Australian hockey icon Ric Charlesworth with representatives from the Ric Charlesworth Classic from top left, Tom Harvie (Outbacks), Jemma Buckley (Outbacks), Frazer Gerrard (Highlanders), Tim Geers (Suns), Sarah Byrnes (Breakers), Brayden King (Breakers), from bottom left, Belle Ramshaw (Highlanders), Shanea Tonkin (Suns). Picture: Ryan Ammon/Hockey WA

Australia’s golden years may seem like something of a distant memory these days, but legendary coach Ric Charlesworth believes ending a 17-year Olympic gold medal drought in Tokyo this year is not beyond it.

Once the pride of the nation, Australia’s men’s and women’s hockey teams have undergone a tumultuous period over the past five years that has been marred by scandal and a lack of top-level success.

In that period, gold medals have eluded Australian teams at Olympic and World Cup level, although the Kookaburras won gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, twice won the Champions League and claimed the inaugural Pro League in 2019.

Charlesworth believes player development is at the core of Australia coming back to the international pack, but strongly feels the current teams – with the men ranked second in the world and the women fourth – are on the verge of ending championship droughts with the Tokyo Olympics looming.

Australian hockey icon Ric Charlesworth with representatives from the Ric Charlesworth Classic from top left, Tom Harvie (Outbacks), Jemma Buckley (Outbacks), Frazer Gerrard (Highlanders), Tim Geers (Suns), Sarah Byrnes (Breakers), Brayden King (Breakers), from bottom left, Belle Ramshaw (Highlanders), Shanea Tonkin (Suns). Picture: Ryan Ammon/Hockey WA

No one has enjoyed more success in hockey than Charlesworth – an iconic figure whose name is synonymous with the sport in which he twice led the Hockeyroos to Olympic gold as coach, as well as unprecedented results with both men’s and women’s teams at Champion’s Trophy and World Cups.

“Can you do that again? Well it’s damn hard to sustainably win at that level,” Charlesworth told News Corp.

“If you look at the teams that win, it’s up and down, every year there’s new teams contending. It’s intensely competitive at that level. How do you sustainably be that good? That’s a difficult thing.”

Charlesworth took both the men and women to the top of world hockey in a decorated coaching career. Picture: Kerris Berrington

But can Australia return to that stratosphere? Or at least rise above their rankings to taste success in Tokyo this year?

“For Australia to do well and dominate will be very hard, but to win things, yes we can do that. That’s where we ought to be,” Charlesworth said.

“It’s intensely competitive, very hard to win at the Olympics, very hard to be a world champion. That will be our struggle. But in our game, yeah we’re good enough to win those things.”

Charlesworth stepped away from coaching after leading the Kookaburra’s to World Cup glory in 2014 – the last major trophy won by either the men’s or women’s national team – but has remained involved in the sport he so deeply loves, and last year put his name to a new Perth-based tournament which holds true his values of creating top talent.

The Charlesworth-coached Hockeyroos players celebrate gold at the Sydney Olympic Games. Picture: Jay Town

Famous for building depth in his squads, he’s turned his attention to the next generation of stars – many who will be on show in the Ric Charlesworth Classic which gets underway in Perth on Friday.

The pre-season tournament, which features four men’s and four women’s teams, is in its second season and acts as a genuine trial for the Perth Thundersticks squads ahead of the Hockey One League, Australia’s premier domestic competition.

Charlesworth, while lamenting the approach of player development and the search for a ‘sugar hit’ of unearthing the next star across many sports in Australia, felt it was competitions like this that truly provide the best platform for revealing a young player’s talents – likening it to the Indian Premier League’s role in India’s recent rise to cricketing superpower.

“I don’t think we’ve done development particularly well in Australia in a lot of sports, because they develop these pathways and that creates entitled athletes and athletes who are discarded much too early,” Charlesworth said.

The IPL has brought superstars from around the world to play in India – where they mix with talented local talent. Picture: AFP

“From my experience, the best way for young people to improve and develop is to play against those that are older and better.

“It’s a bit like what’s happened in the Indian Hockey League, helped India develop their players, and the Indian Premier League has done so with their cricket players.

“You put lots of senior international players with young Indians and they realise they’ve only got two arms and two legs and they can do it too.

“What develops out of that is an important breakthrough for many young athletes, that experience.

“Last year I was really pleased with the quality of standard and the (Ric Charlesworth) competition. It did afford a terrific opportunity for younger emerging ones to show what they could do.”