Olympic Hockey: Kookaburras great Simon Orchard’s players to watch and how the Australia’s men, women will fair in Paris

After the silver agony of Tokyo three years ago, the Kookaburras are hellbent on Olympic atonement in Paris but there’s almost no margin for error, bronzed hockey great Simon Orchard says.

It’s not quite gold or bust but dual-hockey Olympian Simon Orchard believes the Kookaburras have the experience and the weaponry to go one better in Paris after an agonising Tokyo silver.

And Orchard, a two-time World Cup winner who claimed bronze at the 2012 London Olympics, believes the Hockeyroos can pull off a surprise in Paris, despite the reality of a potential quarterfinal elimination clash with any of three of the top four nations in world hockey.

Orchard buried the first goal in the Kookaburras’ 3-1 win over the host nation in that 2012 bronze medal game and believes international men’s hockey has never been more even.

That leaves the Kookaburras, who, along with Netherlands and Belgium, are around the $4 mark with the bookies to win gold, very little margin for error.

“I reckon there’s six teams who can win a medal, one of them is the Kookaburras,” Orchard said.

Simon Orchard says the Kookaburras are primed for a deep Olympic run in Paris, but the margin for error is small.

“The last three major tournaments dating back to Tokyo, have been won by a shootout, it’s just so close.

“But our men are just so experienced, they’ve got a five-time Olympian (Eddie Ockenden), a group who have been to three and I think seven who were in Tokyo, so they know how to handle that pressure.

“It’s not gold or bust, because it’s incredibly hard to even medal at the Olympics, but they go in with form and confidence off the back of winning the FIH Pro League.”

Orchard said a medal would be a “huge” result for coach Katrina Powell and the Hockeyroos.

“They have a tough crossover and could play one of Holland (No. 1), Belgium (No. 4), Germany (No. 3) or China (No. 8), each of who I think could win a medal,” Orchard, whose podcast with News Corp hockey contributor Adam Clifford ‘Parlez Vous Hockey’ is following the fortunes of the Kookaburras and Hockeyroos in Paris, said.

“You don’t want Holland and Belgium worry me because they’re like a mini-Holland. China is coached by (Australian hockey legends) Alyson Annan and Ric Charlesworth, so they know the Australians better than anyone.

“I think they want Germany in the crossover, if possible, but it’s not going to be easy and nor should it be. You have to go through the best to win a medal, there’s no point worrying about it.

The Hockeyroos are in the mood to shock Paris. Picture: bwmedia.co.nz

“What they want to do is build through the pool stage and get themselves into a position in the knockout game where their confidence is up and they feel good.”

He believes the recent selection controversy surrounding striker Rosie Malone’s failed appeal could galvanise the group, which he said wasn’t as far away from a medal in Tokyo as their shock quarterfinal exit against India suggested.

“They won bronze at the last World Cup and they flew through the (Tokyo) Olympics but lost a quarterfinal they’d win 99 times out of hundred,” he said.

“They had all the play, India scored in the first quarter and then parked the bus and held on 1-0. If you watched the play and looked at the stats, you would have thought Australia won by five but it was just one of those games.”

The Kookaburras’ Olympic campaign begins on Saturday, 9.15pm AEST v Argentina, while the Hockeyroos face South Africa at 8.45pm on Sunday.

ORCH’S CAN’T MISS KOOKABURRAS

TOM CRAIG

“Tom’s one of the quickest men in world hockey and I’ve been telling him since he was 20 ‘speed kills’. He’s a real big-game player and he’s been unleashed as a striker. Just box office — watch a highlight involving the Australian team or in Hockey One and chances are he’s in 75 per cent of them, either on the end of it or providing the pass that makes it.”

Flynn Ogilvie, Andrew Charter, Tom Craig and Jacob Whetton need to stand up for the Kookaburras to win gold.

FLYNN OGILVIE

“He had some time off to get married and focus on work commitments but he’s really coming into his own and the Kookaburras look to him to create. The defensive side of his game, which wasn’t always his strong suit, has become really reliable.”

JACOB WHETTON

“He’s matured into a selfless, team-oriented, reliable and versatile guy. He can play as a striker and can go back and be an attacking mid or defensive mid. He’s got all the qualities — basic skills, nice on the ball, can score, he’s elusive. He’s a guy who people love watching because he wears the zinc, the headband and he’s got speed.”

ANDREW CHARTER

“If Andrew Charter is at the top of his game, Australia can win gold. He’s never been the best in the world at the one-on-one but he’s going to have to be if they’re going to win, because you can guarantee they’re going to face a shootout at some point. He’s improved, even at 37, he’s more demonstrative and more attacking.”

Kaitlin Nobbs, Claire Colwill and Amy Lawton loom as the Hockeyroos' game breakers in Paris.

ORCH’S PIVOTAL HOCKEYROOS

KAITLIN NOBBS

“Nobbsy’s a cool and calm head who has been known as a defensive-minded midfielder but in the last 18 months has added a few strings to her bow and now gets forward and impacts the game in the front half. She’s the puppeteer of the Australian team who has so much involvement and they need her to be expansive.”

CLAIRE COLWILL

“She’s only 20 and will likely be the first option of the two flickers (on penalty corners). She’s got all the characteristics of a 300-game international. Long limbs, great reach, aerial ability out of the back. She’s a captain-in-waiting who is a great leader, understands the game and reads the play well. She’s going to have a huge role to play on corners.”

AMY LAWTON

“Amy could be anything. She won the Hockey One player of the year a couple of years back, and she’s a gamebreaker who does the unusual that makes you go ‘whoa’. She’s got the brilliance, skill and guile as well as the tenacity and the mongrel, which sometimes they don’t go hand-in-hand. She’s got the whole package.

Originally published as Olympic Hockey: Kookaburras great Simon Orchard’s players to watch and how the Australia’s men, women will fair in Paris