Commonwealth Games misery helped set Kookaburras veteran Jamie Dwyer on path to Rio

HOCKEY great Jamie Dwyer is set to make his fourth Olympics at age 37. It is a journey the five-time world player of the year did not expect to make.

Jamie Dwyer feels he is in great form ahead of the Rio Olympics.

HOCKEY great Jamie Dwyer has revealed how the pain of being axed when he was about to retire triggered a rousing form surge that will deliver him an unexpected Olympic swansong.

Australia is yet to finalise their squad for Rio but Dwyer is set to make his fourth and last Olympics at 37.

It is a journey the five-time world player of the year did not expect to make.

Dwyer said after the 2012 London Olympics he had no intention of going to Rio.

He was set to announce his glittering career would end after the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games but missed selection and that changed everything.

“It has been a blessing because if I went to that Commonwealth Games I was going to retire after it, that’s 100 per cent,’’ Dwyer said.

“I just felt like it was not a great way to end it so I kept going.

“I thought London was my last Olympics and I still can’t believe it is a couple of months before Rio and I am still in the program. I am very happy about it.’’

One of Ric Charlesworth’s last duties as Australia coach was to drop Dwyer from the Commonwealth Games team.

“I would not say it was a big shock because I knew he was going to take a young team. I was just really disappointed with the lack of communication and the words in the media Ric used.’’

Dwyer teetered on the brink of retirement but rediscovered his love of the game well away from the highest levels.

Jamie Dwyer rediscovered his zest for hockey away from the highest level.

“I went to New Zealand and played in the Auckland competition and we won and I played in the Perth club competition and we won the grand final,’’ he said.

“I was just having fun playing and it made me feel I could keep doing this.

“Last year was the best year I had ever played. I scored 28 goals in 30 games and really enjoyed it.’’

New Kookabaurras coach Graham Reid challenged Dwyer by saying he would be assessed as if he was a 19-year-old rookie. There were no credit points for a career which included the winning goal in Australia’s Olympic gold medal victory in Athens in 2004.

“I got what he was getting at,’’ Dwyer said.

“If I committed to the team and playing for Australia as much as a 19-year-old, my skills would take care of themselves.

“I felt I had something to prove to myself and that was the first time in 10 or 12 years I had to prove to anyone I was good enough to play.

“I had to prove to myself and my teammates and coaches and people who had written me off because of my age.’’

Originally published as Commonwealth Games misery helped set Kookaburras veteran Jamie Dwyer on path to Rio