Kookaburras veteran Mark Knowles out to avenge disappointment of London and win gold in Rio

FOUR years on from the heartbreak of London 2012, Kookaburras veteran Mark Knowles says his team are leaving nothing to chance in the bid to win gold in Rio.

Mark Knowles is confident Australia can right the wrong from London

HOW do you quantify the pain when you lose an Olympic semi-final from a goal up with just 18 minutes left on the clock? Kookaburras veteran Mark Knowles and his teammates used words such as “shattered”, “numb”, “devastated” and “gutted”.

The all-conquering Australians, ranked No. 1 in the world in London, somehow went to sleep against a dangerous German foe and paid a terrible price.

Little wonder then that Knowles is back to lead this team four years later along with brother-in-law Jamie Dwyer, the oldest Kookaburra chosen for an Olympics.

When we go to the Olympic Games as the Australian men’s hockey team we want to win, we don’t want to get bronze

Knowles

Kookaburras Now Knowles, the world hockey player of 2014, said it was about going to Rio and getting the job done any way possible.

“When we go to the Olympic Games as the Australian men’s hockey team we want to win, we don’t want to get bronze, just make the semis or play off for fifth,” Knowles said.

“I sent every player in the squad a message after the selection memo came out. The most important message I gave was the one I said to those selected, making the team isn’t enough.”

Mark Knowles says the team will not be happy with bronze

“I’m extremely proud. I’ve been selected for a fourth time and it’s something I never thought I’d have chance to do as Rockhampton country boy.”

Knowles, 32, and Dwyer, 37, were both part of the Kookaburras side that swooped to Athens gold in 2004 and believed it was the start of something special.

Dwyer was the wunderkind striker who could score from anywhere and Knowles the commanding defender who stopped every attacking thrust.

The Kookaburras go into the Rio Olympics as gold medal favourites

But since then only a pair of Olympic bronze medal have followed, a triumph for many but crushing disappointment for this pair.

Knowles skipped the recent Champions Trophy when wife Kelly (sister of Dwyer) gave birth to their third child but otherwise his preparation is flawless.

He knows how much an Olympic Games means in the life of an athlete, determined to share that feeling with the team’s six Olympic debutantes.

“I think about myself when I was a 20-year-old, in 2004, and how excited they must be. It’s a lifelong dream coming true.”

Australia’s path through the preliminaries includes clashes against New Zealand, Great Britain, Belgium, Spain and hosts Brazil. The final wrinkle?

In Rio an extra knockout game has been introduced in the form of a cutthroat quarterfinal stage, just another chance to walk the thin line between triumph and despair.

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Originally published as Kookaburras veteran Mark Knowles out to avenge disappointment of London and win gold in Rio