Olympics 2024: Hockey star Rosie Malone claims Hockeyroos coach Katrina Powell was biased in snub
Dumped Hockeyroo Rosie Malone complained coach Katrina Powell was biased against her and did not high five her like other players as part of a failed appeal of her controversial Olympic axing.
Dumped Hockeyroo Rosie Malone complained national team coach Katrina Powell was biased against her and did not high five her like other teammates as part of a failed appeal of her controversial Olympic axing.
Malone, 26, disputed her shock omission from the Paris squad on grounds the decision was unreasonable and showed a bias against her, selectors had not correctly applied official selection criteria and she was set up for failure by feedback from Powell.
Malone also argued the governing body’s selection methodology was ‘fundamentally flawed’ because it excluded prior form and discriminated against fit players.
But single-person National Sports Tribunal panel member Scott Ellis dismissed the Queenslander’s claims in ruling Hockey Australia acted in accordance with its selection guidelines and did not show bias against her.
Malone’s submission to the tribunal, published on Thursday, alleged a decision on her Olympic fate had been made before the May-June FIH Pro League tour of Europe but Ellis found the 114-cap international was informed of what she needed to do to make the Paris squad prior to that tournament.
She took issue with a lack of positive feedback from Powell, “specifically complained about Ms Powell not high fiving her” as she did other players on the team, and claimed she was misled by the national team coach when asked to focus on passing more.
Malone interpreted Powell’s feedback to mean she should focus on distributing in favour of scoring goals, whereas Ellis ruled the two were not mutually exclusive in her role.
“As a striker in the national team, she would have been expected to do both,” Ellis, who conceded the relationship between coach and player was likely “less positive” than those with other Hockeyroos, wrote.
“There is, in any event, no evidence that the feedback was not given in good faith for the purpose of improving the performance of the team as a whole.
“I do not accept that it was given for the purpose of ‘setting up’ Ms Malone.”
Ellis found the national team’s selection panel, featuring Powell, assistant coaches Jeremy Davis and Hugh Purvis and independent chair Rechelle Hawkes — a three-time Olympic gold medallist who is one of the sport’s most respected figures — acted in accordance with its selection policy, which has a central goal of achieving ‘the highest competitive results at the Games’.
“Three of the four members of the panel are HA coaching staff. It must be anticipated that they will inevitably come to the task of selection with a history of dealing with the athletes vying for nomination,” Ellis wrote in his decision.
“The independent chair (Hawkes) has no doubt been nominated because of her long involvement with the game.
“The merits of all athletes would have been discussed by the panel as a whole. There is no suggestion that the other members of the panel were personally involved in conduct demonstrating bias against Ms Malone.
“It would be difficult in these circumstances for one member of the panel to pursue a personal grudge against Ms Malone.”
In choosing its attacking line for the Olympics, selectors identified the need for two specialist strikers and relied partially on a weighted system taken from games played between February and June this year, with Malone among nine players assigned points for penalty corners, goal shots and goals scored.
Ellis found that, although Malone accumulated more points than fellow strikers Alice Arnott and Grace Stewart, their averages were higher than Malone’s, as were those of attacking midfielders Steph Kershaw and Brooke Peris.
Malone submitted the methodology was flawed because it excluded prior form, discounted other metrics like back-tackling and intercepts, and it discriminated against fit players, as Stewart, Arnott and Perris had played fewer games due to injury.
Selectors formed the view Malone was behind Stewart and Arnott in ‘physicality in and around the circle’.
Several former Hockeyroos, including goalkeeping great Rachael Lynch, sisters Madison and Savannah Fitzpatrick, Kalindi Commerford and Laura Barden made submissions on Malone’s behalf.
Kershaw made a submission supporting HA.
Malone leant on her achievements as a former Olympian, dual-World Cup competitor and high-level 2023 performance, where she was named in the top five players in the world by FIH and led the Hockeyroos in scoring.
Malone returned to HA’s high performance unit in Perth on Monday, July 8, and Code Sports has been told she will be considered for future Hockeyroos appearances.
Earlier this month, she posted an emotional video to Instagram and addressed her selection heartbreak.
“I’ve kept my head down, worked hard and done everything my coaches asked me to do this year, even to the point of changing my natural game ‘for the good of the team’,” she wrote in the post.
“Despite what’s happened, I really do wish my teammates every success at the Games.”
The move to leave the feisty goal machine out divided the Australian hockey community and gave rise to questions about the culture within the Hockeyroos squad.
That was met with a show of solidarity from 20 of the 22 Hockeyroos, who co-signed a public statement, addressing those claims.
Hockey Australia chief executive David Pryles said every effort had been made to ensure the Hockeyroos returned with a medal, which was reflected by the robust selection process.
“Ensuring we have a robust and fair selection process and policy has been one of the top priorities in our campaign for the Paris Olympic Games,” Pryles said.
“As part of this, all of our efforts have been, and remain, focused on delivering the best prepared athletes and teams to the Games, with the best chance of bringing home a medal.”
Code Sports attempted to contact Malone.
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