Hockeyroos and Queensland stars form Toowoomba Hockey squad

HOCKEY GREATS: THA names special centenary squad

Hope Munro in action for the Hockeyroos against Korea. Picture: News Limited

HOCKEY: Naming a “greatest of all time” team is no easy task.

Combing through nearly 100 years of history including a generation of female players that dominated the Australian hockey landscape makes the task even harder.

Despite the enormity of the task, Toowoomba Hockey Association has put on its thinking caps and named a “great team”.

The Chronicle spoke to Pam Low who was part of the THA selection panel about their selection criteria and the difficulty of the task.

“It wasn’t easy naming this squad,” Low said.

“There have been so many great players from Toowoomba. We could’ve picked three or four different teams.

“There were a few names we all agreed on straight away, any of the girls who played for the Hockeyroos had to be there, and then after that we had some lengthy discussions.

“After the Hockeyroos players, we looked at girls who played for the (Queensland) Scorchers, Australia under-21s and other representative teams.

“A few young girls currently showing plenty of promise were mentioned, but we thought it best to leave them off in favour of players who have performed and played for a longer time.

“In the end, we decided to think of it as more of a best 18 players not necessarily the 18 greatest players ever.”

Here are Low’s thoughts on a few players who shaped Toowoomba, Queensland and Australian hockey.

Nikki Hudson

Hudson played 303 matches for Australia – second only to Madonna Blyth.

The striker featured in three successive Olympic Games and is often considered among the Hockeyroos’ greatest ever players.

“Nikki was a marvellous player,” Lowe said.

“Even at young age you could tell she was something special.

“If she could’ve played six times a day she would have.

“She was dedicated and hungry to learn and improve at every opportunity.”

GAMES STAR: Karen Robinson in action for Australia against Malaysia at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England. Picture: News Limited

Karen Robinson

“Like Nikki, you could see that Karen was going to be special player from a very young age.

“She had that same thirst for knowledge and desire to improve.”

Robinson played 271 tests for and scored 49 goals.

Hope Munro

“The thing I remember most about Hope is she was always running. Running at training, in games, she ran and ran.

“She matured as a player a little bit later than the likes of Nikki and Karen, but she was equally as talented.”

Brown played 133 times for Australia and scored 33 goals.

THE FULL LIST: Goalkeepers Hayley Finne (Childs), goalkeeper Nikki Rolleston, Fay Denny, Pat Ibell (Luke), Penny Eiser (Graham), Nikki Hudson (Mott), Angie Lambert (Skirving), Karen Robinson (Smith), Hope Munro (Brown), Suzie Tiverios (Faulkner), Renae Holmes (Vanschagen), Rebecca Dwyer (Reuter), Cathy Neilsen (Ibell), Susie Marcossen (Fox), Katlin Marks, Katrina Houghton (Paterson), Emma Burkett (Paterson), Prue Gayler (Eiser)