Masters hockey: We name our 40 stars from women’s state titles
Masters hockey: With Queensland’s top female players in action at the Hockey Queensland Women’s Masters Championships the play was fast and exciting. From Cairns to Tweed here’s our look at the 40 stars and 115+ photo gallery.
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Toowoomba Hockey Association has earned high praise after hosting Australia’s second largest hockey championships.
“We love coming to Toowoomba,” Hockey Queensland tournament director Brent Brown said.
“The hospitality is fantastic and the facilities between the fields and Club Glenvale are some of the best in the state.
More than 1200 players, officials, volunteers and fans packed Clyde Park and Toowoomba Grammar School for the Hockey Queensland Women’s Masters Championships.
The championships, which are second in size to their New South Wales equivalent, featured teams from Atherton and Cairns in the north to Tweed in the south.
In the Division 1 final Brisbane 1 fought back from a goal down to seal a 2-1 win over Sunshine Coast 1.
SC captain opened Nanette Latta opened the scoring in the 29th minute but her strike wasn’t enough.
Brisbane took home gold thanks to goals from Patricia Hughes and Kylie O’Donohue.
“I just think it was a really gutsy effort from the whole team,” an emotional Belinda Cameron, who co-captained Brisbane, said.
“No of us let our guard down and we just kept staying positive and trying to come back, despite being under the pump for so much of the game.
“We continued to press and press and press, and knew all along that we would be able to claw our way back and score the winning goals.
“Everyone is always against us (Brisbane), so to come from behind at 1-0 down and to do it in the way we did, it means the world to us, I’m just so proud.
“We came here to win and we achieved that; so it’s just such a testament to the team we’ve been able to build year on year.”
An equally emotional Amanda Peach, who was a defensive powerhouse in net, echoed Cameron’s thoughts.
“We settled ourselves down in the second half and we all knew that we were capable of pulling off a comeback as long as we played as a team and not as individuals, which we did to great effect,” the co-captain said.
The Chronicle Sport Team ran the rule over a number teams in action during the championships.
After talking to team coaches, managers and watching games ourselves here’s our 40 women’s masters stars.
CAIRNS 1
Charlotte Salt: A uniquely versatile and talented player, Salt is more often seen in net as a goalie. A true team-player, Salt played the tournament as an outfield player and was very solid in the midfield, even setting up a few goals.
Sonja Noonan: One of the side’s co-captain’s is the heart and soul of the team and does a great job directing her side around the field. A determined and passionate player, Noonan plays in a high-fullback role.
Carliha Brown: A tenacious workhorse in the midfield who always supports her teammates.
Melanie Craig: The team’s organiser in attack and defence. A vocal and positive leader.
TOWNSVILLE 1
Carmel McGill: A composed player that has a great control and influence of the game, the centre-half netted a handful of goals and posed a constant threat in attacking situations.
Katrina Bryson: A skilful individual asked a lot of questions in front of the net. Her skills combined with her workrate off the ball led to her setting up a number of goals for her side.
MACKAY 1
Chane Brits: Playing in her first Masters tournament and the side’s youngest player, Brits really stepped up and showed that she is more than capable of playing at this level.
Ellen Crawford: A veteran among veterans, Crawford has been playing Masters for over a decade, achieving both state and national honours in the process. One of the co-captains, she’s a vocal leader.
Sheree Hinton: The other co-captain, Hinton is also an experienced player that has formed a great partnership with Crawford over the past few years, that has seen her nominated for state honours.
SUNSHINE COAST 2
Kiralee Johnston: Spearheading the attack, Johnston is a goal scoring machine. The Kiwi ex-pat has been plying her trade on the coast for a number of years, had state honours last year and played some ‘beautiful hockey’ throughout the tournament.
Jodie Columbine: A rock in defence, Columbine has been playing hockey all her life. In a sweeper role, Columbine made long passes, splitting her opponents through the centre of the field.
GOLD COAST 1
Tasmin Perry: Constantly working between the lines to create chances and space for her team, Perry was a constant threat in attack.
Sammi Morris: The skipper played her role to perfection, leading by example and supporting her teammates.
BRISBANE 2
Erin Kill: Nicknamed ‘Killer’, and with some impressive body-art, Kill is a towering body on the field, but one of the ‘sweetest human beings’ off it. Playing a roaming midfield role, she is an experienced player, providing the link between defensive and attacking plays.
Anette Wilson: A leader in the side and one of their co-captains, the policewoman has national honours to her name, decades of experience, is ultra competitive, and a level-headed leader.
GYMPIE 1
Melita Lee: Playing upfront as one of the side’s main attacking weapons, Lee constantly applied pressure to the opposing defenders and created space for her teammates to attack.
Claire O’Carroll: Playing in the centres, O’Carroll is a workhorse that consistently cleans up loose balls and shuts down attacking plays with relative ease, creating attacking plays from her defensive efforts.
GOLD COAST 4
Diane Fraser: A true leader and the team’s captain, Fraser has decades of experience that allow her to read the game quickly and direct her troops around the field.
Jessica Taylor: Solid as a rock in defence, Taylor ‘saved’ her side on many occasions through her relentless pressure in one-on-one situations.
TOOWOOMBA 3
Beth Lawrence: A last minute edition to the team, she put her hand up and slotted into the team instantly. Upfront as a striker, she scored a number of goals during the tournament but most notably bagged a double in their grand final victory.
Tracey Page: Captain and a ‘brilliant leader’, who ‘led the girls fantastically’ and wore her heart on her sleeve in every game.
TWEED 1
Lisa Eglington: Near impossible to lock down in defence due to her constant movement around the field.
Bobbie Philip: Held her position out wide well, forcing her opposite number to hug the sideline. The defender also pushed forward in attack.
BUNDABERG 2
Natalie Ferguson: The centre half is not just amazing in defence but a genuine attacking weapon. Scoring a number of clutch goals for her side throughout the tournament she was a key reason they made the final.
Nola Zahn: The team’s fullback and captain, Zahn was ‘outstanding’ throughout the tournament. A gutsy defender that isn’t afraid of putting her body on the line, she was fantastic.
TWEED 2
Lorelle Morrissey: Showed some silky stick skills throughout – regularly driving into the attacking D and troubling opposition defenders.
Zoe Forrester: Worked hard to get her team on the front foot in attack – dribbling at every opportunity and put pressure on her defenders.
BRISBANE 4
Carolyn Martin: Worked hard in defence constantly tracking back to get behind the ball when needed.
Karen Davis: Worked tirelessly in the midfield pushing forward to create space in attack and tracking back in defence.
Bundaberg 1
Susan Kendall: Never stopped working in defence patrolling sideline to sideline in a bid to snuff out opposition attacking raids.
Sunshine Coast 1
Nanette Latta: The captain led by example throughout. A constant threat in attack, especially on set pieces, she showed great composure to score a key goal in her side’s clash with Bundaberg 1 on the first day of the tournament.
REDLANDS 1
Petra West: The captain put all her knowledge and skill to work expertly steering her team around the field.
Robyn Larcombe: Her ability to create and find space led to many goal scoring opportunities.
ROCKHAMPTON 1
Jacquleen Prinsloo: Very active upfront constantly pressuring opposition defenders.
TOOWOOMBA 2
Renee Bidgood: Made plenty of great runs and constantly found pockets of space to work in.
Samantha Richards: Showed great composure to score in her side’s pool game against Maryborough and held her position well in the same game.
Rachael Williams: One of the standout performers against Maryborough scoring two goals.
MARYBOROUGH 1
Naomi Smith: Worked hard in the midfield against a well structured Toowoomba side.
TOOWOOMBA 1
Rebecca Dwyer: The former Hockeyroos star worked hard to present herself as an option in attack constantly moving from the wing to the middle of the field to find space.
Heidi Phillips: Worked hard as ‘link’ between the defensive and attacking lines.
PHOTOS FROM THE TOURNAMENT
Toowoomba 1 (Division 1)
Stalwarts Rachel Macready and Heidi Philips will hold down the midfield.
The star duo are great two-way players doing the hard work in defence and launching attacking raids.
Former Hockeyroos star Bec Dwyer, with her great tomahawk shot, leads a group of extremely talented strikers.
Toowoomba 2 (Division 3)
Look out for Allison Campbell and Rachel Williams on attacking set pieces – the pair are particularly dangerous on penalty corners.
Toowoomba 2 will trouble plenty of opposition’s defences with the likes of Sam Richards and Renee Bidgood setting the tone in what neutral fans would consider ‘aggressive’ mid and striker lines.
Toowoomba 3 (Division 5)
With an experienced and level headed backline Toowoomba 3 will be hard to beat.
Goalkeeper Roslyn Jupp leads a talented defence that includes Toni Cox, Kate Fleming and Wendy O’Brien.
Striker Emily Swann has speed to burn upfront and will be among the goals.
Toowoomba 4 (Division 6)
Jessica Rossow works hard in the circle to make sure she is in the right spot to produce the ‘magic touch’ on goals.
The dynamic attacker will have plenty support behind with Kate Skuse and Amber Tolley tackling hard and driving the ball forward.
Toowoomba 5 (Division 6)
Some of Toowoomba’s longest serving masters players will line up in this side.
Look for Lynda Shiels, Lana Bradshaw and Sandra Rosbrook to set the tone with plenty of hard work and just as much fun.
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