Kookaburras star Eddie Ockenden disappointed hockey axed from Commonwealth Games

The decision to cull hockey from the Commonwealth Games will deny one of Australia’s greatest players a fairytale finish to his international career, but he’s eyeing a “bigger event”.

PARIS, FRANCE - JULY 26: Jessica Fox and Eddie Ockenden, Flagbearers of Team Australia, wave the flag on the athletes' parade team boat along the River Seine during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on July 26, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Quinn Rooney / POOL / AFP)

The slimmed-down version of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2026 has almost certainly cost Tasmanian hockey legend Eddie Ockenden his shot at a final gold medal for the Kookaburras.

In a shock to the sport Australia has dominated for decades, hockey was one of 12 sports axed from the cut-price Glasgow Games, along with the Rugby Sevens and cricket.

The rescued Games will run with 10 sports after Glasgow saved the competition from pending extinction following Victoria’s decision to turf the popular event, costing its taxpayers a $589m get-out bill.

Ockenden, 37, has played at the past four Commonwealth Games in Delhi 2010, Glasgow 2014, Gold Coast 2018 and Birmingham 2022, Australia winning gold at all four.

The popular Tasmanian was disappointed but resigned to the fact that hockey would not be played at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

“It would be better if it was but it’s not, and we can’t do anything about it,” he said.

The flag bearer for Australia at the Paris Olympic Games in July, “Ocky” missed out on a medal when Australia was bundled out of contention in the quarter-finals with a 0-2 loss to The Netherlands.

Ockenden said the next Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028 was too far away.

But he could still be playing in green and gold in 2026, if his body and selections aligned.

The focus will be on the World Cup in The Netherlands in August, 2026, which will reduce some of the sting from the loss of Commonwealth Games representation.

“The World Cup is on that year, and the Commonwealth Games is a great event but the World Cup is a much bigger hockey event,” he said.

Ockenden already has World Cup gold from wins in New Delhi in 2010 and The Hague in 2014, a bronze from 2018 Bhubaneswar (India) in 2018, while the Aussies finished fourth at the last World Cup in 2023, also in Indian.