By Lorenzo Di-Mauro Hayes
Every Olympics there are a handful events that Australians will be keeping an eye on because the chances of medals is always fairly good, one of those sports is field hockey and for good reason. The men’s team nicknamed the Kookaburras, have finished top 3 ten times including three tournament wins at the world cup, but have struggled at the Olympics games, ten medals but only one gold, in 2004 when Jamie Dwyer won the gold medal match in sudden death extra time. The women’s team nicknamed the Hockeyroos, have won seven world cup medals and two victories back in 1994 and 1998 and three medals all gold in 1988, 1996 and 2000, the Hockeyroos have failed to win an Olympic medal since the Sydney games.
Hockey was in a wonderful place coming into the Olympics before any matches had even been played when Eddie Ockenden was selected alongside Jess Fox as the flag bearers during the opening ceremony. Ockenden is among the most experienced members of the Kookaburras, having debuted back in 2006 but the in the initial stages of his career, he was among the best young players, named the FIH young player of the year in 2008, an award his hero Dwyer won back in 2002. Ockendon now has more than 300 caps for Australia and has been part of many victories moments for the Kookaburras having won the now defunct champions trophy seven times, two world cup wins, four gold medals at the Commonwealth games and three Olympic medals, two bronze and a silver medal from the previous Olympics in Tokyo three years ago, Australia losing the final on penalties 3-2 after the game finished level at 1-1 after 60 minutes.
One of the biggest stories heading to the event was that of Matt Dawson. Just three weeks out from the games, Dawson was accidentally struck on the ring finger of his right-hand during training by a teammate’s stick. The injury was worse than first thought, two-time Olympian Simon Orchard described it as “the worst hockey injury” he had ever seen "In my 25 years involvement in hockey … I have never seen a more gruesome finger injury." As a result, Dawson had a difficult choice to make, he could either let the finger fully recover, which would likely include surgery, which would take four to six months and would therefore not be able to take part in the Olympics, or conversely he could have the top part of the finger amputated, in which case he would be fit to play in Paris. Dawson chose amputation. "I'm definitely closer to the end of my career than the start and, who knows, this could be my last [Olympics], and if I felt that I could still perform at my best, then that's what I was going to do," Dawson said on the matter. "If taking the top of my finger was the price I had to pay, that's what I would do. " "Fingers crossed we get the gold in the end, it's not a really big price to pay then."
The Australian men’s side comes into the Olympics, ranked fourth in the world. In June of this year, Australia won the 2023-24 Men’s FIH Pro League, topping the standings with 13 wins and 3 losses, not only entering the Olympics with great confidence but also earning direct qualification for the 2026 FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup. Striker Blake Govers was brilliant in Pro League matches, playing in 12 of Australia’s 16 matches and scoring on 12 occasions with three goals from general play, eight from penalty corners and one from a penalty stroke, by far and away Australia’s top goal scorer. The Kookaburras are at the Olympics courtesy to a 2-1 series win over New Zealand at the 2023 Men’s Oceania Cup across the ditch in Whangarei, it was the twelfth Oceania Cup victory which keeps Australia’s perfect record in the event, now having won all 12 editions of the event held biannually since 1999, with the expectation of a four year gap between the 2019 and 2023 edition.
Not only will Australia come into this Olympics looking to go one better than the previous Olympics, but the 2023 Men’s FIH World Cup in India, will also being played on their mind, due to the events of the semi-final. After a Govers 58th minute goal that put Australia up 3-2, the Germans scored two goals in the last two minutes to add yet another match onto the list of heartbreaking losses for the Kookaburras alongside the 2002 and 2006 World Cup Final, 2012 Olympics semi-final and of course the aforementioned gold medal match in Tokyo. The Australian team will be headed by Colin Batch, who has been coaching the side since the start of 2017. Batch, himself a former Kookaburra with 175 caps spanning from 1979 to 1990, had previously coached two other national teams, Belgium, and New Zealand. Batch has said he was coming into the event with confidence given Australia’s experience and performance over the last 12 months. “We've learnt a lot this year and developed our game and found solutions through difficult and challenging situations.” He said. “We expect the tournament to be close and we will use our experience and belief to perform well. While we are an experienced team and will draw on that, we also want to embrace and enjoy the challenge of performing at the Olympics. We are excited to be playing in Paris and we will carry that mindset through each game.”
As for the Hockeyroos, they came into the tournament ranked fifth in the world, coming off a disappointing campaign in the Women’s FIH Pro League, finished sixth out of ninth with a record of eight wins and eight losses, but did take scalps against Argentina and Great Britain, the silver and bronze medalist respectively at the 2020 games. The Hockeyroos qualified at the 2023 Oceania Cup also, in the three games played winning two with the other finishing in a draw. Hockeyroos coach Katrina Powell, who was a part of the best generation of the team in the late 1990s and early 2000s, winning three champions trophies, a commonwealth games and World Cup gold as well as two Olympic gold medals including on home soil at the Sydney 2000 games, believed the team was in good shape heading into Paris. “Our squad is in a really good space at the moment.” She said. “They're unified and excited to go. We talk about the history and legacy and how much that intensifies once you get to an Olympics and they're super proud to be representing the Hockeyroos.” The unity comments come after Rosie Malone, who has played 114 caps was not picked in the Olympic team who was controversially not picked for the Olympic side and an appeal to the National Sports Tribunal was dismissed. Malone has since signed with soccer side Gold Coast Knights FC. Controversy has followed the side for the last few years from the team's culture in addition to the shootout in the semi-final of 2022 Commonwealth Games were Australia were gifted a second chance at the start of the shootout due to the eight second countdown clock failing to start, the Australian player who took advantage of the second chance was Malone. The Hockeyroos went on to lose the Commonwealth Games gold medal match.
The event got off to a winning start for both teams. The Kookaburras are in a tough group with Belgium, India, Argentina, New Zealand and Ireland. The first match was against Argentina and after referring an umpire decision, Australia was awarded a penalty corner as the last play in the second quarter and Govers dragged in a goal from the top of the scoring circle into the right corner, giving the Australians a 1-0 lead. The side held out a penalty corner in the last minute, to give the Kookaburras a winning start with a 1-0 win. The Hockeyroos began their campaign against South Africa. In the 14th minute, Kayala De Waal, scored the opening goal of the match, which was the first time the South African women’s team had scored against the Australian women’s team in an Olympic match. Australia found an equaliser very quickly, with Stephanie Kershaw scoring just 15 seconds into the second quarter. Tatum Stewart put Australia in front in the 40th minute and the Hockeyroos claimed a 2-1 win.
Next up for the Kookaburras is two games on back-to-back days against Ireland and Belgium. After a day's break, Australia will take on New Zealand and then India. The Hockeyroos will play their second game in as many days with a matchup against Great Britain. They will then finish the group stage with matches against the United States, Argentina and Spain. The field hockey event is being held at the Stade Yves-du-Manoir, which was the main Olympic stadium for the 1924 Paris Olympics and also hosted the 1938 FIFA World Cup Final. Both the men’s and the women’s tournament are being played under the same format, two groups of six with the top four from each group would qualify for the knockout stage. Teams will need a win a quarter-final and semi-final to get a chance to play off for a gold medal with the semi-final losers locking horns in the bronze medal playoff.
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