Australia men's national field hockey team

Australia

Nickname	Kookaburras
Association	Hockey Australia
Confederation	OHF (Oceania)
Coach	Colin Batch
Assistant coach(es)	Anthony Potter
Manager	Nathan Eglington
Captain	Aran Zalewski
Home Away
FIH ranking
Current	1 (July 2018)

Australia at the 2008 Olympics

Australia at the 2012 Olympics

The Australia men's national field hockey team (nicknamed the Kookaburras) is one of the nation's most successful top-level sporting teams. They are the only Australian team in any sport to receive medals at the last six Summer Olympic Games (1992–2012). The Kookaburras placed in the top four in every Olympics between 1980 and 2012; in 2016, the Kookaburras placed sixth.^[1] They also won the Hockey World Cup in 1986, 2010 and 2014.

The Kookaburras' inability to win an Olympic gold medal despite their perennial competitiveness, led many in the Australian hockey community to speak of a "curse" afflicting the team,^[2] finally broken in 2004 with the win in Athens.

History

Australia's first men's team competed in an international match in 1922.^[3]

The first major competition won by the national team was the 1983 World Championships held in Karachi.^[4]

Participations

Australia's first men's team competed at the Olympics in field hockey at the 1956 Summer Olympics.^[4]

Australia did not medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics^[5] or the 1988 Summer Olympics.^[6] At the 1992 Summer Olympics, Australia earned a silver medal, losing gold to Germany.^[7] At the 1996 Summer Olympics, Australia finished third, earning a bronze medal.^[8]

The team won their first Olympic gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Barry Dancer coached the side.^[9]

Should Australia win the gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics they will become the first national team in field hockey history to hold all four international titles available to them simultaneously. They would hold titles in the 2012 Olympics, 2010 World Cup, 2011 Champions Trophy and their continental championship (2011 Oceania Cup) at the same time. Along with those four titles Australia also holds the Commonwealth Games title from the 2010 championships.

Tournament records

World Cup[10] Year Host city Position 1971 Barcelona, Spain 8th 1973 Amsterdam, Netherlands – 1975 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 5th 1978 Buenos Aires, Argentina 3rd 1982 Bombay, India 3rd 1986 London, England 1st 1990 Lahore, Pakistan 3rd 1994 Sydney, Australia 3rd 1998 Utrecht, Netherlands 4th 2002 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2nd 2006 Mönchengladbach, Germany 2nd 2010 New Delhi, India 1st 2014 The Hague, Netherlands 1st 2018 Bhubaneswar, India Qualified Champions Trophy[11] Year Host city Position 1978 Lahore, Pakistan 2nd 1980 Karachi, Pakistan 3rd 1981 Karachi, Pakistan 2nd 1982 Amstelveen, Netherlands 2nd 1983 Karachi, Pakistan 1st 1984 Karachi, Pakistan 1st 1985 Perth, Australia 1st 1986 Lahore, Pakistan 2nd 1987 Amstelveen, Netherlands 3rd 1988 Lahore, Pakistan 3rd 1989 Berlin, West Germany 1st 1990 Melbourne, Australia 1st 1991 Berlin, Germany 4th 1992 Karachi, Pakistan 2nd 1993 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 1st 1994 Lahore, Pakistan 4th 1995 Berlin, Germany 2nd 1996 Madras, India 6th 1997 Adelaide, Australia 2nd 1998 Lahore, Pakistan 3rd 1999 Brisbane, Australia 1st 2000 Amstelveen, Netherlands 5th 2001 Rotterdam, Netherlands 2nd 2002 Cologne, Germany 5th 2003 Amstelveen, Netherlands 2nd 2004 Lahore, Pakistan – 2005 Chennai, India 1st 2006 Terrassa, Spain 4th 2007 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2nd 2008 Rotterdam, Netherlands 1st 2009 Melbourne, Australia 1st 2010 Mönchengladbach, Germany 1st 2011 Auckland, New Zealand 1st 2012 Melbourne, Australia 1st 2014 Bhubaneswar, India 3rd 2016 London, United Kingdom 1st 2018 Breda, Netherlands 1st World League[12] Year Round Host city Position 2012–13 Semifinal Rotterdam, Netherlands 2nd Final New Delhi, India 4th 2014–15 Semifinal Antwerp, Belgium 1st Final Raipur, India 1st 2016–17 Semifinal Johannesburg, South Africa 3rd Final Bhubaneswar, India 1st Commonwealth Games[13] Year Host city Position 1998 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 1st 2002 Manchester, England 1st 2006 Melbourne, Australia 1st 2010 New Delhi, India 1st 2014 Glasgow, Scotland 1st 2018 Gold Coast, Australia 1st Pro League[14] Year Host city Position 2019 TBD Qualified

Olympic Games[15] Year Host city Position 1908 London, United Kingdom – 1920 Antwerp, Belgium – 1928 Amsterdam, Netherlands – 1932 Los Angeles, United States – 1936 Berlin, Germany – 1948 London, United Kingdom – 1952 Helsinki, Finland – 1956 Melbourne, Australia 5th 1960 Rome, Italy 6th 1964 Tokyo, Japan 3rd 1968 Mexico City, Mexico 2nd 1972 Munich, Germany 5th 1976 Montreal, Canada 2nd 1980 Moscow, Soviet Union N/A 1984 Los Angeles, United States 4th 1988 Seoul, South Korea 4th 1992 Barcelona, Spain 2nd 1996 Atlanta, United States 3rd 2000 Sydney, Australia 3rd 2004 Athens, Greece 1st 2008 Beijing, China 3rd 2012 London, United Kingdom 3rd 2016 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 6th 2020 Tokyo, Japan TBD 2024 Paris, France TBD 2028 Los Angeles, United States TBD Oceania Cup[16] Year Host city Position 1999 Brisbane, Australia 1st 2001 Melbourne, Australia 1st 2003 Christchurch & Wellington, New Zealand 1st 2005 Suva, Fiji 1st 2007 Buderim, Australia 1st 2009 Invercargill, New Zealand 1st 2011 Hobart, Australia 1st 2013 Stratford, New Zealand 1st 2015 Stratford, New Zealand 1st 2017 Sydney, Australia 1st 2019 Rockhampton, Australia Qualified Sultan Azlan Shah Cup[17] Year Host city Position 1983 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 1st 1985 Ipoh, Malaysia – 1987 Ipoh, Malaysia – 1991 Ipoh, Malaysia – 1994 Penang, Malaysia 3rd 1995 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – 1996 Ipoh, Malaysia 2nd 1998 Ipoh, Malaysia 1st 1999 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – 2000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – 2001 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 3rd 2003 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – 2004 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 1st 2005 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 1st 2006 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2nd 2007 Ipoh, Malaysia 1st 2008 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – 2009 Ipoh, Malaysia – 2010 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 3rd 2011 Ipoh, Malaysia 1st 2012 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – 2013 Ipoh, Malaysia 1st 2014 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 1st 2015 Ipoh, Malaysia 2nd 2016 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 1st 2017 Ipoh, Malaysia 2nd 2018 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 1st

Team

Current roster

The following is the Australia squad for the 2018 Champions Trophy in Breda, Netherlands.^[18]

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club
8	GK	Johan Durst	(1991-03-18) 18 March 1991 – Canterbury, VIC	0	VIC Vikings
24	GK	Tyler Lovell	(1987-05-23) 23 May 1987 – Perth, WA	75	WA Thundersticks
4	DF	Jake Harvie	(1998-03-05) 5 March 1998 – Dardanup, WA	27	WA Thundersticks
7	DF	Jeremy Edwards	(1991-12-23) 23 December 1991 – Hobart, TAS	54	Tassie Tigers
16	DF	Tim Howard	(1996-06-23) 23 June 1996 – Wakerley, QLD	15	QLD Blades
20	DF	Matthew Swann	(1989-05-16) 16 May 1989 – Mackay, QLD	165	QLD Blades
32	DF	Jeremy Hayward	(1993-03-03) 3 March 1993 – Darwin, NT	78	NT Stingers
1	MF	Lachlan Sharp	(1997-07-02) 2 July 1997 – Lithgow, NSW	18	NSW Waratahs
2	MF	Tom Craig	(1995-09-03) 3 September 1995 – Lane Cove, NSW	28	NSW Waratahs
11	MF	Eddie Ockenden	(1987-04-03) 3 April 1987 – Hobart, TAS	284	Tassie Tigers
17	MF	Aran Zalewski	(1991-03-21) 21 March 1991 – Margaret River, WA	106	WA Thundersticks
22	MF	Flynn Ogilvie	(1993-09-17) 17 September 1993 – Wollongong, NSW	50	NSW Waratahs
23	MF	Daniel Beale	(1993-02-12) 12 February 1993 – Brisbane, QLD	96	QLD Blades
12	FW	Jake Whetton	(1991-06-15) 15 June 1991 – Brisbane, QLD	123	QLD Blades
13	FW	Blake Govers	(1996-07-06) 6 July 1996 – Wollongong, NSW	38	NSW Waratahs
14	FW	Aaron Kleinschmidt	(1989-10-01) 1 October 1989 – Melbourne, VIC	18	VIC Vikings
25	FW	Trent Mitton	(1990-11-26) 26 November 1990 – Perth, WA	102	WA Thundersticks
29	FW	Tim Brand	(1998-11-06) 6 November 1998 – Chatswood, NSW	0	NSW Waratahs

The remainder of the 2018 national squad is as follows:^[19]

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club
30	GK	Andrew Charter	(1987-03-30) 30 March 1987 – Canberra, ACT	122	Canberra Lakers
	DF	Joshua Simmonds	(1995-10-04) 4 October 1995 – Ringwood, VIC	0	VIC Vikings
3	DF	Corey Weyer	(1996-03-28) 28 March 1996 – Biggera Waters, QLD	14	QLD Blades
6	DF	Matthew Dawson	(1994-04-27) 27 April 1994 – Killarney Vale, NSW	71	NSW Waratahs
10	DF	Joshua Beltz	(1995-04-25) 25 April 1995 – Hobart, TAS	28	Tassie Tigers
18	DF	Tristan White	(1990-07-11) 11 July 1990 – Wollongong, NSW	102	NSW Waratahs
27	FW	Kieran Govers	(1988-02-09) 9 February 1988 – Wollongong, NSW	116	NSW Waratahs
5	FW	Tom Wickham	(1990-05-26) 26 May 1990 – Morgan, SA	12	WA Thundersticks
26	FW	Dylan Wotherspoon	(1993-04-09) 9 April 1993 – Murwillumbah, NSW	70	QLD Blades

Family

Barry Dancer/Brent Dancer and Ric Charlesworth/Jonathan Charlesworth are two pairs of father as coach and son as player while both were affiliated with the national team in those positions.^[9][20]

Recognition

• 1981 - Australian Sport Awards Team of the Year^[21]
• 1987 - Australian Sport Awards Team of the Year^[21]
• 2004 - Australian Sport Awards International Team of the Year^[21]
• 2014 - AIS Sport Performance Awards Team of the Year.^[22]

References

External links

• Official website
• FIH profile