Australian Men’s Indoor World Cup Squad announced

After an action packed four-days of indoor hockey, the Australian Men’s Indoor Hockey World Cup Squad has been selected.

Teams from across the country competed in the Australian Open Men’s National Indoor Hockey Championship, held in Unanderra NSW from 4-7 January 2020.

The standard was exceptionally high with the level of competition highlighting why Australia is cementing itself as a strong competitor on the international indoor hockey scene.

From the championships, a squad of 25 has been selected comprising players from the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia.

“The time put into developing the Australian style of play and individual players over recent years has shown fantastic results,” said Steve Willer, Australian Men’s Indoor Hockey Head Coach.

“In particular the training camps and tours to Austria and Russia last year have elevated players’ skills, understanding and performances to a whole new level.”

“It is a strong squad of players with the right mixture of experience and talent. There are three players in the squad who will be looking to secure their place in the team and play at their third Indoor Hockey World Cup, and ten players from the team that performed extremely well at the last Indoor Hockey World Cup in Berlin.”

Heath Ogilvie, Thomas Sinclair and Ben Rennie all represented Australia at the 2015 and 2018 Indoor Hockey World Cups and offer a significant level of experience to the squad.

Current Australian Men’s Development Squad players Jack Hayes and Jake Sherren both played pivotal roles for the team in Berlin in 2018.

In addition, Aidan Campbell, James Knee, Luke Noblett, Troy Rossiter and Troy Sutherland played in the 2018 Indoor Hockey World Cup.

“We have had a number of players take the opportunities to tour to Austria and Russia late last year and they have come back stronger, faster and more tactically aware,” said Willer.

“This has significantly increased the strength and depth of players within the Australian Men’s Indoor Hockey program and created a very competitive selection environment.”

Brady Anderson, Josh Gregory, Brendan Hill, Brandan Horner, Daniel Jolliffe, Josh Mayo, Heath McDonald, Zach Meaden, Thomas Miotto and Matthew Tate all travelled to Europe last year and competed in tournaments in Austria and Russia.

Players will attend an intensive three-day selection camp in August 2020, where the final team of 12 will be selected to represent Australia at the Indoor Hockey World Cup.

At present, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) has not announced the details of the next Indoor Hockey World Cup, but it is anticipated it could take place as early as February 2021.

The Australian Men’s Team had its best-ever performance at the 2018 Indoor Hockey World Cup, finishing second in their pool and eventually finishing fourth overall, going down in the bronze medal match to Iran.

Australia has competed in every Indoor Hockey World Cup, which has been held five times since 2003.

The Australian Men’s Indoor Hockey Team will be aiming to improve on its 2018 performance and earn a spot on the podium.

Australian Men’s Indoor Hockey World Cup Squad

ANDERSON, Brady (NSW)
CAMPBELL, Aidan (QLD)
GREGORY, Josh (NSW)
HAYES, Jack (NSW)
HILL, Brendan (ACT)
HORNER, Brandan (NSW)
JOLLIFFE, Daniel (NSW)
KNEE, James (VIC)
MAYO, Joshua (NSW)
MCDONALD, Heath (VIC)
MEADEN, Zach (VIC)
MIOTTO, Thomas (NSW)
NOBLETT, Luke (NSW)
OGILVIE, Heath (NSW)
RENNIE, Ben (WA)
ROSSITER, Troy (QLD)
SHERREN, Jake (VIC)
SINCLAIR, Thomas (VIC)
STAINES, Ben (ACT)
STAINES, Jake (ACT)
STEWART, Nathanael (NSW)
SUTHERLAND, Troy (ACT)
TATE, Matthew (WA)
TAYLOR, Jared (QLD)
WILLIE, Jackson (QLD)

*Squad selected from 2020 Australian Men’s National Indoor Hockey Championship, Unanderra NSW, 4-7 January 2020. The squad will attend a 3-Day Selection Camp from Friday 14-16 August 2020. From the selection camp the Australian Men’s Indoor Hockey World Cup Team (12 players) will be selected.