Australian Senior 2023 Indoor Squads announced

This year’s Australia’s Women’s and Men’s Open squads have been selected, while two World Cup veterans and outstanding contributors to the national indoor teams have called time on their careers. 

The national squads are usually announced once the Australian Championships have been held in January. However, Australian Indoor Women’s Head Coach Mark Sandhu and Men’s counterpart Steve Willer intentionally held off selecting the 2023 squads until after the international showpiece event that was held in South Africa last month.

A 31-player women’s squad and 29 men’s players have been selected. The release of the squads also saw the announcement of two retirements.

Emma McLeish (nee Cobbin) and Jake Sherren have called time on their international indoor careers.

McLeish has had an unprecedented career representing Australia at the past four Indoor Hockey World Cups.

"It has been a privilege to have coached Emma over the years,” said Sandhu.

“Her commitment to Australian indoor hockey and especially her team has been fantastic."

Sherren competed at the 2018 IHWC in Berlin and was named captain of the team in South Africa where he scored an impressive hat-trick against Iran.

“Jake has provided invaluable service to Australian Indoor Hockey and has been a vital member of the team”, said Willer.

By waiting until after the World Cup to determine the squads, it gave selectors added time to confirm observations from the Australian Indoor Championships and know if players are interested in extending their desire to compete at an international level.

“Announcing the squad now removed a possible distraction for the IHWC players and team to allow them to focus completely on the World Cup,” said Sandhu.

In announcing the Men’s Squad, Willer said the experience at the World Cup would serve as a serious motivator for his group.

“The 2023 IHWC was very challenging for the team, with Pool B being a tight affair for all teams. Even on the last day of round matches any team in the pool still had a chance of making the quarter finals,” said Willer.

“The team played extremely well, producing some great displays in both attack and defence. Unfortunately despite being strongly competitive in all our matches we were unable to get the points that were needed to progress.”

“We gained valuable international tournament experience in South Africa, something we had been missing over the last three years. The players grew immensely from every match, with the team having nine debutants.”

“The players and team return from South Africa with a desire to learn from the experience and work hard towards the next IHWC and the next opportunity to test themselves against the world’s best on the world stage that is the IHWC."

Both the women’s and men’s programs will have a several camps over the next ten months.

“The 2023 Australian Men’s Indoor Hockey Squad will undertake a comprehensive program to further develop and refine the tactical knowledge, skills and fitness levels required to not only be competitive on the international stage, but to experience performance success as we aim for the next IHWC,” said Willer.

Australian Women’s 2023 Indoor Squad

Australian Men’s 2023 Indoor Squad