Kookaburras and Hockeyroos shine in Birmingham

Hockey in Australia is riding the wave of Commonwealth Games success as Australia’s flagship national men’s and women’s hockey teams, the Kookaburras and Hockeyroos, completed memorable campaigns in Birmingham.

The Kookaburras won gold and the Hockeyroos silver on the final two days of competition, however hockey was front and centre even before the Games commenced.

On the eve of the Opening Ceremony, Kookaburras co-captain Eddie Ockenden was announced alongside squash veteran Rachael Grinham as Australia’s two flag bearers.

Ockenden, Australian hockey’s most capped player who had won three gold medals and never lost a match at the Commonwealth Games coming into the Birmingham tournament, followed in the footsteps of Mark Knowles who carried the Australian flag for the 2018 Gold Coast Games.

Once the attention turned to the action on the pitch, the Kookaburras and Hockeyroos both finished at the top of their pools winning all four of their matches.

Fittingly in the last event to finish at the Games, the Kookaburras solidified themselves as kings of the Commonwealth as they won gold in ruthless fashion, thrashing India 7-0.

It was an emphatic statement from a Kookaburras team that is near on unstoppable when at the peak of their powers. The result continued the Kookaburras’ remarkable record of winning every Commonwealth Games gold medal since men’s hockey was introduced to the Games in 1998.

Colin Batch’s team was untroubled for much of the pool stage in Birmingham. The Kookaburras’ most serious threat coming in the semi final when they found themselves 2-0 down against an inspired host nation before prevailing 3-2.

The Kookaburras had 11 goal scorers at the tournament, led by Blake Govers with seven. They scored a mammoth 39 goals in six matches, underlining their standing as the benchmark of world hockey.

The Hockeyroos return home with a silver medal to go with the bronze medal they won at the FIH Women’s World Cup in Spain two weeks prior to the start of the Commonwealth Games.

This was an outstanding result for a team on the rise, that has come through significant transition over the past year and is forming its own identity as it works towards the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Four players – Renee Taylor, Kaitlin Nobbs, Grace Stewart and Madison Fitzpatrick – each celebrated their 100 game milestones during the first four matches of the pool stage.

After only conceding three goals throughout the World Cup, the Hockeyroos did not have a goal scored against them going into the semi finals in Birmingham.

The resolve and character of this Hockeyroos group, that included 12 Commonwealth Games debutantes, was evidenced in their thrilling semi final win over India that was decided by a shootout.

They fell narrowly short in the gold medal match against an England team playing in their home Commonwealth Games, but as Coach Katrina Powell said after, the Hockeyroos had won a silver medal and was something they should be extremely proud of.

Once again, the Commonwealth Games shone the spotlight on the Kookaburras and Hockeyroos as two of Australia’s most successful national teams. It is a spotlight they deserve to be under more often and more broadly.

Next up on the international scene is the Kookaburras competing at the FIH Men’s World Cup in India in January 2023, before both teams take part in Season 4 of the FIH Pro League.