Silver lining for Hayward amid World Cup disappointment

The Kookaburras may have missed out on a spot on the World Cup podium but defender Jeremy Hayward’s outstanding performance at the tournament was recognised with two individual accolades.

The 29 year old opened the scoring in the bronze medal match against the Netherlands, his ninth of the tournament and the 100th of his international career.

Hayward’s tally saw him finish as the 2023 World Cup’s top goal scorer, while he was also named the Defender of the Tournament.

The night was bittersweet for Hayward and teammate Jake Harvie, who reached their 200 and 100 game milestones respectively in the bronze medal match.

“You never want to lose games…it was a medal match and we walk away with nothing now, so it’s disappointing,” said Hayward.

“There are a lot of things we can take away from this tournament, both negative and positive, so we’ll come together, reflect on it and bounce back.”

“You never set out for those individual accolades (of scoring 100 goals). With penalty corners you need a good push and a good trap…and the team has to win corners as well, so it’s definitely not just an individual effort.”

“I’m proud to get 100 goals…there wouldn’t be too many in that club for Australia. I’m pretty happy to joint that club but in the end it’s bittersweet.”

For Harvie, it was not the ending he was hoping for in his 100th appearance.

“We didn’t end up where we wanted to and that’s disappointing. We pride ourselves on playing well at the end of tournaments and that didn’t happen,” said Harvie.

“It’s very clear to us that we’ve got lots of stuff to work on. We’ve got to process this result and figure out how we move forward from here.”

“It’s an honour to play one just game for the Kookaburras, so to play in my milestone game together with Jeremy is really special.”

“It was disappointing not to get the win but I’m sure I’ll reflect on the milestone with some time and have more of a think about it.”

Germany won the World Cup Final, defeating Belgium in a shootout after the match finished 3-3 at full time.

The Kookaburras will return to Perth and have a short break before their next international matches against Argentina and Spain in the FIH Pro League in Hobart from 28 February – 5 March. Tickets for the matches are available now through Ticketek.