At a time when Hockey India (HI) and Hockey Australia (HA) have joined hands to have a bilateral agreement for the betterment of the sport, the Australians players’ impact on the Hockey India League (HIL) has been unmistakable.
Altogether 11 ‘Kookaburras’ took part in the HIL final played here on Sunday. The champion, Ranchi Rays, featured five Australians — including Tyler Lovell, whose brilliant showing under the bar in the shootouts helped the team lift the title and earned him the man-of-the-match award.
Besides Lovell, Daniel Beale, Nick Budgeon, Fergus Kavanagh and Trent Mitton also played important roles as Ranchi thwarted Jaypee Punjab Warriors.
Warriors was studded with seven present and former Australian stars and coached by Barry Dancer, who played for Australia from 1973 to 1979 and trained the National team from 2001 to 2008.
Even as the legendary Jamie Dwyer missed out on playing the final due to a hamstring injury, penalty corner specialist Chris Ciriello, Keiran Govers, Rob Hammond,Simon Orchard, Jake Whetton and current FIH Player of the Year Mark Knowles kept the Punjab team in the hunt till the end.
According to HA, five Australian players also played in the third place match between Delhi Waveriders and Uttar Pradesh Wizards. Matt Ghodes, Tristan White and Jason Wilson turned out for the Delhi, which finished third, while George Bazeley and Eddie Ockenden played for Uttar Pradesh.
In the overall goal-scorers’ list, the Australians also excelled with six players from various teams scoring two or more goals in the third edition of the league. Ciriello and Dwyer led the tally among their countrymen with four goals apiece.
HA’s commitment to release its players for the HIL’s next three editions, including the one in the Olympic year 2016, will help HI maintain the quality of the competition even as it is planning to expand the league by adding more franchises to its fold.
