By Caden Helmers
A return to the Canberra Strikers has made Australian star Anna Flanagan rediscover her love of hockey.
Flanagan has played a key role in the opening stages of Canberra's Australian Hockey League campaign as the Strikers edge towards a semi-final appearance.
Hockeyroo Anna Flanagan is learning to love hockey again.Credit: Redbull
Flanagan made her return in a pre-tournament practice match after missing the Hockeyroos' disappointing Olympic showing due to suspension stemming from a drink-driving charge.
Walking into a group where laughter is a given has left the 24-year-old feeling grateful for the opportunity to enjoy herself in ACT colours again.
"It's such a good feeling," Flanagan said.
"I haven't played for a little while and playing with girls I grew up with, it makes you discover why you love playing again.
"This group of girls, they really bring the best out of each other."
The Strikers dropped their tournament opener in a 4-1 loss to hosts Western Australia but had no time to dwell on it given the condensed nature of the tournament.
A 3-1 victory over New Zealand was backed up by a four-goal shutout of Tasmania to put the Strikers within touching distance of the semi-finals.
"It's a strange format, but if we win our next two games we're looking at a semi-final berth," Flanagan said.
"It was a really mixed bag of results yesterday, so anyone can make it at this stage.
"We lost our first game which made it a bit difficult, but we've had two pretty solid wins now and we've got South Australia and Queensland, so they'll be pretty tough."
Four sides are locked in a battle for pool A's top two spots – one of which is defending champions Queensland, tied with Canberra on goal difference.
Flanagan is confident Canberra can take points off the heavyweights in what shapes as do-or-die clash leading into the finals.
"They've always been really strong in the finals for a long time," Flanagan said.
"But we played a practice game against them and it was really close and we performed probably a lot better than we had last year."
Canberra striker Laura Grey is sitting equal-first on the leading goal-scorers list having found the back of the net three times in the last two games.
Flanagan praised Grey's work, saying she has a "pretty big career ahead of her".
The Strikers now turn their attention to what looms as a must-win clash against South Australia if they are to progress to the business end of the competition, before rounding out the pool stages against Queensland.