Hockeyroos Finish Sixth at World League

The Hockeyroos have had to settle for sixth place at the World League in Rosario after going down 1-0 to the Netherlands on Sunday morning.

Pleased with the Hockeyroos’ performance against a strong Dutch side, Head Coach Adam Commens believed the girls created good opportunities in what he thought was a fairly even contest.

“This was one of our best performances of the tournament. We really created a lot of chances against the Dutch, it was probably the best we have played against them and we were unlucky to not get a result, however, I’m really happy with our performance all round.

“There are certainly some details that we need to work on in terms of capitalising on the opportunities that we create, but ultimately what we’re doing for 90% out on the pitch we have made big steps forward. We have exposed a number of new players throughout this year and what we saw today was that our players are well and truly up to this level.”

Speaking about the public announcement of the Hockeyroos’ Olympic training squad later this month, Commens added, “We now have a much better idea about the players that we would like to have in that squad. It’s important that we create an environment that is highly competitive, which we now have with 27 players that are all capable of playing high level international hockey. I will be really satisfied with the group that we announce in less than a week.”

The Hockeyroos managed to create themselves some valuable opportunities in the first half against the Netherlands, however, it was ultimately their execution in the circle that failed them against a world class defence.

The Australian World League squad featured two WAIS scholarship athletes, with Ashleigh Nelson and Kathryn Slattery both members of the Hockeyroos team.

-HockeyAus