Men’s AHL Season Preview
Melbourne, Victoria, is the host city for the 2013 men’s Australian Hockey League and all eyes will be on the State Hockey Centre to see whether anyone can break the Queensland – Western Australia duopoly that has reigned over the men’s competition since 2006.
With a new format featuring two pools of four bringing the competition in line with the structure of major international tournaments such as the Champions Trophy and World League the opportunity is there for another state to step up.
Defending AHL champions Queensland Blades go in as one of the favourites with a squad boasting eight current members of the Kookaburras squad and six of the Australian U21 team, the Burras, currently preparing for December’s Junior World Cup in Delhi.
With experience provided by the likes of five times World Player of the Year Jamie Dwyer, Kookaburras co-captain Mark Knowles, Liam De Young, Rob Hammond and former Australia star Troy Elder the younger members of the squad will not be left lacking in guidance on and off the pitch.
For their part, WA Thundersticks – runners up in 2012 – name six current Kookaburras plus former stars of the national team Grant Schubert and Bevan George. George was named AHL Player of the Tournament in two consecutive years, in 2008 and 2007. With several Australian development and U21 athletes in their ranks expect the Thundersticks to be challenging for top honours towards the end of the week.
In recent years New South Wales Warratahs and Victorian Vikings have come close but neither has been able to take home the top prize. The Victorians, coached by Australia’s most capped player Jay Stacy, welcome three AHL debutants to their ranks this year with Adam Seccull, Casey Hammond and Gordon Zull joining a squad containing the likes of Kookaburras Russell Ford, Chris Ciriello, George Bazeley and Glenn Simpson. The Warratahs are also looking strong for an assault on the 2013 tournament with no fewer than six Australian internationals including last year’s top scorer, Simon Orchard.
Northern Territory’s Territory Stingers finished fifth in the 2012 edition of the competition and will be hoping to push on in the revised format. Nick Lenoir, coach of the young NT team, has called upon three members of the U21 Burras Junior World Cup squad; Jeremy Hayward, Adam Luck and Queenslander Simon Borger, as well as seasoned Kookaburra Joel Carroll for his side’s campaign.
Last season’s eighth placed Southern Hotshots will be hoping to go better in Melbourne and they too have a side containing three Burras athletes with Ed Chittleborough and Cameron Joyce joined in the squad by AHL debutant Matt Pembroke of Queensland. Also lining up for the Southern Hotshots will be Tom Wickham, who made his senior international debut for the Kookaburras against Korea in May and Scott Hughes, for whom the 2013 tournament will be his sixth edition of the AHL. This year’s Hotshots team also contains two New Zealand imports in the shape of Joe Bartholomew and Jacob Smith.
Australian Capital Territory’s Canberra Lakers have named a side brimming with AHL experience with just three players making their tournament debuts in Melbourne. Josh Chivers, James Day and Jordan O’Brien will no doubt be looking to the experience of teammates such as current Kookaburras pair Glenn Turner and Andrew Charter, plus the likes of Iain Davidson, and Matthew and Daniel Hotchkiss, whose AHL careers span a decade.
The Tassie Tigers name just two debutants in a squad that features several players with significant international experience. Ben Rennie and Kurt Mackey are the two Tigers facing the AHL for the first time. At the other end of the scale, Eddie Ockenden, recently returned from a stint playing in the New Zealand Hockey League, was the Player of the Tournament in 2012 and he’s joined by fellow Kookaburras Tim Deavin, Nick Budgeon and Jeremy Edwards. The experienced David Guest, a former Kookaburra, is also included.
The 2013 Australian Hockey League commences from September 27.
– Hockey Australia
