Zalewski and Lovell Set to Tackle Perth Super 9s
Hockey Australia has announced two Kookaburras squads ahead of next week’s International Super Series Hockey 9s tournament in Perth and the Oceania Cup in Taranaki, New Zealand later this month.
WAIS duo Tyler Lovell and Aran Zalewski have earned call ups for both squads, whilst dual Olympian Fergus Kavanagh will join the Australian set-up for Oceania Cup.
The squads feature a number of notable inclusions; amongst them, the return from injury of three-time Olympic medal winning defender Liam De Young (QLD), who hasn’t played for the Kookaburras since the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Some of the game’s biggest names will step out for the innovative 9-a-side International Super Series, which begins next Thursday and will be broadcast on ABC 1.
Five-times World Player of the Year Jamie Dwyer (QLD) makes the squad to face the likes of Pakistan, Argentina and Malaysia. He is joined by the Kookaburras’ leading scorer for the year Russell Ford (VIC) and Tasmanian Eddie Ockenden, who was named as Player of the Tournament at the Australian Hockey League (AHL) on Saturday.
Northern Territory brothers Leon and Jeremy Hayward will team up together at the Hockey 9s with younger brother Jeremy also hoping for a call up to the U21 Burras Junior World Cup squad next week. Another of the Burras’ U21 athletes selected and hoping to make it into the squad for the Junior World Cup in Delhi is Daniel Beale, who comes off the back of a championship winning AHL campaign with the Queensland Blades.
Glenn Turner (ACT), Matthew Butturini (NSW) and Jason Wilson (QLD) return to Kookaburras duty after missing out on the World League in June, while host-state Western Australia will be represented at the Super Series by Aran Zalewski and goalkeeper Tyler Lovell.
Jake Whetton (QLD), Chris Ciriello (VIC), Fergus Kavanagh (WA) and Andrew Charter (ACT) will join up with the Kookaburras for the Oceania Cup but will play no part in the International Super Series. The Kookaburras will face New Zealand’s Black Sticks, Samoa and Papua New Guinea in Taranaki.
Announcing the squads, Kookaburras Assistant Coach Graham Reid, said, “We always look forward to the International Super Series Hockey 9s. It’s an exciting form of the game with a number of rule adaptations we’d love to see included in the 11-a-side version. The Hockey 9s affords us a good opportunity to give local exposure to some of our younger players and, given the expansive attacking nature of the format, to look at the fitness levels of the group.”
Looking ahead to the Oceania Cup, which takes place from 30 October until 3 November, Reid added, “While we’ve already qualified for the World Cup through our World League campaign the Oceania Cup is of vital importance to us given the world ranking points on offer. When it comes to pools and seedings at major FIH events, these are based on your world ranking and given that we’re just behind Germany in the rankings we’re keen to regain the number one spot soon.”
A four day festival of hockey, this year’s International Super Series Hockey 9s will provide something for every member of the family, including a Fans’ Fun Zone where younger visitors will be able to pick up a Hookin2Hockey stick and give the sport a go. And there will be plenty of opportunities to meet the stars of the show, Australia’s Olympian hockey heroes, and the chance to pose for a photo ahead of the Kookaburras’ defence of their world title next year.
– HockeyAustralia
