Anzac Round I A round of remembrance

Six All Flags Premier League teams will take the field in unforgettable matches on ANZAC Day to commemorate and remember the fallen soldiers and veterans who have served our country on the front-line.

Traditional matches between the Reds and Fremantle men, as well as WASPs and Vic Park men and women will go ahead for the first time since 2019, after COVID-19 pushed the start of the 2020 season back until June. 

Perth Hockey Stadium will host the matches between WASPs and Vic Park, with a ceremony scheduled at 3:30pm between the men’s and women’s games, which will feature Irvin Palmer, a local bugle player from the Salvation Army. 

After the completion of the matches, player of the match will be awarded to the most outstanding on the pitch, along with the winners of the matches being awarded the annual trophy. 

The matches being played at Perth Hockey Stadium will be available for live streaming via Hockey WA’s Facebook and YouTube platforms. 

The women’s match will be played first at 2pm and will see a strong competition after the past years results have seen two wins from WASPs and one from Vic Park. 

Two exciting games were played between the two sides last year, the first match being a 3-0 win to the Panthers, and WASP getting the upper hand 4-1 later in the shortened season.

Following this in the men’s match at 4pm, Vic Park will be looking to repeat the score from its match between the pair last year, which was a 5-1 blowout over the strong WASPs side.

WASPs do have an advantage, as in the past three ANZAC day matches, the team has won two of the matches played, the other being a 3-3 draw. 

This year, for the first time ever Lakelands Hockey Facility will be the home of the match between Old Aquinians and Fremantle Cockburn, with this match being played in previous years at Aquinas Turf.

The Fremantle side will be expected to don a new Indigenous jersey, and club president Tania Smith said it will be a reflection of the area’s heritage.

“The design has been created with the vision of sharing the history and journey of Fremantle Cockburn Hockey Club with our members and the wider hockey community,” she said.

“It is also an opportunity to enhance and embed the story of those who have gone before us, making sacrifices along the way, to create our club.

“It is the hope of the designer Terri Golding, a Noongar women who has been a member of the club for over forty years, that the artwork will encourage conversations about the history of Australia and our first peoples.”

Since 2017, Fremantle has won two of the ANZAC matches between the two sides, with the 2018 match resulting in a 1-1 draw.

However, Reds men’s side are looking to be the favourites this year, after a premiership in 2020, and its current second place position on the 2021 All Flags Premier League Standings.

They’ll be missing dual-premiership coach and 2018 Olympians Medallist Ian Smyth after he sustained a face injury in their match last week against Old Guildfordians.  

Hockey on ANZAC day in Australia has been a tradition to commemorate the day, which signifies the same date that Australian troops landed at Gallipoli in 1915.

For live score updates in the ANZAC Day matches, please click here.