Bryn returns to De Bes-t form after long injury battle

Bryn De Bes has already built himself a storied hockey career at a young age, playing seven years with WASPs and having many trials to overcome, which has left a great tale to tell.

The 24-year-old's hockey journey began at the young age of nine, his biggest influence was his grandfather, who had previously played, and was determined for the boys to follow his path. 

“My Grandfather played hockey for WASPs and also for WA, he was pretty keen on it and got my brother into it as well,” Bryn said.

"He kind of pushed my parents to get me out of soccer and to give hockey a go, from him it definitely started out.”

It is clear to see where his talent began, Bryn attributing his strong passion to his early hockey days.

“I started out the front of my grandparents house, knocking the ball around with his big wooden Kookaburra stick, which they had back in those days, from there my parents got me to start playing with a club,” Bryn said. 

When talking about his youth career and hockey becoming a bigger part of his life, Bryn explained that being the strong player he is today, was not always possible.

“At the start [of playing hockey], I didn't really see myself as a good player," he said.

"Then I thought maybe I would give the state trials a go, around the under-15’s age.

“This is when I started focusing on it a lot more, I was playing AFL for a couple of seasons along with hockey, but around this time I dropped out and focused on hockey.”

Bryn was quick to joke that another reason for him dropping AFL, was due to his "inability to kick straight", but also saw potential in himself at around 14 to 15-years old

From his playing days at East Fremantle and Wesley, it all led up to Bryn’s career playing for WASPs in the All Flags Premier League, one that he talks highly about.

“It has been fantastic, I could not ask for a better club to be at," he said. 

"They were fantastic when I moved over, and the calibre of the playing and coaching group have been really instrumental in providing the opportunity to be a better player.

“When I started there, I remember in one of my first training sessions I must have had six or seven Australian players trying to give me advice and I left with a bit of a 'hockey headache' because I had so much information.”

Bryn's great appreciation for the program and the people around the club were hard to move past, the talented youngster unable to speak a bad word about WASPs. 

“It is a good club to be at with good people around with the playing group and the coaching, with Terry Walsh in my first year and the coaches from him have been fantastic to me.”

In the years he has played with WASPs, not only have the people and environment been supportive, but so has the team, with Bryn having the opportunity to experience three seasons in which the team has made the Grand Final, it has been a rollercoaster of success for sure.

“One of my most thrilling and memorable games would have to be the 2016 Grand Finale, I broke my collarbone five weeks earlier, with a 100 per cent break, and it was broken the whole width of the collarbone," he said. 

“It was a pretty serious break and I managed to get in with the surgeon promptly, and gave myself the best opportunity to get back out.

"I got back out on the park and played in a thrilling Grand Final against Melville.”

Breaking a collarbone is a challenge in itself and coming back from recovery can take a couple of months for many, but Bryn managed to push through after just five weeks and play in one of the biggest games of his career.

“It was testing in the early days, I had three weeks on the sideline just trying rehabbing," Bryn said. 

"Getting the surgery early was good for the bone but coming back had a lot of risks associated with it.

“It was quite severe but I was fortunate to get out and I felt like I didn't lose too much of my touch and didn't lose any confidence going in.

"There was the issue of selection being available, but once we got past that it was full steam ahead and I had to put everything behind me.”

After the hurdles he had to jump and the hardship he overcame, Bryn was faced with the challenges of a Premiership match and after snatching the win, it is a game that he will always remember.

“I really enjoyed that game, playing with some stellar players in the group, with Rob Hammond, Chris Ciriello, KB (Kiel Brown), Trent (Mitton), Josh Miller and had Brett Dancer coaching as well," he said.

"That has to be the biggest highlight of my hockey career.”

After this WASPs hard work during the season paid off, lucky enough to score a second Grand Finals berth in two years, however this time the result went the other way. 

“That [2017 Grand Final] was a loss for us, but it was a funny game, for me I had a tagging role against Tom (TJ) Wickham, when you are focused on one player, the game kind of goes around you, in a sense," Bryn told. 

“I cannot really remember it too much, but I do remember we had a good crack at it and sort of fell short, that might have been the year where Kiel Brown also got injured [during the] final series, that being a setback.

“I remember UWA coming out firing in that game, as they had gone out early in finals series in the previous years, so they were looking for a bit of redemption that year.”

Regardless of the result, it was still a game that Bryn was fortunate enough to play in, compared to the next Grand Final that WASPs played in.

The 2019 Grand Final was the next time the green and gold were donned in the big dance, the side managing to secure the win, but with Bryn stuck on the sideline.

“I ruptured my PCL in the second round of the finals series within the first few minutes of playing against (Westside) Wolves and played through the game without knowing what the issue was," he said. 

“It was a tough one to watch as it was probably the most stressful game of hockey I will ever be involved in, especially not being able to influence it.

"I had a couple of guys next to me, one of them being Lachlan Sampson.

“It was a really good game to watch, we thought we were going to get up early and run away with it, but Hale came out strong and put it to us in the second half.”

While winning a Grand Final is something that every player wants and strives for, it could be a strange feeling to experience from the sideline and overcoming the desperation to be out playing is something Bryn had to overcome.

“It is naturally super tough to be on the sideline for it, but I came to terms with it early on when I felt my knee was no good," he said.

"The day itself was really exciting but the toughest point comes before when you come to terms that you cannot be out there to help influence it.

“It was good for us after not having much success in 2018 and coming back, this was good, but it is an interesting situation of being a part of the group and getting pretty much to the end but then not being able to play in the last game.”

In recent success, Bryn was fortunate to rejoin the Perth Thundersticks squad for 2021, his recent struggles making the taste of success even more sweet. 

“It is really exciting, I had played a couple of years of Thundersticks in 2017 and 2018 but have had a bit of an injury run with my knee and was not fighting fit last year, it is good to come back into it and be around the group is quite pleasing for me," Bryn explained. 

Bryn back in the side is a huge addition for the squad, after earlier this year Bryn put on a stellar performance for the Highlanders 2021 in the Ric Charlesworth Classic.

“I had another opportunity to get out and play some hockey," he said.

"The thing I love about those competitions is you get to go out and play with players that you don’t normally get the opportunity to play with.

“For example, I played with James Day (Melville), obviously I wouldn’t get the chance to play with him in a WA setting as he plays for another club.

"It is fantastic that you get those connections with players from other clubs, and it builds excitement going into the start of the season.”

Through his hockey career Bryn has experienced the highest highs of wins and achievements and the lowest lows of serious injuries, and after fighting back he gave special thanks to those around him that helped the most in his journey.

“WASPs hockey club for when I moved over, Terry Walsh has been invaluable for me with developing my hockey, and the other guys at WASPs being a really great bunch to be with over the past seven years," he said. 

“It would be remiss of me to not mention a couple of the coaches in my junior playing days at Wesley.

"Craig Davies, Ross Meadows and Alistair Park, there was a time where they really developed me and pushed me in the right direction.

“You've got to thank the players that you play with, because if you did not enjoy playing with them then you would not enjoy the game, the players have made the sport enjoyable for me and without them I do not think I could keep playing it.”

You can catch Bryn, who is fighting fit and in form after winning the All Flags Player of the Week in round 3, alongside his team WASPs in the All Flags Premier League. 

By FRASER WILLIAMS