Gold medal and national reps highlights successful WA Country Championships stint

Published Fri 18 Aug 2023

The WA State Country Men and Women have made the trip back from Shepparton after a successful stint at the Hockey Australia Country Championships, with the men claiming gold in a sensational competition run.

The WA men faced off against the home state side in Victoria and ran way as 1-0 winners in a thrilling contest that was decided by a lone score from Brayden Dalton in the 40th minute.

Men’s head coach Lawrie Tylor was thrilled with his side’s efforts – a team that became a strong unit by the end of the competition.

“I am so very proud of the boys,” Tylor said.

“From getting on the plane and half the group not knowing each other to coming together as a unit, and by the last game still running, competing, scoring and working for each other was amazing.

“I also have to say that a huge part of our performance and success was due to our off-field staff, our physio Sharon was amazing and kept all the boys going.”

The men suffered 6-2 and 3-1 defeats at the hands of New South Wales and Queensland to tart their competition run but turned things around when it mattered most to the back end of their time in Shepparton.

“I feel it wasn’t something specific that inspired any turnaround, we went into the tournament knowing the first couple of games were going to be challenging and we had a relatively inexperienced squad,” Tylor said.

“We knew it was a case of trusting the process and the guys stepped up and accepted the challenge.

“We went to school on our early losses and put plans in place which we executed in the important games of the tournament.”

The WA State Country Women played their hearts out against strong competition, but a last-placed finish didn’t dampen their spirits – it created learning opportunities with hopes of an exciting future ahead for the group.

“Although our results were disappointing, along with our final placing, I believe the ladies showed a lot of growth across the competitions,” Women’s head coach Tenille Yandle said.

“It was great to see a lot of self and team reflection across the week amongst players.

“Lacking confidence was a key pillar in the reasoning behind our results, but having many discussions with players they haven’t lost their drive to continue to improve and bring home better results next year.”

Although the results didn’t go their way, Yandle is excited by the exposure and growth of WA’s regional hockey stars across the competition.

“This event is so special and so important for our country regions to keep promoting,” Yandle said.

“It is only going from strength to strength and although the ladies haven’t had the results we had hoped for over the past few years, it just goes to show we are still having regional players wanting to be part of it and help grow our program.

"We are trying hard behind the scenes to do all we can to keep raising the profile of country hockey - we are such a large part of the hockey community in WA and have so many fantastic players to showcase.”

Off the back of strong showings at the Hockey Australia Country Championships, 12 athletes and one coach were selected in the Australian Open and Under 21 Men’s and Women’s Teams.

For the men, Brayden Dalton, Ky Fisher, Liam Sweeney and Jack Tosana were selected in the Open Men’s side, with Raine Fisher and Fletcher Taylor selected for the Under-21s.

Shona Haynes, Lauren Newman and Meg Snelling made the Women’s Open Team, with Tenille Yandle chosen as head coach of the Under-21s side, alongside her players in Sophie Hallam, Mischa Rodier and Tess Rowling.

“The Hockey Australia Country Championships is only one pillar of achievement for country players to aspire too as they could also be selected into Australia Country Teams," Yandle said.

“These opportunities should be relished when given and earnt.”

Full results from the Hockey Australia Country Championships

Gold medal and national reps highlights successful WA Country Championships stint

SPONSORS

Gallery