Kookaburras 2024 squad revealed

Four WA-raised hockey stars have been named as part of the 27-player Kookaburras squad brimming with talent selected for the next year of tournaments, starting with season five of the FIH pro League, followed by the highly-anticipated Paris Olympic Games.

James Collins (Perth), Jake Harvie (Dardanup), Tom Wickham (Perth), and Aran Zalewski (Margaret River) have been selected into the extended squad, which also features a plethora of hockey talent that graced WA fields during the 2023 Hockey WA Premier League season.

2023 Premier League Division 1 premiers Hale have representation in Joshua Beltz, Johan Durst and Corey Weyer, who fought his way back into the Kookaburras squad for the first time since 2020 off the back of outstanding performances for Brisbane Blaze in the JDH Hockey One season.

Lachlan Sharp featured for Premier League grand finalists Melville City during the 2023 club season, and Jack Welch comes in after representing Tassie Tigers in Hockey One and a strong Premier League season with Fremantle Cockburn that saw him take home the 2023 Olympian's Medal.

Tom Wickham & Flynn Ogilvie featured for UWA Hockey Club in the Premier League season, Jacob Anderson featured for YMCC, Blake Govers & Aran Zalewski ran out for Reds Hockey Club, Tim Howard featured for WASP, Jake Harvie, Daniel Beale & Joel Rintala featured for Westside Wolves, James Collins, Matthew Dawson & Jake Whetton featured for Victoria Park Xavier, Nathan Ephraums & Jeremy Hayward played for Whitford Hockey Club, and Jayden Atikinson & Craig Marais featured for Old Guildfordians Mundaring.

Head coach, Colin Batch, has stuck with much of the squad named in 2023, following impressive performances by the team, highlighted by their Oceania Cup win against New Zealand in August, which directly qualified the team for the 2024 Olympic Games.

With 13 players having earned over 100 caps for the national side, the squad is full of experience.

“The selection for the team to head to Paris next year is still very open," Batch said.

"Players will need to perform consistently both at training and in matches leading up to the Olympics to secure their position.

"As we discovered this year, there is a fine line between the Kookaburras Squad and the Tier One National Development Squad members and, if required, we will select from the Tier One squad to find our best team for Paris.”

The Kookaburras will kick off the 2024 year with season five of the FIH Pro League to be played from Sunday 11th February – Sunday 25th February, with matches against Spain, the Netherlands, India and FIH Pro League newcomers, Ireland, all to be played in India.

They will then head to Belgium and England for their next season five series against Belgium, Argentina, Great Britain and Germany from Wednesday 29th May – Wednesday 12th June.

All matches will be streamed live and FREE on 7Plus.

The Kookaburras will then look to go one better in Paris after claiming the silver medal at the last summer Olympic Games in Tokyo.

The team has won one gold, four silver and five bronze medals since Australia’s first men’s team competed at the Olympics in 1956.

2024 Kookaburras Squad