Silver lining for Thundersticks men after Grand Final heartbreak

A silver medal, and a team able to see the silver lining.

The Perth Thundersticks men have returned home from the Sultana Bran Hockey One League finals in Bendigo.

Their luggage containing an extra-special momento.

A scintillating 6-3 win over the Canberra Chill in the semi-final set the tone for what looked to be the fairytale ending to a successful season. 

But Sunday’s grand final was a novel ending in heartbreak, a narrow 2-0 loss to New South Wales Pride. 

Coach David Guest says while the side is disappointed, there are a lot of positives to take out of season 2022. 

“It was definitely a bummer,” he says.

“I think in the final we definitely started well, and we played well for the entire game.

“It was a good tournament overall, we played really well and we started to really execute the way we wanted to.

“We just couldn’t find the back of the net and in the first half, we had more of the play and had the opportunities.

“They just got one against the run of play and then we weren’t able to shut it down after that.”

Regardless of the result, a tournament to be proud of. 

A 5-2 win over the Adelaide Fire to start the season, two consecutive victories thereafter.

A side built on a strong culture and hard work. 

“The team really came together and bonded really well,” Guest says.

“Culturally, it was a really good tournament for us too.

“The guys just really worked hard for each other and we had probably 25 guys training for what was going to be a team picked of 15 each week.

“I think that the bigger squad, and the guys that were turning up and knew they maybe were not going to get a game, really helped the guys to have a good training environment to make the team better.”

A group made up of players of varying experience, but the younger players not shy of standing out. 

Guest says the emerging players had a great competition. 

“They bring some energy and some raw skill and some pace and some hunger,” he says.

“They kept everyone on their toes, and it was great seeing guys like Brodee Foster and Cam Geddes who represented the Australian under-21 side during the tournament, and came back and played really vital roles in the finals.

But a side so fortunate not able to do so without able leadership. 

Guest, hailing from Tasmania, has made a stamp in Australian hockey as a memorable player and a respected coach.

That is no exception in WA. 

The Beijing Olympian says coaching the side has been a rewarding experience, but he’s done it with the assistance of a strong team behind him. 

“The tough part of it is trying to manage a full-time job around being an elite hockey coach,” he says.

“All the coaches of all the teams are putting in a lot of effort and watching a lot of video and working up the game plan.

“But I had a really good support team, and I had Phil Marshall as the assistant coach and Michael Jorgensen as the manager and Zac Betts as our physio who travels with us every week and he kept the boys on the park.”

What is next for the side?

A well deserved reset before turning attention to next year’s glory.

“We will probably have a bit of a rest for the next week or two,” Guest says.

“We have already spoken about catching up in the next few weeks for a review.

“We really want to learn and grow and make sure that in 12 months time we don’t have to relearn these things and can have an even better performance.”