Next-gen Kookaburras and star-studded action dominate the talking points of round two of the Liberty Hockey One League.
Here’s how your team fared with everything you need to know after the second round.
CANBERRA CHILL
A sensational debut from 21-year-old Dylan Brick has seen the Canberra Chill skyrocket three points clear at the top of the men’s standings after a dominant display saw them beat Adelaide 6-2 on Friday night. Brick put the competition on notice with a hat-trick in his very first Liberty Hockey One League match as Canberra went on to remain unbeaten after two matches. Just being on the pitch playing hockey is undoubtedly a win for Dylan who has had a tough career with double knee injuries and the Chill are happy to see him straight back to his known best as they cement their status as the tournament favourites before a huge clash against the defending champs, Brisbane Blaze this weekend.
It was a double win for the home crowd in the nation’s capital, as the Chill women opened proceedings with a 4-2 win over Adelaide to sit equal second in the standings alongside the defending champions Blaze. They opened with an electric pace to catch Adelaide napping in what was a 6-goal opening quarter frenzy on a stormy night. It was an impressive performance that saw hard work and dedication following their seven-goal loss to the Perth Thundersticks pay off as they recovered their season early. A fiery highly-anticipated clash awaits this weekend when the Chill face the title holders Blaze in Brisbane.
ADELAIDE FIRE
After a narrow shootout loss in round one, the Adelaide Fire women were determined to bounce back against Canberra, who were also returning after a brutal seven-goal loss to the Perth Thundersticks in the opening round. Canberra caught Adelaide on the back foot at home, delivering a goal-scoring frenzy that saw Adelaide down 2-4 at the first quarter break. But they recovered to put on a more promising performance. They’ll need to step it up against the Tassie Tigers on Sunday in Adelaide, to put some much-needed points on the board.
A storm delay and a bit of controversy marked a dramatic opening men’s match between Adelaide Fire and Canberra in the capital, with Adelaide left to rue a few early calls that could’ve seen the game play out a lot closer than the eventual 2-6 result. Coach Jethro Eustice will be pleased with his goal scorer Landon Morley who notched another to sit fourth on the leading goal scorers charts but it’s goalkeeper Jed Snowden who is continuing to make his presence known as he stakes his claim for a spot in the Kookaburras set up.
“We are all waiting to hear the news of a new head coach and I think Jed, with the two rounds and performances he has put together, has pushed for contention in the Australian team,” Eustice said.
“He has allowed us to stay in the contest for longer and produced some high quality keeping.”
CANBERRA CHILL WOMEN: 4 (Naomi Evans 3’ & 3’, Ellie Rayer 4’ & 4’)
ADELAIDE FIRE WOMEN: 2 (Miki Spano 4’, Casey Crowley 10’)
OCT 18, National Hockey Centre, Canberra
CANBERRA MEN: 6 (Dylan Brick 3’, 39’, 44’, Kaito Tanaka 11’, Gary Backhus 33’, Aiden Dooley 59′)
ADELAIDE FIRE MEN: 2 (Landon Morley 23’, Daniel Sibbald 54’)
OCT 18, National Hockey Centre, Canberra
NSW PRIDE
In eager anticipation for the clash of the round, a sell-out Newcastle crowd packed the grounds to witness their Pride come up against the defending champs Brisbane as they launched their 2024 title defence. The Pride pulled out all stocks for the clash, with Hockeyroos powerhouse goalscoring prowess of Alice Arnott and Grace Stewart combining against Rosie Malone and Savannah Fitzpatrick for the Blaze. The Pride were hit with illness, losing Greta Hayes a day before the game, while their star Hockeyroos captain Mariah Williams played on despite having been sick during the week. NSW welcome a bye in round three to regroup and build before taking on Melbourne in round four.
The men delivered for the crowd in the second match, as Miles Davis delivered a hat-trick to secure a tight 3-2 win over the champions. Hometown hero Ky Willott enjoyed his home appearance as he returned to the League and helped NSW score points. They bounce back from a round one loss and sit in a tie for 3rd on the standings with HC Melbourne, whom they’ll face in round four after this week’s bye.
BRISBANE BLAZE
Our defending champions the Brisbane Blaze kicked off their Liberty Hockey One season with a blockbuster in Newcastle to show the competition they are the favourites to watch and they certainly started to make a claim. Opting for the ‘if it’s not broke don’t fix it’ approach, the Blaze returned with a largely unchanged squad, except for Hockeyroos defender Renee Taylor. Fresh off the Paris 2024 Olympic campaign, Renee announced her retirement from the national side before playing for the Blaze for the first time in five years. Her return made an impact, with her love for hockey evident as Madison and Kendra’s Fitzpatrick-hat-trick ultimately saw them run away with an opening 3-2 win over NSW.
A tight affair followed in the men’s match, which didn’t go the way of the champions as NSW led 3-1 for most of the match. Failing to record any points and after a first-round bye, Brisbane look to be trailing towards the back of the pack in 6th place on the standings but it’s early days and having been hampered by widespread player unavailability, coach Darren Fowler will be eagerly awaiting a late-season revival, when Kookaburras Corey Weyer, Tim Howard and Jake Whetton all return from playing in Europe. In the short term, Fowler will be happy to have kiwi import Scott Boyde back for this week’s clash against table-toppers Canberra.
NSW PRIDE WOMEN: 2 (Lucinda Preeo 18’ & 44’)
BRISBANE BLAZE WOMEN: 3 (Madison Fitzpatrick 19’ & 21’, Kendra Fitzpatrick 21′)
OCT 19, Newcastle International Hockey Centre
NSW PRIDE MEN: 3 (Miles Davis 18’, 18’ & 38’)
BRISBANE BLAZE MEN: 2 (Jayden Atkinson 23’, Diarmid Chappell 59’)
OCT 19, Newcastle International Hockey Centre
PERTH THUNDERSTICKS
The Perth Thundersticks are showing up the Brisbane Blaze as this season’s title favourites after a second dominant win has seen the women’s side race away to a five-point lead at the top of the standings. Following their 10-3 thrashing over Canberra, Perth pulled out more stocks as Hockeyroos star Kaitlin Nobbs returned to the League, in her first outing for the Thundersticks, and by her own admission she “was a little excited” to be back. Taking just two minutes to make her return noticed with back-to-back goals and seeing Perth two goals up in as many minutes.
They held off a valiant effort from Tassie as the game saw a first-quarter goal frenzy ensue with eight goals scored between the two sides and a scoreline of 5-3 at the first break. Both sides held strong until the very last minute when Liné Malan added the final goal to double Tassie’s score in the dying stages of the match. Perth will look to remain unbeaten when they travel to Melbourne for round three.
The Perth crowd braved a rare stormy day in the WA capital as the Perth men lined up against Tassie in a fiery encounter that saw many Kookaburras teammates face off in a match that couldn’t be split until after the final whistle. Despite many close penalty corner attempts from Perth as the clock ticked down, the Thundersticks captivated the crowds’ attention for as long as possible, as they finally beat Tassie in a shootout 3-2. With a narrow first-round loss and a shootout win, Perth sit in fifth on the standings and need a good showing against Melbourne this weekend.
TASSIE TIGERS
Scoring another point in the 2024 season, the Tassie Tigers women have certainly picked up their campaign since last year’s performance. They fought against an explosive opening quarter which saw the tournament favourites Perth begin to race away, yet some fine play saw them hold on to Perth’s goal-scoring frenzy with three of their own. They’ll be ruing some missed one-on-one field conversion opportunities as Perth’s Hockeyroos goalkeeper Aleisha Power won the dual in goal. Had they converted those, they would’ve sat closer in the eventual 3-6 scoreline. They have a huge opportunity next weekend in Adelaide when they come up against the Fire, who are also on two points at the bottom of the table.
The Tassie Tigers men campaign took a mild hit after they struggled to get on the board against Perth away from home. But they still remain in second on the standings despite the narrow shootout loss. Tassie welcomed their hometown hero, five-time Olympian Eddie Ockenden back to the side as many Kookaburras came up against their counterparts in WA. Despite the loss, Tassie remain a confident outfit as they race to make the Road to Hobart Finals series.
PERTH THUNDERSTICKS WOMEN: 6 (Kaitlin Nobbs 2’, 2’, Candyce Peacock 4’, Courtney Schonell 10’, 10’, Liné Malan 60’)
TASSIE TIGERS WOMEN: 3 (Sarah McCambridge 5’, Fiona Crackles 8’, Phillida Bridley 11’)
OCT 20, Perth Hockey Stadium, WA
PERTH THUNDERSTICKS MEN: 0 (3)
TASSIE TIGERS MEN: 0 (2)
OCT 20, Perth Hockey Stadium, WA
Hockey One
