Tigers fortified as trip beckons
THE Tassie Tigers have beefed up their attacking firepower ahead of a gruelling double-header road trip that will make or break their Hockey One campaign.
The Tigers face the undefeated Brisbane Blaze in Queensland on Friday night, before tackling the Canberra Chill in the nation’s capital on Sunday.
Kookaburras’ set piece specialist Jeremy Hayward returns after missing the Tigers’ third-round 4-2 loss to NSW Pride, while Kookaburras striker Jack Welch will make his long-awaited return from a back injury in Sunday’s clash.
Goalkeeper Henry Chambers will make his debut against the Blaze and Kurt Budgeon returns, at the expense of Grant Woodcock, Linden McCarthy and Oliver Smith who drop out of the side that heads north.
“Jez [ Hayward] brings a lot of composure and control to our backline and is obviously important to our penalty corner battery,” Welch said ahead of his return.
“I’ve also had a bit to do with Henry [Chambers] and he has proven to be very dedicated and shown he can perform at a high level, so I’m sure he won’t have any problem stepping up to Hockey One.”
Welch debuted for Australia in September 2018 against world No.2 Belgium and quickly racked up eight caps with two goals before a stress fracture in his back grounded him.
“This has been my first major injury having been sidelined for seven and a half months, so it’s definitely been hard for me to not be involved but I hope to come back smarter and stronger,” Welch said.
“I’m only playing on Sunday as a management thing, with two games and travel in such a short space of time, but now that the Tigers are working towards full strength, our team has a really good chance at the title.
“It will be crucial to get a win against the Chill and would be handy to steal some points off the Blaze away, as they are looking like the strongest side in the competition so far.”
The Tigers’ women have added dual Premier League leading goalscorer Ash Arthur for their fixtures, with RubyRose Haywood-Gibson coming into the net at the expense of Holly Bonde.