Resurgent Hockeyroos emerge from darkness

A GOOD laugh can heal a lot of hurt and has also propelled a new-look Hockeyroos out of two scandalous dark years and into the semi-final of the Hockey World Cup on Sunday.

The Roos, who haven’t dropped a game this tournament, have shrugged off a previously “toxic culture” that also threatened to undermine their Commonwealth Games medal chances.

Co-captain Jane Claxton celebrated her 200th game for Australia on Thursday and was pivotal to downing host nation Spain 2-0 to put the Hockeyroos into the semi-finals.

Claxton is one of the few surviving members from the Rio squad.

She admitted repairing the team’s broken culture was an ongoing process but said winning the quarter-final – which has become something of a “bogey game” for Australia since its shock loss to India in the Tokyo Olympics – was evidence of a turnaround spearheaded by coach Katrina “Triny” Powell.

“Often you see coaches be quite guarded, but Triny is an open book,” she said. “When you see your coach let their guard down a bit and go hellfor-leather in a game of Spike Ball on tour, it helps the team loosen up and be themselves.

“People were fragile and mending those relationships – not only player-to-player but player-to-coach and other staff – did take some time. There was an awkward period.”

There are two teenagers in the Australian squad, and nine of the 18 had less than 25 games of international experience before the World Cup.

The Hockeyroos, once the pride of Australian sport, have waded through scandal after scandal since their disappointing 2016 Rio Olympics run.

Claims of bullying, bodyshaming and a “toxic culture” led the Hockey Australia board to commission an independent inquiry into the Perth-based program in 2020.