Ockenden looks to add to legacy

Kookaburras to take on France

TASMANIA hockey legend Eddie Ockenden will attempt to add to his already illustrious legacy when he looks to add a third World Cup title to his CV this month.

The Kookaburras begin their campaign against France on Friday night (AEDT), where they will look to start their quest to add to the 1986, 2010 and 2014 titles on a good note.

Australia finished third at the last world cup in the Netherlands in 2018, and are looking to go one better than their silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

Ockenden, skipper of the side, became the first person to play 400 Tests for Australia, and was part of the Kookaburras’ victorious 2010 and 2014 campaigns.

He will be joined by fellow Tasmanian, defender Josh Beltz, who was forced to leave the 2018 edition early due to a hand injury.

“The World Cup is an amazing tournament,” Ockenden said.

“I know in Australia everyone looks at the Olympics and Commonwealth Games, but the World Cup is a prestigious stand-alone hockey event. Some of the best times in my career have been at the World Cup.”

Kookaburras coach Colin Batch said falling just short at the most recent World Cup and Olympic tournaments was driving the squad to prove why they’re the world’s current No.1 ranked team.

“This is a new group and a new squad but there are a lot of players who went through both of those campaigns,” Batch told Hockey Australia.

“The boys are still hungry to play as well as they can, and produce a good result here. We went very close at the 2018 World Cup and in Tokyo but didn’t come home with the gold medal, so that motivation needs to be ongoing and drive the performance.

“We feel we are better placed and more experienced for this campaign, but we have to achieve the goal. It can’t be a case of just talking about it, we need to produce it when it counts.”

The side had a practice match against Germany this week, with playing opportunities few and far between before they play France for the first time since the 2018 World Cup.

“We have enough collective information about France to now focus on what we do and make sure it is at the level we need for Friday,” Batch said. “We know France will throw everything at us and we have to be good enough to overcome that and produce a good performance to be successful.

“People may talk that up (Australian’s No.1 ranking) but the reality is everyone starts fresh at this tournament. There are a lot of good teams here and we’re not looking any further than France.”

All World Cup matches will be broadcast live on Fox Sports and Kayo.