Knowles knows the dangers of Olympic life
BEFORE he steps into retirement, Australian hockey captain Mark Knowles has turned to finally face the ghost which has been stalking his side for a decade.
It is one of the greatest mysteries in Australian sport … why the Kookaburras are supermen for three years in a row then get a touch of the Clark Kents during Olympic years.
Australia are raging hot favourites to win the Commonwealth Games gold medal as they have won all five gold medals since hockey entered the Games in 1998.
Over the past decade Australia have won six of the past seven Champions Trophy tournaments, the past two World Cup and World League finals yet semi-final fade outs in the London and Beijing Olympics sentenced them to bronze medals and they missed the medals completely in the last Olympics at Rio.
Knowles theory is that something changes in Olympic year which subtly but significantly alters the mood of a team which goes from being a hardworking yet fun loving group of semi-professionals with a balanced life, to a more professional bunch who become dangerously consumed with their sport.
“You get this group of young guys who surf and study and work part time and have fun for three years and we win everything,’’ said Australian flag-bearer Knowles, who will lead his side into their Com- monwealth Games opener against Ghana tomorrow.
“Then we get into the Olympic year and we are not allowed to work, study or play club hockey. People don’t have a get out.
“I am lucky. I have a family so when I come home the kids don’t care whether I had a bad training session. But if you are between 20 and 30 and have nothing else.”