Malone homes in on national crown
ROSIE Malone hopes she can cap off what could be a short stint at home on the Gold Coast by guiding the Queensland Scorchers to the Australian Hockey League title.
Malone has been back home at Molendinar for the past three months after making what she thought would be a permanent move to Perth to join the Australian Hockeyroos at their Western Australia base in May.
The 20-year-old spent just over a month there before jetting off to London with the team before Australian officials let her return home to limit her travel time.
“Coming home has been really great,” Malone said.
“I do university (at Griffith) just up the road and I live five minutes from the Gold Coast Hockey Centre.
“I’m lucky Hockey Australia has allowed me to do it.”
Malone is one of eight Hockeyroos players in the Queensland team that will look to wrest back the title from 2017 champions Victoria after winning in both 2015 and 2016.
“We do have a very good team,” Malone said.
“But states like Victoria and NSW are also very strong and have Aussie players coming back.
“The depth this year with some of the teams is really good with younger players coming through as well.
“It’s going to be a really good competition and very competitive.”
Queensland will play the Northern Territory Pearls in the quarter-finals of the AHL today at the Labrador-based hockey centre where victory would see them play the winner of the South Australian Suns and Canberra Strikers in the semi-final.
The Gold and Tweed coasts will be represented by six players across the Scorchers women’s team and Queensland Blades side including Malone, sisters Savannah Fitzpatrick and Madison Fitzpatrick, brothers Blake and Dylan Wotherspoon and Corey Weyer.
Malone started her hockey career at the age of six for Burleigh at the Gold Coast Hockey Centre and returns a new player after experience international competition.
“For a lot of players international experience is just vital,” she said.
“For me personally, being the youngest in the team and having such a quick transition from juniors to elite senior level, I think going to the World Cup and other tournaments like that have given me international experience and that helps your game.
“You learn about how you play yourself but also learn about how good other teams and players are and I think maybe sometimes gives you a false sense of how good or talented you are.
“When you get that international experience it shows you good you need to be playing.”