EDDIE KOOKAS’ BEST IN ‘19

HOCKEY superstar Eddie Ockenden has racked up another major accolade, claiming the Kookaburras Player of the Year award at Hockey Australia’s night of nights in Perth.

Just a day after the Mercury announced Ockenden had been short-listed for the FIH World Player of the Year award, the Moonah-product added to his decorated list of achievements with his third Burras award to go with backto-back wins in 2014 and 2015.

As Tassie Tigers captain, Ockenden was also awarded the Hockey One’s Most Valuable Player award in October.

The year also saw the national co-captain’s performances help the Kookaburras claim the inaugural FIH Pro League title followed by an Oceania Cup triumph and Olympic qualification.

Kookaburras head coach Colin Batch said 2019 had seen Ockenden have another highquality year despite turning 32.

“He played well for us at important stages including our qualification for the Olympics and also in our performance during the Pro League,” Batch said from Perth.

“I think the interesting thing about Eddie is that although he is our oldest player, he continues to improve and perform at a high level and he is an inspiration to the other players in the squad. Often we see an older player slowly diminish in form but that hasn’t been the case with Ed. What makes him outstanding at the moment is that he continues to get better and his game is evolving all the time.

“He works hard on the pitch at training and I think that is basis for any successful elite sports person, that it is the amount of work they put into the daily training environment.”

The Hockeyroos major award was shared between Jane Claxton and Kaitlin Nobbs, while Ockenden was also recognised for passing 350 caps during the year.

He’s now just six matches shy of equalling Jamie Dwyer’s all-time Kookaburras appearance record of 365 caps.

He will launch into the FIH Pro League and Tokyo 2020 preparations in the new year.