Borger banks on a winning culture
CAIRNS hockey star Simon Borger says he’s up to the challenge of defending Queensland’s long history of success as the state hails a new generation of talent.
The Blades will be without several big guns, including retired Kookaburras Jamie Dwyer and Mark Knowles, in defence of the Australian Hockey League title in Perth over the next week.
Borger said the winning culture would need to be strong in a difficult group stage against NSW, Victoria and international guests Malaysia and India.
“We’re in a hard pool. It will be a different dimension there having other countries at the tournament. It’s a different game,” he said.
Borger will be one of the top prospects for a call-up to the Hockey Australia High Performance Program with a HILUX, AUSTRALIA’S NO.1 UTE strong tournament but he said all he could do what was best for the team.
“We’ve each got a job to do, and if I do my job properly to help the team, it will go a long way,” he said.
Borger was quickly reminded of home when he arrived in Perth, meeting Cairns juniors in Queensland under-13 teams before a team training session.
The defender brings winning form into the competition after his Brisbane club side Bulimba took out the Brisbane Hockey League with a 5-1 win in the grand final.
Cairns product Jess Watson will be key member of the Scorchers’ effort to defend the women’s AHL title.
Rival states will have the benefit of Cairns talent topping up their squads, including Lewis Short for Tasmania and fellow regional academy graduates Leigh Thomas and Amber Mutch, both representing Northern Territory.