Batch: Key for Kookaburras is to keep improving

With the Kookaburras squad for 2022 locked and loaded, Head Coach Colin Batch knows the hard work and preparation that needs to happen for the big challenges that lie ahead.

Since the players returned from their Christmas break, the Kookaburras have literally been going about their business under the radar.

Not competing in the current FIH Pro League season due to international COVID travel restrictions and hindrances, the majority of the squad has been undertaking their Daily Training Environment in Perth as the days count down to the start of the Commonwealth Games on 28 July 2022.

There is a sense of familiarity to last year’s Olympics about the Kookaburras training in Perth together with minimal international matches on the horizon leading up to the year’s first major test in Birmingham.

As the Kookaburras’ preparations starts to ramp up, Batch took some time to provide an update on where the program is at and the continual motivation among the group to improve and set the bar even higher.

Was it a benefit to have added time to look at players and identify what you needed to complement the 23 athletes already in the squad?

CB: “Each selection is unique and this one gave us more time to get information and feedback from the National Athlete Pathways Program coaches and the National Institute Networks to find out who is tracking well.

We were able to run some camps late last year and a recent one in Perth, so we have been able to assess everyone as well as we could with the restraints around travel and COVID and the inability to have much domestic competition in the last two years.”

How difficult did all those factors make it with finalising your last four selections?

CB: “It’s not ideal but we have been really thorough with the information we have been getting. We have an experienced 23 players already in the squad so there was an opening to bring in some of our talented younger players from the national junior program. Are the three outfield guys ready for international hockey? Not at the moment but given more time with the national squad training in the DTE (Daily Training Environment) we will see them improve. They are smart players so it will be great to have them involved and they will bring a different mindset and it will be refreshing for the group to have new players to work with.”

What can you tell us about the four new additions to the squad?

CB: “Both Ky Willott and Craig Marais impressed in the Sultana Bran Hockey One League at the end of 2019. They both came out of the national junior program and have had good development in their home states. They have shown some real quality and are both smart hockey players.

Potentially they can grow into really good players for the Kookaburras and we hope that happens. They were part of the Australia A team that attended the camp we had in Darwin last year prior to heading to Tokyo for the Olympics so having that experience was another level up for them. They have been identified right across the pathways network as two really good juniors coming through.

James Collins is similar in that he has been to the national junior camps and performed well. He had limited opportunity in Hockey One but has grown a lot in the past couple of years and was involved in some of our DTE matches. He was also part of the performance camp a couple of weeks ago so we know the positives he can bring to the group.

Ben Rennie is at the other end of the spectrum being a mature age selection. He is a very experienced goalkeeper. He has only played a little bit of national league but has been the goalkeeper for Australia’s Indoor hockey team.

Indoor goalkeepers are an extremely valuable part of the team because they are under the pump a lot of the time in matches. He has performed really well in that environment so he brings those skills into our goalkeeping line. We know at the Olympics last year the goalkeepers who performed best were aged 30 and above so it is an age where you can continue your career well into the mid-thirties. He brings a maturity to the group and we’re confident he can do well for us.”

What do you see the addition of these players doing to the dynamic of the squad?

CB: “What we had last year were very limited matches before Tokyo. What we did have was the whole squad of 27 working together and developing together in the DTE.

Over the next six months we haven’t got all of our squad together for various reasons. We have some players playing in Europe and right now there are some players on the east coast who haven’t been able to come across to Perth, so that has been challenging.

Therefore we have a sameness about our DTE with the same players training together week after week. With the injection of these four new players, we see a different energy about the group. It’s always nice to bring some new players in…they certainly change the dynamics and the enthusiasm they bring will rub off on the rest of the squad.”

How tough was selection with the number of athletes trying to force their way into the frame for a coveted spot in the squad?

CB: “It’s always tough. The Kookaburras have a long history of performing well at international level so whenever you get selected in the Kookaburras squad you know you have earned it. As I mentioned earlier, we have spent more time on these four selections to make sure we get these right and we believe we have.

Of course it is only the start for some of these players so we want them to not only develop themselves but really push the squad and put their hand up for selection when the international matches do come around.

There are some players in the squad already who really need to take the next step so I see that as an evolving area and I would hope we get to the stage as it has been in the past where players are really pushing each other in the right way to develop and put their hand up for selection.”

How proud are you of what the coaching staff, players and everyone involved in the program has been able to build with this Kookaburras group, even more so with the challenges that COVID has thrown at you?

CB: “We did an incredible job last year…the players, coaching staff, the program as a whole was well supported and to achieve the level we did in Tokyo was quite incredible. We have acknowledged that and while that was really good we have to put that behind us now because we have a different set of challenges.

We have to make sure we get this next period right. We have to focus on the Commonwealth Games and then beyond that we have the FIH Pro League later in the year and then our preparation for the World Cup in January 2023.

Even though we have been starved of international competition over the last two years, once we hit the road and start getting some matches underway, they will come quite quickly so we have to get our conditioning right, make sure we limit the number of injuries and get the best possible preparation for the Commonwealth Games and the World Cup.”

What does the next five months leading up to the Commonwealth Games look like in terms of preparation?

CB: “With the good news that the WA border will be opening on March 3, we will have more flexibility to travel abroad, so that provides some opportunities from the middle of the year onwards. It’s difficult to think a lot might change in the next couple of months because most international teams already have their program in order. It does allow us to travel but probably not have international teams come to Australia. We will certainly look to seek out any possibility of some international matches in April and May. While the group has had a good mindset about training and competing in Perth in matches against one another, they are really hungry to play internationals.”

Missing out on competing in the current FIH Pro League season, will you go down the same line that you did prior to Tokyo with playing a lot of intra-squad games?

CB: “I am devastated we are not playing Pro League…our whole squad is. We love the challenge of playing against the best teams in the world so it was really disappointing that it didn’t happen. We are envious of the teams playing Pro League at the moment.

That’s why we have always acknowledged that the next period is very challenging given all of the other teams are playing a lot but we’re not. The key to it is making sure we reach a really high level in our training here and keep learning.”

How closely are you monitoring the Kookaburras contingent currently playing club hockey in Europe?

CB: “Once upon a time it was a regular occurrence that Australian players would go over to Europe to play and we certainly encourage that after the Olympics. We’re working closely with the guys over there and were happy for them to get stuck into their competitions and training over there prior to Christmas. Quite a few of them have returned and we will be staying in touch with them and monitoring them closely. The players want that interaction from us as coaches as well, so they are keeping in contact with us and the key points we are trying to put in place as a Kookaburras group.”

What are some of the key elements of starting a new, albeit shorter Olympic cycle?

CB: “Firstly you have to establish and select the squad again. We will select the best team for the Commonwealth Games but there are opportunities within the team. There are openings for strikers. Andrew Charter is a very experienced goalkeeper so can he maintain that level this year? That is a challenge for him. We have got some possibilities in defence – do we go with similar to what we did in Tokyo or not? There are challenges and question marks all over the field.

If I’m a player that missed out on the Olympics I would be putting my hand up, working hard and developing the best way I can to put my hand up for selection. There is good competition for positions and guys going about it the right way, which is how it has been for several years now. The Kookaburras are very competitive but also supportive of each other’s development.”

The Kookaburras’ underlying objective is to be the best hockey team in the world. Is that ambition still what excites you when you wake up and go to work every day?

CB: “That’s what we are trying to achieve. It’s a lofty goal and a never ending one. You might get to number one and then someone else comes and knocks you off, so it is a constant theme with the team that we are always trying to improve.

The scoreboard at the end of the game always tells you the story so we’ve got to be mindful now that it can have a direct result on that result at the Commonwealth Games. We can’t leave it until a few weeks before the tournament to really start knuckling down. We want to continue our development.

We had a good camp a couple of weeks ago. We didn’t have all of the squad there but there was some real growth in the group and it’s those learning points we got out of the camp, not just on the field, that we need to make sure we bring into action as a whole group.”