Kookaburras Lift Curse

The Sunday Age

Sunday August 29, 2004

Richard Hinds

All gold medals are supposed to be equal. But the one placed around the necks of the 16 members of the Australian men's hockey team will occupy a special place in Australian sporting history.

The 17th gold medal won by Australia exceeded the record set in Sydney four years ago. But, even more significantly, it broke one of the great losing streaks, a 48-year sequence of heartache that had seemed to weigh down each subsequent team that had tried to lift the curse of the Kookaburras.

If Australia's 2-1 victory over the Netherlands in the first period of sudden-death over-time was not quite up there with winning the America's Cup, for anyone with a sense of Olympic history it was a mighty challenge nonetheless.

That was obvious in the wild celebrations of the players and their suddenly vociferous fans, who had been outnumbered and drowned out by the orange-clad Dutch horde for most of the night.

"We've done it, mate, that's the holy grail for hockey," said midfielder Matthew Wells, after striker Jamie Dwyer had scored the golden goal. "It's been a long time waiting."

It was the fourth Olympic final for an Australian men's team, which had previously lost to Pakistan in 1968, New Zealand in 1976 and Germany in 1992. The 1976 defeat, when a brilliant Australian team went down to the Kiwi underdogs, is where talk of a curse began.

Having reached at least the semi-finals in every Olympics between 1984 and 2000, the team has subsequently been labelled as underachievers and chokers.

But, having come from 1-0 down at half-time to take the game into extra-time, all that historical baggage was removed with one swipe of Dwyer's stick.

"I had a couple of chances during the normal period and this time I just decided to smash it," said Dwyer of his match-winning goal.

"I felt it came off the stick pretty sweet, but it went underneath his (the goalkeeper's) pads, so I was a bit lucky. But it just felt like the whole world was off my shoulders."

If that weight had crushed previous teams, this version has confronted the challenge aggressively. Under coach Barry Dancer, this squad was the strongest and fittest of any to represent Australia. Ric Charlesworth, coach of the consecutive gold medal-winning Hockeyroos, had his players wear tight-fitting lycra outfits, reasoning that vanity would ensure his players kept in good shape.

This team wears sleeveless shirts and, on arrival in Athens, their impressive strength was bulging from beneath them.

As the game went into extra-time and the Australians laid siege to the Dutch goal, all the work done on both the players' bodies, and their minds, was to pay off. "You could see the opposition getting down on their knees," said Wells.

"They were absolutely rooted, to put it politely. And that spurs you on, it makes you feel even better, it gives you even more belief. We pride ourselves on being fitter and getting to the opposition and just overpowering them."

Dancer, a member of the 1976 Australian team, dismissed his own experiences as having any influence on this team's ability to lift the hoodoo. Rather, Dancer says that forging their own belief was the key to their success.

"This group had a belief, but it's not a fragile belief," said Dancer. "It's been built on hard work, it's been built on commitment and there is a selflessness in this team."

Dancer, who virtually rebuilt the team after taking the job four years ago, said there was a "real mateship" among his players and, as they stepped on to the medal podium with arms linked, the term did not seem corny or jingoistic.

"We were probably pretty lucky to have 16 guys who had one goal and there were no big egos in the team," said defender Bevan George. "We all worked for each other."

It was a difficult night for the Dutch coach Terry Walsh, another member of the 1976 team who had been sacked from the Australian coaching job after the last Olympics. Having spent almost 30 years in one capacity or another trying to break the Kookaburra's hoodoo, now Walsh was in the opposition camp when that elusive gold medal was finally won.

"When I saw the Australian guys get up on the podium - and I spent 30 years in international hockey and almost all that time was with the Australian group - so it was a bit of a sad feeling for me (not to be part of it).

"I was very proud of the Dutch guys and, in a strange way, I was very proud of the Australians."

For those still wearing green and gold, it was a night of unbridled pride and profound relief. "Mate, no words can describe it," said Dwyer. "It is just unbelievable relief we have won a gold now. Just to do it, I can say it, it's just the best feeling in the world."

MEN'S HOCKEY

GOLD

Australia

SILVER

Netherlands

BRONZE

Germany

BEYOND A CHOKE - SPORT'S FAMOUS LOSERS

Collingwood (AFL)

Earned the Colliwobbles tag after failing to win a flag in nine grand finals across 32 years until 1990.

Boston Red Sox (Baseball)

Suffered the "Curse of the Bambino" since selling a young Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees in 1920. Last won the World Series in 1918 and suffered many heartbreaking losses to the Yankees.

Buffalo Bills (NFL)

Butt of jokes after the Bills lost four Super Bowls in a row, from 1991-94.

Sydney Kings (basketball)

Perennial flops until Brian Goorjian orchestrated the past two NBL titles.

Spain's national soccer team

Always among the early favourites at international tournaments but a perennial underachiever.

Australia's Socceroos

Have not qualified for a World Cup since 1974, suffering amazing losses along the way, most notably against Iran in 1997.

Kookaburras (Hockey)

Finally broke its Olympic gold medal duck at Athens after winning three silvers and three bronze.

Queensland Sheffield Shield (cricket):

Won the trophy for the first time in the 1994-95 season, 102 years after its inception. Has since won it four times.

© 2004 The Sunday Age

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