World's best eager to knock Kookaburras off their Champions perch
Sydney Morning Herald
Friday November 27, 2009
AUSTRALIA might be the titleholders of the biggest men's annual international hockey tournament - the Champions Trophy - but Kookaburras coach Ric Charlesworth is well aware how difficult it will be to maintain a grip on the prize over the next week.After putting his charges through a gruelling training session yesterday, Charlesworth said he wasn't expecting an easy ride against teams from Germany, Spain, England, the Netherlands and Korea in this year's event at Melbourne's State Netball and Hockey Centre."I think each team is capable of beating each other team. Normally, if you play in a World Cup or Olympics, you have the best 12 to 14 teams or something, so there'll be some at a lower level. [Here] you've just got the best six," he said."We'll play each of them here. These are like the toughest games in your pool at the Olympics but you've got five of them."Australian went down 2-1 to Spain in Perth last Sunday despite thrashing them 8-2 in the first game on Saturday. The reason for the loss was simple, according to the acclaimed coach. "The day before was a flattering result but the reality is we were pretty close and when you don't play well, you'll lose," he said. "We were perhaps too relaxed, and they were very determined, as you would be after the previous day."Any thoughts of revenge will have to wait until Saturday week, as Korea are the Kookaburras' first opponents at 3pm tomorrow.Charlesworth said it was certain to be a fast-paced encounter. "They're very skillful, they're very fast and they're a terrier-like team, and if you aren't alert and aren't on your game, then you can slip-up," he said.The tournament's opening game will be played between the top-ranked German team and England at 1pm tomorrow, while Spain and the Netherlands will meet at 5pm."England won the European championship, they beat Germany in the final and they overcame the Netherlands in the semis, so you've got to say that England are a team that you have to be very wary of," Charlesworth said. "I think they've been pretty good all year, so it didn't come as any surprise. They've certainly got a team that is at the highest level."Considering the English received 40 per cent more funding than the Australia team, it came as no surprise they were on the improve, he said. "Our players are going to quarter-time and their players are going to full-time [professionalism], and for the next couple of years that's something that could make a huge difference."
© 2009 Sydney Morning Herald
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