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Newly-appointed Kookaburras coach Ric Charlesworth has flagged a new era for the men’s national hockey side but warns it will be no easy task to claim gold at the 2012 London Olympics.
Charlesworth, who replaces Barry Dancer, is a renowned master coach and led the women’s team to four Champions Trophies, two World Cups and back-to-back Olympic gold medals at the Atlanta and Sydney Games during his 1993-2000 reign in charge of the Hockeyroos.
The 55-year-old has long pined for the Kookaburras role but the timing was never right — until now.
But with a spate of retirements following the men’s bronze medal performance in Beijing, Charlesworth acknowledged he would have to build a new side ahead of the 2012 London Olympics.
Captain Bevan George, senior defender Matthew Wells and strikers Travis Brooks and Andrew Smith all announced their retirement after Beijing.
Charlesworth hinted there may be more to follow.
“The job really is about building a new team and only a handful of the players playing now will be under 30 at the next Olympics,” Charlesworth said.
“Some of the very good players will be continuing — whether they continue to London we’ll find out.
“There’ll be a new team and there’ll be significant renovations but there are some gifted players there who want to continue and in each case it will depend on their circumstances and how they’re playing.
“Sometimes players are suddenly no longer up to the pace.
“I’m going to spend the next month with Barry Dancer finding out as much as I can from his perspective as to how this team ticks.
“London will be an exciting Olympics, it will be a difficult one. I think what’s happening is globalisation is occurring in our sport — there’s a lot of levelling off going on.
“There’s a lot of competitive teams now, so it’s not easy.”
Frank Murray’s reappointment as coach of the Hockeyroos means it’s a reversal of roles from the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, where Charlesworth led the Hockeyroos to a breakthrough gold medal and Murray’s Kookaburras snared bronze.
Murray was confident the Hockeyroos, who finished a disappointing fifth at the Beijing Games, had the ability to rebound from their recent slide as hockey’s powerhouse.
“I expect to have our world ranking back to three (currently ranked fifth) by the end of next year,” Murray said.
“And then I expect to have it back into the top two by the end of the 2010 World Cup.”
Charlesworth, who represented Australia at four Olympic Games in a glittering playing career, said guiding the Kookaburras would be one of his greatest challenges.
“In the end the players will decide how good we can become but I think we can provide them with an environment that will enable them to realise their potential,” he said.
“I feel refreshed and ready and the opportunity’s there now and it’s the challenge I’m looking forward to.”
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