The Kookaburras, led by a brilliant display from Tom Craig, have sent a strong message to their rivals ahead of the Paris Olympics, wrapping up their FIH Pro League season with a 5-1 win over powerhouses Great Britain.
Playing in front of a packed East London crowd, Australia played at an electric pace that caught Great Britain on the back foot. Lachlan Sharp followed a firing run with a bullet pass to Jake Whetton, who sent the ball past the sole defender and the English keeper to open the scoring.
Great Britain answered straight back with a fast team goal, finished off brilliantly by Lee Morton.
Australia tried to fire back but disallowed goals to Sharp and Tom Craig halted their resurgence.
Right on halftime, a penalty corner led to Jack Welch scoring off a great push-in by captain Aran Zalewski.
Five minutes after the break, Ky Willott continued the Aussie charge by scoring after another penalty corner.
Welch almost notched a double, but his attempt deflected off Great Britain’s defence, where player of the match Craig was ready to finish it off from the right-hand side.
“Our team is just playing so well and we’re playing a lot of guys in form,” Craig said.
“It was pretty kind to be awarded (player of the match) today. I think it could have gone to like 10 other guys on the field, so it’s a bit of a coin flip there, but definitely happy … that everyone else is playing so well.”
With a goal and two solid assists, Craig’s final act saw Willott bag a double and a fifth goal to down the hosts.
Craig says the Kookaburras are now in prime position.
“If we can keep that top spot we qualify for the World Cup, so fingers crossed there, but it’s out of our hands, and there are a lot of good teams that are still yet to play, so we’ll see,” he said.
“We’re pretty happy with that, it’s been a long tour, eight games, with four games in five days, times two, so that’s a long, hard tour, and to finish like that is very pleasing.
“I think everyone was really looking forward to this month and it showed out there. To come here and play Germany, who are very structured and play zonal style, and then Great Britain, who are very willing counter-attacking, full-throttle all the time … it’s exactly what we want and it’s good fun playing against the two teams.”
With season five of the FIH Pro League complete for the Kookaburras and Hockeyroos, both teams will return home to Perth and take a week off before resuming training ahead of the Olympics.
The Kookaburras and Hockeyroos squads to compete at the Paris Olympics will be named on July 1.