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Touchline – Firstly, Adam, can I
ask about the current tour and
whether you’re happy with the
performances of the squad?
Adam Commens
– Yes, I’m
reasonably happy with the way we’ve
gone here in New Zealand. We know
that New Zealand and the USA in
particular are reasonably strong teams,
and they will be in our pool at the
Olympic Games providing that Japan
qualify in the tournament coming up.
We knew that they would be tough
opponents. We’ve seen some good
victories, however we’ve had a loss and
a draw against New Zealand as well as
a win in the first match. That’s exposed
some of our weaknesses which is the
idea behind these tours, so I’m pleased
with where we’re at, but we’ve still got
some work to do.
You
mentioned
some
weaknesses, what do you think
you need to work on in the lead
up to the Olympics?
I think it’s around consistency. We tend
to get most of our processes correct
85-90% of the time. You can’t afford
to have these concentration lapses
and make little errors in judgement
which result in giving our opponents
opportunities to score. If we can get that
consistency and minimise the mistakes
we make in defence and also in attack,
then I think you’ll see the results start
to go our way.
Do you employ a different
strategy for each team
depending on their tactics, or
do you basically say “We’ve got
a game plan, we’ve just to go
out and play our game.”
I’m a coach that really believes that
you need to have a game plan that can
cope with a variety of strategies that
you might come up against. You need
to have variety and unpredictability and
so we’re about progressing that game
plan as we go. Of course we research
our opposition, and we might have
some more specific tactics that are of
some use if we’re up against certain
opponents, but we really focus on
our game and progressing it from one
game to the next.
You have a number of
tournaments
before
the
Olympics. Obviously these
games are invaluable, but I
suppose that there is the worry
that some of your key players
could get injured during that
time?
Yeah, I think you always run that risk
– you can get injured at training. One of
our players – Kelly White – had a knee
injury at training, and it was basically
in a warm up exercise. She’s had a
knee reconstruction and will miss the
Olympic Games. However, I don’t
think we can be too concerned about
injuries. You need to prepare your team
correctly and make sure that you’re
doing everything on and off the pitch to
make sure that they are prepared well
in regards to injury prevention, but also
having the right amount of recovery so
they don’t get over trained and they
don’t get injured from over playing at
training.
So how do you think the team
will do?
It’s really difficult to say categorically
that we will go there and win a medal.
I’m far more optimistic at this moment
than I was 12 months ago. 12 months
ago we had a very young group and
we had a long way to go. I think we’ve
seen significant developments in the
last 12 months and we’ve achieved
results against every nation that’s
ranked higher than us in the last 6
months. We’ve achieved victories
over all of those nations. That gives
us confidence that when we play our
best hockey, we can defeat them.
However we have a very strong pool
at the Olympic Games and we won’t be
underestimating anybody. We need to
know that when we get there, we need
to play to 100% of our ability 100% of
the time and have that consistency that
we’re looking for if we’re going to end
up on the podium.
Touchline caught up with AdamCommens, whilst coaching the Hockeyroos
at a tournament in New Zealand. Adam is a former top hockey midfielder
who won a bronze medal with the Kookaburras at the Sydney Olympics.
He won a total of 143 caps for Australia. Formerly coach to the Belgium
team, Adam was appointed coach of the Hockeyroos in 2011.
INTERVIEW WITH
ADAM COMMENS
COACH OF THE AUSTRALIAN WOMEN’S HOCKEY TEAM
touchline
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