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INTERVIEW WITH WORLD PLAYER OF THE YEAR
JAMIE DWYER
Touchline: What actually
brought you to the sport in the
first place?
Jamie Dwyer: I decided to start playing
because my parents played hockey. I
grew up in Rockhampton in QLD and I
started playing on the grass. My Mum
and Dad played, my cousins, aunts
and uncles, so it’s a real family sport. I
loved it then and I still do love it.
How do you think that the
current Kookaburras team
compares to other Kookaburras
teams that you have played for
or other teams from the past?
It’s hard to compare, because I guess
the game changes so much.
Since we won in Athens in 2004, the
speed of the game has changed so
much. One thing I will say about this
current sport at the moment is that
we have the biggest depth that we
have ever had. We have somewhere
between 28 and 35 guys that could
realistically be picked for the Olympic
team, and we haven’t had as much
depth in other campaigns. It’s a good
thing, because every time you go out
to train it’s very competitive as there is
a spot up for grabs. It’s great for the
future of the sport.
What is the chance of winning
gold at the Olympics?
We have a chance! There are another
12 nations going, we have a lot of
preparation and a lot of fine tuning that
we need to do, it’s going to be difficult.
We have lost to each of the top 10 teams
in the last couple of years, so there’s not
much difference between the number
one team in the world, which is us and
the number 10 team. It will be difficult,
but if we play to our potential I think we
will be a pretty tough team to beat. It’s
a tough group to be playing in, so it will
be a big challenge.
Which team do you see as your
main competitor for the gold
medal at the Olympics?
Germany if I had to pick one,
defensively their structure is really
good and they have a simple game plan
that they stick to. Their penalty corner
and attack are very efficient. Then
there’s Holland who are tough, Great
Britain in front of their home crowd who
will be well prepared, you’ve also got
Spain who are a little bit unpredictable.
It’s going to be tough – for sure!
What do you think of the new
colours of the pitch and the
ball?
I think it’s great – It’s good for hockey.
For TV the yellow ball on the blue
pitch is much clearer. I think it’s good
to get the sport onto TV and show it
to the world, I think it’s a great move.
From a playing point of view, there’s
no difference, if anything it’s a little bit
easier to see at night. It’s definitely a
good move for hockey.
You’ve had unprecedented
success with the game. What
do you put that down to?
Train very hard, and always try to
keep improving. It doesn’t matter what
individual honours or what tournaments
we’ve won as a team, I just always try
to improve. Work hard. I love going
away with the team, having fun, and I
love being out on the pitch wearing the
Green and Gold.
Simply – train hard – try to improve and
enjoy it.
Of all the awards and accolades,
which one has given you the
most pleasure?
I guess the individual – last year as
player of the year. I was out for 4 or
5 months with a knee injury, I only
had a little bit of preparation before
the champions trophy, which the
Kookaburras won. Then I was voted
player of the year. At my age and to
have had an injury, you start to have
a few doubts go through your head,
about your ability, about whether you’re
going to come back, whether you’re
going to come back as fast and fit as
you were. So to come back and then
win the award was probably the most
satisfying of them all.
Jamie Dwyer is the most successful hockey player of all time, being named 5 times world player of the year including the
reigning world player of the year. He was also named young player of the year in 2002. Jamie has played in hockey leagues
in Australia, Spain, India and the Netherlands. He has played nearly 300 matches for Australia and scored over 150 goals.
He won gold with the Kookaburras at the 2004 Olympics and bronze at the 2008 Olympics. He won the gold medal at the
2006 and 2010 Commonwealth Games and a gold medal at the 2010 Men’s hockey World Cup.
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