Scoring against Japan

On the move against Japan

I am currently in Melbourne with the team playing in a 6 test match series against Japan for the next two weeks. We play three matches in Melbourne and then fly to Adelaide next week to play one match in Adelaide and two matches in Pt Lincoln. Japan is definitely a team who have improved out of sight in the past 2 years and will be a team of force in the near future. They will cause unexpected problems for oppositions in the coming tournaments because traditionally they have been known as a team who was always good but never capable of winning tournaments, but that is about to change. Their basic skills and their speed and athleticism are a credit to them and it is obvious how hard they have worked on these areas. The one thing about the Asian teams that is very positive is that they work unbelievably hard on basic skills like hitting and trapping, tackling and passing and this is obvious in the way they play. We can definitely learn from them and their desire to have the best basic skills in the world.

It is nice to be back playing in Melbourne once again as I have not played here since our gold medal winning performance in the Commonwealth Games. Our first match was on Thursday night at 7:30 and it was great to see a big crowd come out for the occasion to cheer us on. We were also lucky enough to have a hundred kids from Camp Quality come out to the match to cheer us on. I have done a few fundraising events for Camp Quality who are a charity for kids who have been touched by cancer. They are a wonderful organisation and it's always a pleasure to help out such special kids. After the match myself and a few of the girls went upstairs to where the kids were and had some photos with them and signed some posters for them. They are gorgeous kids and it's a very special feeling for us to show our support for them and their families.

The match started at a fast pace and both teams had some goal scoring opportunities in the first 10 or so minutes. Japan are a very fast and athletic team and that is the kind of team we are as well so it meant some fast attacking hockey which is always exciting for the crowds to watch. Half time came and went and it was nil all. We had a bit of rain throughout the game but it did not affect the match too much. The crowd got behind the team and eventually with 5 minutes remaining in the match it was Angie Lambert who scored the winning goal for us off a penalty corner. She had drag flicked a beautiful ball from the corner previously and I had thrown my arms up in the air as I thought it had gone in, but it hit the post and we were awarded another corner when it hit one of the Japanese girls feet. The next corner Ange flung the ball for a deflection and it hit a Japanese stick and went into the net. It was really nice to see Ange score the winner as she has been playing and training really well and is also someone whom I consider to be a World Class Player. She is drag flicking the ball really well and I think she will win us a lot of games.

I was very pleased with how well the girls played and I think Coach Frank Murray was equally as pleased. We are now 1-0 up in the series with 5 more matches to be played. Our next match is tonight at 7:30 and tomorrow at 3pm. I am looking forward to some more hard and fast matches and hopefully we will continue to get some big crowds there supporting us.