Australia men's national field hockey team

Australia
Nickname(s)The Kookaburras
AssociationHockey Australia
ConfederationOHF (Oceania)
Head CoachColin Batch
Assistant coach(es)Anthony Potter
ManagerMelissa Grey
CaptainAran Zalewski
Most capsEddie Ockenden (414)
Top scorerJamie Dwyer (244)
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Home
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Away
FIH ranking
Current 6 Steady (23 November 2024)[1]
Highest1 (2005, 2010–2011, 2014 – January 2017, December 2017 – July 2018, June 2019 – January 2020)
Lowest6 (2023, August 2024)
First international
New Zealand  5–4  Australia
(Palmerston North, New Zealand; 27 September 1922)[2]
Biggest win
Australia  36–0  Samoa
(Stratford, New Zealand; 24 October 2015)
Biggest defeat
Australia  1–12  India
(Melbourne, Australia; 17 August 1935)
Olympic Games
Appearances17 (first in 1956)
Best result1st (2004)
World Cup
Appearances14 (first in 1971)
Best result1st (1986, 2010, 2014)
Oceania Cup
Appearances12 (first in 1999)
Best result1st (1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2023)
Medal record
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 1 4 5
World Cup 3 2 5
Oceania Cup 12 0 0
Champions Trophy 15 10 5
Commonwealth Games 7 0 0
Hockey World League 2 0 0
Pro League 2 1 0
Total 42 17 15
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2004 Athens Team
Silver medal – second place 1968 Mexico City Team
Silver medal – second place 1976 Montreal Team
Silver medal – second place 1992 Barcelona Team
Silver medal – second place 2020 Tokyo Team
Bronze medal – third place 1964 Tokyo Team
Bronze medal – third place 1996 Atlanta Team
Bronze medal – third place 2000 Sydney Team
Bronze medal – third place 2008 Beijing Team
Bronze medal – third place 2012 London Team
World Cup
Gold medal – first place 1986 London
Gold medal – first place 2010 New Delhi
Gold medal – first place 2014 The Hague
Silver medal – second place 2002 Kuala Lumpur
Silver medal – second place 2006 Mönchengladbach
Bronze medal – third place 1978 Buenos Aires
Bronze medal – third place 1982 Bombay
Bronze medal – third place 1990 Lahore
Bronze medal – third place 1994 Sydney
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Bhubaneswar
Oceania Cup
Gold medal – first place 1999 Brisbane
Gold medal – first place 2001 Melbourne
Gold medal – first place 2003 Christchurch–Wellington
Gold medal – first place 2005 Suva
Gold medal – first place 2007 Buderim
Gold medal – first place 2009 Invercargill
Gold medal – first place 2011 Hobart
Gold medal – first place 2013 Stratford
Gold medal – first place 2015 Stratford
Gold medal – first place 2017 Sydney
Gold medal – first place 2019 Rockhampton
Gold medal – first place 2023 Whangarei
Champions Trophy
Gold medal – first place 1983 Karachi
Gold medal – first place 1984 Karachi
Gold medal – first place 1985 Perth
Gold medal – first place 1989 Berlin
Gold medal – first place 1990 Melbourne
Gold medal – first place 1993 Kuala Lumpur
Gold medal – first place 1999 Brisbane
Gold medal – first place 2005 Chennai
Gold medal – first place 2008 Rotterdam
Gold medal – first place 2009 Melbourne
Gold medal – first place 2010 Mönchengladbach
Gold medal – first place 2011 Auckland
Gold medal – first place 2012 Melbourne
Gold medal – first place 2016 London
Gold medal – first place 2018 Breda
Silver medal – second place 1978 Lahore
Silver medal – second place 1981 Karachi
Silver medal – second place 1982 Amstelveen
Silver medal – second place 1986 Lahore
Silver medal – second place 1992 Karachi
Silver medal – second place 1995 Berlin
Silver medal – second place 1997 Adelaide
Silver medal – second place 2001 Rotterdam
Silver medal – second place 2003 Amstelveen
Silver medal – second place 2007 Kuala Lumpur
Bronze medal – third place 1980 Karachi
Bronze medal – third place 1987 Amstelveen
Bronze medal – third place 1988 Lahore
Bronze medal – third place 1998 Lahore
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Bhubaneswar
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 1998 Kuala Lumpur Team
Gold medal – first place 2002 Manchester Team
Gold medal – first place 2006 Melbourne Team
Gold medal – first place 2010 New Delhi Team
Gold medal – first place 2014 Glasgow Team
Gold medal – first place 2018 Gold Coast Team
Gold medal – first place 2022 Birmingham Team
Hockey World League
Gold medal – first place 2014–15 Raipur Team
Gold medal – first place 2016–17 Bhubaneswar Team

The Australia men's national field hockey team (nicknamed the Kookaburras) is one of the nation's most successful top-level sporting teams. They are the only Australian team in any sport to receive medals at six straight Summer Olympic Games (1992–2012). The Kookaburras placed in the top four in every Olympics between 1980 and 2012 winning gold in 2004; in 2016, the Kookaburras placed sixth.[3] They won the Hockey World Cup in 1986, 2010 and 2014. They won the Hockey Champions Trophy 15 times, the most by any team. They also won the Pro League and World League twice each.

The Kookaburras' inability to win an Olympic gold medal despite their perennial competitiveness, led many in the Australian hockey community to speak of a "curse" afflicting the team,[4] finally broken in 2004 with the win in Athens. However, they failed to win Gold after that after losses in subsequent Olympics including a loss to Belgium in the Gold Medal Match of 2020 Tokyo Olympics - the Kookaburras instead won the silver medal.[5]

  1. ^ "FIH Outdoor World Hockey Rankings". FIH. 23 November 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
  2. ^ "History of Hockey in Australia". Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  3. ^ ABC (15 August 2016). "Rio 2016: Australia's Kookaburras and Sharks knocked out of men's hockey and water polo". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  4. ^ "Kookaburras ready to toss the monkey". The Sydney Morning Herald. 26 August 2004. Archived from the original on 27 July 2009. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
  5. ^ "Wagga Wagga's Olympic debutant Dylan Martin helps Kookaburras win hockey silver medal - ABC News". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 5 August 2021.