The 2003 Men's Australian Hockey League was the 12th edition of the men's field hockey tournament. The tournament was held in various cities across Australia, and was contested from 1 March through to 6 April 2003.
The QLD Blades won the title, defeating the WA Thundersticks 4–3 in the final. In the third place match, the NSW Panthers defeated the VIC Vikings 6–5 in golden goal extra time.
Participating teams
Adelaide Hotshots Canberra Lakers NSW Panthers QLD Blades Tassie Tigers Territory Stingers VIC Vikings WA Thundersticks
Competition format The 2003 Men's Australian Hockey League consisted of a single round robin format, followed by classification matches.
Teams from all 8 states and territories competed against one another throughout the pool stage. At the conclusion of the pool stage, the top four ranked teams progressed to the semi-finals, while the bottom four teams continued to the classification stage.
The first four rounds of the pool stage comprised two-legged fixtures between states. As a result, matches in rounds five to seven of the pool stage were worth double points, due to the single-leg format.
Point allocation Points 3 2 1 0 Every match in the 2003 AHL needed an outright result. In the event of a draw, golden goal extra time was played out, and if the result was still a draw a penalty shoot-out was contested, with the winner receiving a bonus point.
Preliminary round Pool
Fixtures
Classification round Bracket
Crossover
Seventh and eighth place
Fifth and sixth place
Medal round Bracket
Semi-finals
Third and fourth place
Final
Awards The following awards were presented at the conclusion of the tournament. Top GoalscorerPlayer of the LeaguePlayer of the Final Andrew Smith Tristram Woodhouse Matthew Wells Dean Butler
Final standings
Goalscorers
References
External links Hockey Australia