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. 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, 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.
History
Australia's first men's team competed in an international match in 1922.
Australia's first men's team competed at the Olympics in field hockey at the 1956 Summer Olympics.
The first major competition won by the national team was the 1983 World Championships held in Karachi.
Australia did not medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics or the 1988 Summer Olympics. At the 1992 Summer Olympics, Australia earned a silver medal, losing gold to Germany. At the 1996 Summer Olympics, Australia finished third, earning a bronze medal.
The team won their first Olympic gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Barry Dancer coached the side.
Should Australia win the gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics they will become the first national team in field hockey history to hold all four international titles available to them simultaneously. They would hold titles in the 2012 Olympics, 2010 World Cup, 2011 Champions Trophy and their continental championship (2011 Oceania Cup) at the same time. Along with those four titles Australia also holds the Commonwealth Games title from the 2010 championships.
Tournament records
+Olympic Games Year Host city Position1908 London, United Kingdom–1920 Antwerp, Belgium–1928 Amsterdam, Netherlands–1932 Los Angeles, United States–1936 Berlin, Germany–1948 London, United Kingdom–1952 Helsinki, Finland–1956 Melbourne, Australia5th1960 Rome, Italy6th1964 Tokyo, Japan3rd1968 Mexico City, Mexico2nd1972 Munich, Germany5th1976 Montreal, Canada2nd1980 Moscow, Soviet UnionBoycott1984 Los Angeles, United States4th1988 Seoul, South Korea4th1992 Barcelona, Spain2nd1996 Atlanta, United States3rd2000 Sydney, Australia3rd2004 Athens, Greece1st2008 Beijing, China3rd2012 London, United Kingdom3rd2016 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil6th2020 Tokyo, Japan2nd2024 Paris, France6th
+FIH World Cup Year Host city Position1971 Barcelona, Spain8th1973 Amsterdam, Netherlands Withdrew1975 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia5th1978 Buenos Aires, Argentina3rd1982 Bombay, India3rd1986 London, England1st1990 Lahore, Pakistan3rd1994 Sydney, Australia3rd1998 Utrecht, Netherlands4th2002 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia2nd2006 Mönchengladbach, Germany2nd2010 New Delhi, India1st2014 The Hague, Netherlands1st2018 Bhubaneswar, India3rd2023 Bhubaneswar and Rourkela, India4th2026 Wavre, Belgium Amsterdam, Netherlands5th
+FIH Champions Trophy Year Host city Position1978 Lahore, Pakistan2nd1980 Karachi, Pakistan3rd19812nd1982 Amstelveen, Netherlands2nd1983 Karachi, Pakistan1st19841st1985 Perth, Australia1st1986 Lahore, Pakistan2nd1987 Amstelveen, Netherlands3rd1988 Lahore, Pakistan3rd1989 Berlin, West Germany1st1990 Melbourne, Australia1st1991 Berlin, Germany4th1992 Karachi, Pakistan2nd1993 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia1st1994 Lahore, Pakistan4th1995 Berlin, Germany2nd1996 Madras, India6th1997 Adelaide, Australia2nd1998 Lahore, Pakistan3rd1999 Brisbane, Australia1st2000 Amstelveen, Netherlands5th2001 Rotterdam, Netherlands2nd2002 Cologne, Germany5th2003 Amstelveen, Netherlands2nd2004 Lahore, Pakistan Withdrew2005 Chennai, India1st2006 Terrassa, Spain4th2007 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia2nd2008 Rotterdam, Netherlands1st2009 Melbourne, Australia1st2010 Mönchengladbach, Germany1st2011 Auckland, New Zealand1st2012 Melbourne, Australia1st2014 Bhubaneswar, India3rd2016 London, United Kingdom1st2018 Breda, Netherlands1st
FIH World League Year Round Host city Position2012–13Semifinal Rotterdam, Netherlands2ndFinal New Delhi, India4th2014–15Semifinal Antwerp, Belgium1stFinal Raipur, India1st2016–17Semifinal Johannesburg, South Africa3rdFinal Bhubaneswar, India1st
+FIH Pro League Year Season Position2019 Season One1st2020–21 Season Two2nd2021–22 Season ThreeWithdrew2022–23 Season Four7th2023–24 Season Five1st2024–25 Season Six5th2025–26 Season Seven3rd
Commonwealth Games Year Host city Position1998 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia1st2002 Manchester, England1st2006 Melbourne, Australia1st2010 New Delhi, India1st2014 Glasgow, Scotland1st2018 Gold Coast, Queensland1st2022 Birmingham, England1st
+Oceania Cup Year Host city Position1999 Brisbane, Australia1st2001 Melbourne, Australia1st2003 Christchurch and Wellington, New Zealand1st2005 Suva, Fiji1st2007 Buderim, Australia1st2009 Invercargill, New Zealand1st2011 Hobart, Australia1st2013 Stratford, New Zealand1st20151st2017 Sydney, Australia1st2019 Rockhampton, Australia1st2023 Whangārei, New Zealand1st2025 Darwin, Australia1st
+Sultan Azlan Shah Cup Year Host city Position1983 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia1st 1985–1991 Did Not Compete1994 Penang, Malaysia3rd1995 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia –1996 Ipoh, Malaysia2nd19981st1999 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia –2000 –20013rd2003 –20041st20051st20062nd2007 Ipoh, Malaysia1st2008 –2009 –20103rd20111st2012 –20131st20141st20152nd20161st20172nd20181st 2019–Present Did Not Compete
Team Current squad Roster for the 2026 Men's FIH Hockey World Cup.
Head coach: Mark Hager
Lachlan Sharp Tom Craig Nathan Ephraums Connar Otterbach Liam Henderson Joshua Beltz Jed Snowden (GK) Blake Govers Jayden Atkinson Tim Howard Craig Marais Ky Willott Jack Welch Hayden Beltz Cambell Geddes James Collins Joel Rintala Ash Thomas (GK) Tim Brand Jeremy Hayward
Notable players Ric Charlesworth Jamie Dwyer
Results and fixtures The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.
2026
2027
Family Barry Dancer/Brent Dancer and Ric Charlesworth/Jonathan Charlesworth are two pairs of father as coach and son as player while both were affiliated with the national team in those positions.
Recognition 1981: Australian Sport Awards Team of the Year 1987: Australian Sport Awards Team of the Year 2004: Australian Sport Awards International Team of the Year 2014: AIS Sport Performance Awards Team of the Year.
References General sources
Further reading The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games n.d., Tokyo 2020, olympics.com. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
External links
FIH profile