Germany and Australia have joined Argentina and the Netherlands as the four women’s teams that will compete in the inaugural FIH Pro League Grand Finals in Amstelveen in just under two week’s time.
Australia are currently in third position in the Pro League table, with nine wins under their belt. Germany are just behind them on eight wins. Australia are still to play Belgium and the Netherlands, while Germany have one match left – a quick hop across the Atlantic to play USA. Whatever the results, previous performances have assured both teams of a top four finish.
Janne Müller-Wieland and Rachel Lynch are two players who have been instrumental in their teams’ success in the new competition. The German captain recently celebrated her 300th cap for her country – joining an exclusive club of just three other German women who have played more than 300 times for their country – while Lynch is one of the Hockeyroos' most experienced players, with more than 200 caps to her name,
Both players, even with their multitude of Olympic and World Cup experiences, say the FIH Pro League has offered new challenges and new opportunities. And with the potential prize of being crowned the first FIH Pro League champions, along with knowing they have sealed a place in the Olympic qualifiers in October and November, and will have gained valuable world ranking points, then a good performance throughout this six month event is something to be celebrated.
“We are really happy to have made the top four – even before the last games have been played – in this strong league,” says Müller-Wieland. “Beforehand we said it’s not our main goal, but you always want to win of course,” she adds with a laugh.
“Considering we rotated the squad a lot and played most of our matches before and during the Bundesliga season [Germany’s domestic club league} it is great we ended up in the top four. It’s great to have the chance to play another two matches against the best teams in the world in Final Four mode in front of a great hockey crowd in Holland. That’s great preparation for both the EuroHockey Championships and everything else that is to come.”
For Australia, the time the team has spent together travelling and training has proven a great boost to the team culture that Head Coach Paul Gaudoin is working hard to establish. After a poor showing at the Rio Olympic Games, Gaudoin and his squad have been developing a positive team culture, on and off the pitch, and things have been coming together for the Hockeyroos ever since. Their recent victories over Great Britain and Germany sealed a place in the FIH Pro League Grand Final for the team ranked third in the FIH World Rankings, and they enter the final round of fixtures as the only team to have beaten the Netherlands in the competition.
“We are working on lots of things and a lot of that is behind the scenes,” says Lynch. “Every team is training hard but we are trying to get the edge by building strong relationships within the group and getting a better understanding of each other. We have also played a lot of different players in the Pro League - sometimes because of injury - but it is also about giving players opportunities to show what they can do. We have proven to ourselves that we can still win even if we don’t have our strongest team out on the day.”
“We haven’t lost a game on the road,” says Lynch, with understandable glee. “I feel we are coping reasonably well with the travel. The big challenges of the Pro League were always going to be how we adapted to a new turf, travel, time differences, jet lag. In fact, we are loving it. When you are travelling the world playing hockey with 20 of your mates you can’t really complain. The travel is just part of it for us. We loved playing at home but what an opportunity. I am currently sitting in cafe in Dusseldorf doing an interview with someone in the UK, how good is that!”
“Getting four goals against Great Britain was a great boost for us but my favourite moment in the Pro League has to be beating the Dutch in front of home crowds. We are really looking forward to the next few games.”
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