Emily Smith named Hockeyroos permanent captain

The 18-member Hockeyroos team for the Oceania Cup to be played at Sydney Olympic Park Hockey Centre from 11-15 October has been announced today by Hockey Australia.

Four players from the NSW Institute of Sport Hockey Program have been named, including the freshly appointed captain, Emily Smith.

Australia will take on New Zealand and Papua New Guinea in the biennial event where the Hockeyroos have won six of the nine editions.

Purchase tickets to the Oceania Cup

Hockeyroos coach Paul Gaudoin confirmed 25-year-old forward Emily Smith has been appointed as permanent captain and will lead the team for the first time in Sydney.

Smith takes up the captaincy following long-term skipper Madonna Blyth’s retirement last year, with Jane Claxton holding the role on an interim basis.

“Emily has shown a consistent approach to her hockey, she’s well respected by her peers and the Hockeyroos staff, so it was a pretty simple decision in the end,” Gaudoin said.

“We haven’t rushed into selecting our captain or leadership group over the past year. We’ve had interim leadership groups for tournaments, but we’ve utilised the year to explore the playing group and see what we really needed.

“I don’t want her to do too much different. She’s been involved with leadership groups previously.”

Smith, who hails from Crookwell in country NSW, will be supported by Claxton, Rachael Lynch, Kathryn Slattery and Karri McMahon in the leadership group.

“We want to see a step-up among the whole group with Emily helping and enabling that,” Gaudoin said.

“She’s got some good supporters underneath her. We’ve selected those people in order to drive our group forward. We need to get people on board to come with us to the next level.”

Fellow NSWIS Scholarship Holders Jocelyn Bartram, Kaitlin Nobbs and Grace Stewart join Smith on the squad.

The Hockeyroos are currently fifth on the FIH World Rankings and were knocked out of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro at the quarter-finals stage by New Zealand, who also defeated Australia at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, fuelling the rivalry.

The squad will fly to Sydney for the tournament on Monday 9 October following the conclusion of the Australian Hockey League in Perth.

Hockeyroos Oceania Cup Team

• Laura Barden (Victoria)
• Jocelyn Bartram (NSWIS)
• Edwina Bone (ACT)
• Jane Claxton (SA)
• Kirstin Dwyer (Queensland)
• Ashlea Fey (Queensland)
• Madison Fitzpatrick (Queensland)
• Jordyn Holzberger (Queensland)
• Stephanie Kershaw (Queensland)
• Rachael Lynch (Victoria)
• Karri McMahon (SA)
• Kaitlin Nobbs (NSWIS)
• Madeleine Ratcliffe (Victoria)
• Kathryn Slattery (WA)
• Emily Smith (c) (NSWIS)
• Grace Stewart (NSWIS)
• Renee Taylor (Queensland)
• Georgia Wilson (WA)