NSWIS Trio selected for Johor Cup

An 18-player team has been named to represent the Burras (Australia’s Under 21 Men’s Hockey Team) at the 2023 Sultan of Johor Cup in Malaysia from 27 October to 4 November.

Three New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship athletes, Nathan Czinner (pictured), Dylan Downey, Michael Taylor, were selected for the squad.

Burras Head Coach and former Kookaburra Jay Stacy announced the team for the annual international Under 21 tournament, which this year carries extra significance as key preparation for the FIH Men’s Junior World Cup being held in early December.

There are four new faces to the Burras team that completed a European tour in June. Diarmid Chappell (QLD), Will Mathison QLD), Lachlan Rogers (TAS) (pictured above) and Hamish Adamson (WA) are the new additions. Seventeen year old ace Toby Mallon has VCE exams and will miss the tournament.

With just over two months until the Junior World Cup, Stacy said the selection panel has taken all previous Burras events and the National U21 Championships into consideration to come up with a well balanced team to compete and succeed in Johor.

“We are still looking to provide opportunity for players to perform on the international stage and to select the Junior World Cup team,” said Stacy.

“By no means is this team we have named for the Johor tournament set in stone to be the Junior World Cup team.”

“This tournament will hold some weight in the selection process. We are up against seven nations also heading to the Junior World Cup and it’s being played in the identical climate conditions to Kuala Lumpur in December.

“We’re looking for flexibility within the squad so we’re giving opportunity to some players who have a skillset where they can play across and between lines.

“The guys playing their first event with the Burras will need to upskill quickly so they understand what we have been developing over the past year and a half, and the guys who were part of the European tour, we want them to strive for continual improvement to reach new levels. Whilst doing all of that, we are trying to win the Johor Cup.”

“On completion of our six matches in Johor, we want to be in a position to put all of the pieces of the selection puzzle together to come up with a very competitive team at the Junior World Cup.”

The Burras suffered a nail-biting loss in the Final of last year’s Sultan of Johor Cup, going down 5-4 to India in a shootout.

For the first time in the tournament’s history, this year’s edition of the Sultan of Johor Cup will feature eight teams instead of six. The teams have been divided into two pools of four, with the Burras in Pool A alongside Germany, Great Britain and South Africa.

The top two teams at the end of the pool stage will progress to the semi finals, with the winners to play in the Final.

Australian Junior (U21) Men’s Team (Burras) – 2023 Sultan of Johor Cup

2023 Sultan of Johor Cup
Johor Bahru, Malaysia
27 October – 4 November

Pool A
Germany
Burras
South Africa
Great Britain

Pool B
India
Malaysia
Pakistan
New Zealand