Australia |
| Nickname(s) | The Kookaburras |
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| Association | Hockey Australia |
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| Confederation | OHF (Oceania) |
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| Head Coach | Mark Hager |
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| Assistant coach(es) | Anthony Potter |
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| Manager | Melissa Grey |
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| Captain | Aran Zalewski |
|---|
| Most caps | Edward Ockenden (451) |
|---|
| Top scorer | Jamie Dwyer (244) |
|---|
|
|
| Current | 5  1 (19 December 2025)[1] |
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| Highest | 1 (2005, 2010–2011, 2014 – January 2017, December 2017 – July 2018, June 2019 – January 2020) |
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| Lowest | 6 (2023, August 2024) |
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|
New Zealand  5–4 .svg.png) Australia
(Palmerston North, New Zealand; 27 September 1922)[2] |
|
Australia 36–0  Samoa
(Stratford, New Zealand; 24 October 2015) |
|
Australia 1–12  India
(Melbourne, Australia; 17 August 1935) |
|
| Appearances | 17 (first in 1956) |
|---|
| Best result |  1st (2004) |
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|
| Appearances | 14 (first in 1971) |
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| Best result |  1st (1986, 2010, 2014) |
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|
| Appearances | 12 (first in 1999) |
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| Best result |  1st (1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2023) |
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|
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.[3] 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,[4] 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.[5]
History
Australia's first men's team competed in an international match in 1922.[6]
The first major competition won by the national team was the 1983 World Championships held in Karachi.[7]
Participations
Australia's first men's team competed at the Olympics in field hockey at the 1956 Summer Olympics.[7]
Australia did not medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics[8] or the 1988 Summer Olympics.[9] At the 1992 Summer Olympics, Australia earned a silver medal, losing gold to Germany.[10] At the 1996 Summer Olympics, Australia finished third, earning a bronze medal.[11]
The team won their first Olympic gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Barry Dancer coached the side.[12]
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[13]
| Year
|
Host city
|
Position
|
| 1908
|
 London, United Kingdom
|
–
|
| 1920
|
.svg.png) Antwerp, Belgium
|
–
|
| 1928
|
 Amsterdam, Netherlands
|
–
|
| 1932
|
 Los Angeles, United States
|
–
|
| 1936
|
 Berlin, Germany
|
–
|
| 1948
|
London, United Kingdom
|
–
|
| 1952
|
 Helsinki, Finland
|
–
|
| 1956
|
Melbourne, Australia
|
5th
|
| 1960
|
 Rome, Italy
|
6th
|
| 1964
|
 Tokyo, Japan
|
3rd
|
| 1968
|
 Mexico City, Mexico
|
2nd
|
| 1972
|
Munich, Germany
|
5th
|
| 1976
|
.svg.png) Montreal, Canada
|
2nd
|
| 1980
|
 Moscow, Soviet Union
|
Boycott
|
| 1984
|
Los Angeles, United States
|
4th
|
| 1988
|
 Seoul, South Korea
|
4th
|
| 1992
|
 Barcelona, Spain
|
2nd
|
| 1996
|
Atlanta, United States
|
3rd
|
| 2000
|
Sydney, Australia
|
3rd
|
| 2004
|
 Athens, Greece
|
1st
|
| 2008
|
 Beijing, China
|
3rd
|
| 2012
|
London, United Kingdom
|
3rd
|
| 2016
|
 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
|
6th
|
| 2020
|
Tokyo, Japan
|
2nd
|
| 2024
|
 Paris, France
|
6th
|
FIH World Cup[14]
| Year
|
Host city
|
Position
|
| 1971
|
Barcelona, Spain
|
8th
|
| 1973
|
Amsterdam, Netherlands
|
Withdrew
|
| 1975
|
 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
|
5th
|
| 1978
|
 Buenos Aires, Argentina
|
3rd
|
| 1982
|
 Bombay, India
|
3rd
|
| 1986
|
 London, England
|
1st
|
| 1990
|
 Lahore, Pakistan
|
3rd
|
| 1994
|
Sydney, Australia
|
3rd
|
| 1998
|
Utrecht, Netherlands
|
4th
|
| 2002
|
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
|
2nd
|
| 2006
|
Mönchengladbach, Germany
|
2nd
|
| 2010
|
New Delhi, India
|
1st
|
| 2014
|
The Hague, Netherlands
|
1st
|
| 2018
|
Bhubaneswar, India
|
3rd
|
| 2023
|
Bhubaneswar and Rourkela, India
|
4th
|
| 2026
|
Wavre, Belgium
Amsterdam, Netherlands
|
Q
|
FIH Champions Trophy[15]
| Year
|
Host city
|
Position
|
| 1978
|
Lahore, Pakistan
|
2nd
|
| 1980
|
Karachi, Pakistan
|
3rd
|
| 1981
|
2nd
|
| 1982
|
Amstelveen, Netherlands
|
2nd
|
| 1983
|
Karachi, Pakistan
|
1st
|
| 1984
|
1st
|
| 1985
|
Perth, Australia
|
1st
|
| 1986
|
Lahore, Pakistan
|
2nd
|
| 1987
|
Amstelveen, Netherlands
|
3rd
|
| 1988
|
Lahore, Pakistan
|
3rd
|
| 1989
|
Berlin, West Germany
|
1st
|
| 1990
|
Melbourne, Australia
|
1st
|
| 1991
|
Berlin, Germany
|
4th
|
| 1992
|
Karachi, Pakistan
|
2nd
|
| 1993
|
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
|
1st
|
| 1994
|
Lahore, Pakistan
|
4th
|
| 1995
|
Berlin, Germany
|
2nd
|
| 1996
|
Madras, India
|
6th
|
| 1997
|
Adelaide, Australia
|
2nd
|
| 1998
|
Lahore, Pakistan
|
3rd
|
| 1999
|
Brisbane, Australia
|
1st
|
| 2000
|
Amstelveen, Netherlands
|
5th
|
| 2001
|
Rotterdam, Netherlands
|
2nd
|
| 2002
|
Cologne, Germany
|
5th
|
| 2003
|
Amstelveen, Netherlands
|
2nd
|
| 2004
|
Lahore, Pakistan
|
Withdrew[16]
|
| 2005
|
Chennai, India
|
1st
|
| 2006
|
Terrassa, Spain
|
4th
|
| 2007
|
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
|
2nd
|
| 2008
|
Rotterdam, Netherlands
|
1st
|
| 2009
|
Melbourne, Australia
|
1st
|
| 2010
|
Mönchengladbach, Germany
|
1st
|
| 2011
|
Auckland, New Zealand
|
1st
|
| 2012
|
Melbourne, Australia
|
1st
|
| 2014
|
Bhubaneswar, India
|
3rd
|
| 2016
|
London, United Kingdom
|
1st
|
| 2018
|
Breda, Netherlands
|
1st
|
Oceania Cup[18]
| Year
|
Host city
|
Position
|
| 1999
|
Brisbane, Australia
|
1st
|
| 2001
|
Melbourne, Australia
|
1st
|
| 2003
|
Christchurch and Wellington, New Zealand
|
1st
|
| 2005
|
 Suva, Fiji
|
1st
|
| 2007
|
Buderim, Australia
|
1st
|
| 2009
|
Invercargill, New Zealand
|
1st
|
| 2011
|
Hobart, Australia
|
1st
|
| 2013
|
Stratford, New Zealand
|
1st
|
| 2015
|
1st
|
| 2017
|
Sydney, Australia
|
1st
|
| 2019
|
Rockhampton, Australia
|
1st
|
| 2023
|
Whangārei, New Zealand
|
1st
|
| 2025
|
Darwin, Australia
|
1st
|
Team
Current squad
The following 28 players were named in the Kookaburras 2026 squad.[20]
All caps and goals current as of 7 September 2025, following the match against New Zealand.
Head coach: Mark Hager
Recent call-ups
The following players have received call-ups to the national team in the last twelve months.
Notable players
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.
Win
Draw
Loss
Fixture
2025
2026
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.[12][21]
Recognition
References
General sources
- ^ "FIH Outdoor World Hockey Rankings". FIH. 19 December 2025. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
- ^ "History of Hockey in Australia". Retrieved 22 February 2022.
- ^ ABC (15 August 2016). "Rio 2016: Australia's Kookaburras and Sharks knocked out of men's hockey and water polo". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
- ^ "Kookaburras ready to toss the monkey". The Sydney Morning Herald. 26 August 2004. Archived from the original on 27 July 2009. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
- ^ "Wagga Wagga's Olympic debutant Dylan Martin helps Kookaburras win hockey silver medal - ABC News". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 5 August 2021.
- ^ Epstein, Jackie (21 October 2009). "Dwyer breaks free of Holland binds – Australia always comes first". Herald Sun. Melbourne, Australia. p. 76. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
- ^ a b Department of Sport, Recreation and Tourism; Australian Sport Commission (1985). Australian Sport, a profile. Canberra, Australia: Australian Government Publish Service. pp. 177–178. ISBN 0644036672.
- ^ Dorling Kindersley Limited. (1999). The Olympic Games. St. Leonards, N.S.W.: Dorling Kindersley. p. 320. ISBN 1864660635. OCLC 57337092.
- ^ Dorling Kindersley Limited. (1999). The Olympic Games. St. Leonards, N.S.W.: Dorling Kindersley. p. 327. ISBN 1864660635. OCLC 57337092.
- ^ Dorling Kindersley Limited. (1999). The Olympic Games. St. Leonards, N.S.W.: Dorling Kindersley. p. 335. ISBN 1864660635. OCLC 57337092.
- ^ Dorling Kindersley Limited. (1999). The Olympic Games. St. Leonards, N.S.W.: Dorling Kindersley. p. 343. ISBN 1864660635. OCLC 57337092.
- ^ a b Petrie, Andrea (18 October 2009). "Sons a chip off the old stick – HOCKEY". The Sunday Age. Melbourne, Australia. p. 19. Retrieved 14 March 2012.
- ^ a b c "Fédération Internationale de Hockey | Official Website". International Hockey Federation.
- ^ "World Cup – FIH". International Hockey Federation.
- ^ "Champions Trophy". FIH.
- ^ "Australia pull out of Champions Trophy". 12 October 2004.
- ^ "FIH confirms Spain men and Belgium women join Hockey Pro League". FIH.
- ^ "Oceania Cup". Hockey Australia. Archived from the original on 11 January 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
- ^ "Other". FIH.
- ^ "Hockey Australia announces 2026 Men's National High Performance Squad". hockey.org.au. Hockey Australia. 16 December 2025. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
- ^ Department of Sport, Recreation and Tourism; Australian Sport Commission (1985). Australian Sport, a profile. Canberra, Australia: Australian Government Publish Service. p. 116. ISBN 0644036672.
- ^ a b c "Australian Sports Awards". Confederation of Australian Sport. Archived from the original on 8 February 2015. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
- ^ "Rabbitohs, Fearnley, Fox win top ASPAS". Australian Sports Commission News, 11 February 2015. Archived from the original on 11 February 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
Further reading
External links
|
|---|
| Governing bodies | |
|---|
| National teams | |
|---|
| Men's competitions | |
|---|
| Women's competitions | |
|---|
| See also | |
|---|
Australia squads – International Tournaments |
|---|
Australia Summer Olympics squads |
|---|
|
Australia World Cup squads |
|---|
|
Australia Commonwealth Games squads |
|---|
|
|
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Australia at the 2008 Olympics
Australia at the 2012 Olympics
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Glasgow, Scotland
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NSW Pride
Tassie Tigers
Canberra Chill
Perth Thundersticks
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HC Melbourne
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Ireland 
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