Errol Flynn is arguably the most globally well known Tasmanian. His reputation as a swashbuckler during the Golden Age of cinema has ensured his place in history.
Hale Hockey club’s Liam Flynn would have to be close to the complete opposite of his namesake Errol, apart from his sense of style. For he is someone who shies away from the limelight, is known to be quiet -hence his nickname “Rowdy,” – and is remarkably humble.
Yet on a hockey pitch he could be regarded as a swashbuckler, his stick emulating Errol’s famous blade, and in recent years he has slain all before him.
Flynn is that rare breed that is so hard to find in sport today, a natural goalscorer. He is no flash in the pan. He has won the Eric Pearce top goalscorer award in Western Australia a record six times. Four of those occasions being in consecutive years. He netted 26 goals in 2017, 20 in 2018, 32 in 2019, and 33 in an abbreviated 2020 season in which his club played less games than some other sides.
In 2021 he scored 20 goals and finished in third place behind James Day (33) and Aaron Kleinschmidt (21). Flynn only played 16 games that season as opposed to Day’s 24 and Kleinschmidt’s 25 games.
In 2022 he fired home 40 goals in the season, and in 2023 finished the season with an incredible 62 goals in 26 matches.
In the season that finished this weekend with Hale winning their second ever Premiership, as they tore the defending Premiers Melville apart 5-0, Flynn scored all five goals. His haul this year showed his all round ability, 34 field goals, 24 penalty corners and four penalty strokes. In the Grand final as he put Melville to the sword he fired home three field goals and two penalty corners.
His tally of goals in the season is an all time record. The record for goals scored by an Individual in 1st Division (A Grade, Premier League) going back from the start of the 1950 season was 47 set by former Kookaburra and Olympic gold medallist Nathan Eglington when he was playing for Westside Wolves in the 2009 season.
Flynn also scored a whopping 11 goals in one match against Curtin University in a record 17-1 victory. (Link to the game here )
Of course Flynn will be the first to let everyone know, especially as captain in 2023, that he would not be able to achieve such success without his team mates around him; which happens to include four Tasmanians. Errol would approve of that!
What is incredible about Flynn’s performances is his consistency. He has performed week in week out for seven seasons. Not only that but in a league that on occasion has the national team players playing in the opposition, as well as those in the National development squad who have headed to Perth for extra training and to be close to the High Performance Centre, and be visible in front of the selectors.
Some would argue he is playing against some of the best defenders in the country. To score 233 goals in seven seasons is the stuff of legend. To score 233 goals in 143 games is truly remarkable.
When one considers that a goal a game is regarded as a great return in any sport, to be averaging 1.6 goals a game is the mark of someone who is a little bit special.
Flynn is still only 25 years old and some would say is only just hitting his prime. Mind you he has good genes, with his mother and father having played internationally for Zimbabwe.
So why has he not been given a chance to train with the Kookaburras? Only those in charge can answer that question.
The statistics are proof that here is a player who is natural goalscorer. A rare breed.
In English football Steve Bull showed similar form when playing in what was the third tier of English Football and then in what is now the Championship with Wolverhampton Wanderers. Bull was a one-club man. He did not want to go to any other club and stayed with Wolves. His consistent goalscoring forced the England team to select him. He scored on debut against Scotland and was selected for the Italia ’90 FIFA World Cup. He played in four games, three coming on as a substitute, but unfortunately was unable to score. He ended up making 13 appearances and scoring four goals. More importantly he remains the last player to be capped by England from outside the top two tiers, and one of only five post-war players to be so honoured.
When Flynn’s name has come up the excuses have ranged from he is not physically strong enough, he doesn’t do enough off the ball, he could never hold his own in such an environment. Yet he is playing against players from that environment, and shown that he can match them, that physically he can cope because he plays to his strengths and avoids a physical battle.
Experienced defenders have admitted that while normal players may need these prerequisites Flynn has a knack that is hard to defend against. An ability to pull away at the last second and create space for a shot. An ability to score from all angles and positions, skills that cannot be taught to many. What is more in his club side if you choose to double team him you will pay a heavy price as the likes of Sam McCulloch will make you pay.The truth is Flynn’s scoring ability does help those around him as many teams are unable to leave him unmarked, and he does his fair share of defensive work.
One argument put forward is that come the Hockey One competition, which is the revamped Australian Hockey League, he has not been able to replicate his magnificent scoring feats. In year one his Perth Thundersticks side struggled and finished second last, so it was fair to say that the whole team failed to live up to expectations. Come the second competition they made the Grand final, and along with three other players from the Thundertsicks Flynn was second top scorer for the side.
The question that has to be asked is have the Thundersticks played to his strengths? There will no doubt be coaches and other players who will say why should we change our style to suit one player? Which is a fair point, but when you have a player with a freakish ability to score goals most would say that it makes perfect sense as ultimately you all benefit. However it takes a courageous coach to make the decision. Too many are unfortunately obsessed with sticking to set plays.
There is a famous situation in which a Kookaburra coach was telling his charges that he did not want the players to shoot from a certain position inside the circle as the angle was too narrow, and your chances of scoring were minimal. Five-time FIH player of the year Jamie Dwyer picked up a ball and went to the same position as the coach had been in, and slotted the ball past one of the team’s world class goalkeepers. He cheekily turned and asked “were you talking from here?” or words to that effect. Everyone that was there at that time realised that the rule did not apply to Jamie, because he was a special player.
There is no doubt that Flynn is a special player. He is understandably greatly appreciated at his club, and it was great to see them acknowledge that these are special times and that Flynn is a one of those players that comes along once in a blue moon. Leading up to the Grand Final they wrote a post which included the following: “As a club we are lucky to see the greatest goal scorer in the history of the competition, tucking them away week after week. And more importantly to us than all of that – a wonderful friend, gentleman and role model.”
Flynn is not the type of player to moan about a lack of opportunities at a higher level. He keeps his own counsel. However one feels it will be a great shame if the coaches away from his club opt not to try and tap into his freakish ability to score goals, not just tap-ins but all manner of goals from all angles, as was witnessed in the Grand Final. A game in which not surprisingly he was awarded the Merv Adams Medal for being the best player in the final.
Who knows what the future holds for this individual, but he has already left many memories. No doubt he will take whatever the future holds in his stride for it appears that Liam embodies the spirit of Errol Flynn when he takes the field of play, and lives up to the actors famous line, “my job is to defy the normal.” Long may he continue to do so, for it is a privilege to watch. .
