There is noting better than a close competition.
In 2024 that has been the case in the Hockey WA Men’s Premier League. Heading into the penultimate round of the home and away season three teams are assured places in the finals, while a further five teams mathmatically have a chance of making the top five and joining them. Five points seperate those five teams and while those with the points already won have the ascendency, anything can happen in sport.
Even in the race to decide the minor Premiers it has been an interesting tussle as initially three teams were slugging it out for top spot, University of Western Australia, – in their centenary year, – defending Premiers Hale, and Melville. In recent weeks we have witnessed Hale and Melville swapping places at the top of the League table, and again this battle may not be decided until the very last round.
Once those finals places are decided the club committees will face a decision that could have a huge impact on the game in Western Australia.
With the Hockey Australia High Performance Unit based in Western Australia for decades. there has been a draft system in place that has seen these players shared between clubs in the Premier grade. Whether the system is flawed, which has been an accustaion made in recent years, is irrelevant at this point in time.
However, the issue that is raising it’s head this year has been raised previously, but never under the same circumstances.
In 2024 someone within the Hockey Australia High Performance environment made the call that these players would not be avialble for their clubs until the squad for the Olympic Games was selected.
The agreement with Hockey Western Australia, and it is claimed the clubs, was that only players that were not selected on any National Tours be allowed to play for their allocated club if applicable to the needs of the players and the National Program.
As we saw earlier in the season there was the need for two players to get some game time under their belt as they were coming back from injury This was again allegedly agreed by all, who understood that Tier-1 players from time to time “may be released if it best suits their individual need for match-play.” Yet it appeared there was a communication breakdown as some clubs felt that it offered their opponents an advantage. (Time To Proptect The Integrity of The Competition)
While all clubs are happy to try and help the outcomes of the National teams there is a feeling that in recent times this has become a one way street. They are expected to bend over backwards when required, but get little if nothing in return.
Heading into the finals the Hockey WA Premier Grade rules are very clear on the eligibility of players. Under by law 4.5. a. it states: To be eligible to play in a Final, a Player must have played at least five (5) Fixture Weeks in that League during the Winter Season.
In subsection e they go on to state: HAHPP Players are exmpt from this By-Law and at all times are eligible to play in a Final for the highest-ranked team in their Club Hierachy.
(Please note HAHPP stands for “Hockey Australia High Performance Program.” Also, please note that the use of capital letters are used because this is a direct quote from the by-laws).
These regulations have been the case for many years, however the difference has been that previously most clubs have had their draft players playing more frequently for them than they have this year.
So the top clubs face an interesting conundrum. While the by-laws say that they can bring these players in, should they simply cast aside the players who have earned them a spot in the finals series to accommodate them? Some of these younger players may never get the chance to play in a Grand Final again, that is the nature of sport.
To give this some context at Melville’s Lachlan Sharpo and Andrew Charter have not played a single game for the club in 2024. At Hale Josh Beltz and Johan Durst are the same. One would feel that both of these teams would benefit immensely from having a Kookaburras goalkeeper in goal. However, what message would that send to both club’s young goalkeepers, Melville’s Hunter Banyard who was part of the Burras squad at the Sultan of Johor Cup last year, and Hale’s Jarod Crick who was part of the Australian U21 indoor side last year? What is more Banyard has conceded the least goals in the top grade this season and Crick the third least, so they have proven their worth.
Of those clubs vying for the last Finals positions at Fremantle Cockburn Jack Welch has played five games while Corey Weeyer has played none. At Reds, Blake Govers and Aaron Zalewski have played no games, while Tom Craig played one, At Westside Wolves Jake Harvie has played no games, Daniel Beale has played one, and Joel Rintala has played six. At YMCC Jacob Anderson has played nine games, while Eddie Ockenden has played none, and at WASPs Tim Howard has played one game and Tim Brand zero.
Now some of the players fortunate to have been selected for the Olympic Games are staying in Europe to play, while some are taking a break. Others have returned to Australia and gone back to their home states, and are playing for the clubs that they originally belonged to.
The first question is should these High Performance Program players be parachuted into the Finals? Many feel very strongly that as they have not been available all year they should not.
As one Hockey WA staffer said, the rules state that they are allowed to play, and they cannot change the rules during the season.
However, if the clubs playing in the finals all agreed that the integrity of the competition needed to be preserved, there is nothing to stop them agreeing not to bring those players in.
Do these clubs look to gain success for their club by bringing in these international players in the hope that they will make a vast difference, and steer them to success? Or do they look at the integrity of the competition, it’s long term future, and their club’s policy in developing players or leave those homegrown players out?
Jake Harvie’s home club is Wolves, just as Aran Zalewski’s club is Reds. So if the clubs making the finals agreed not to play any High Performance players who have not met the normal player criteria do they allow these two to play? Of course they have not met that criteria of playing five games so one would think the answer would be .’no.’ However, being homegrown players they are an attraction to the club and its juniors, so there is an argument that their playing would be a benefit to the game in Western Australia and their clubs.
Of course the obvious solution is that the by-laws need to be re-written, and to state that whether a player is a High Performance Program player or not, they must meet the required criteria of playing five games in the season. When one considers that the home and away season is 22 games, that is not a great deal to ask.
The unavailabilty of the players in 2024 has left a sour taste in the mouths of many at the various clubs. Is it time the clubs made a stand and said that this is not accaptable?
One feels that if they do it is essential that whoever makes the top five in the league that they need to stand united to ensure that this situation or worse does not happen again in the future.
Yet with a Premiership at stake will all be prepared to stand as one for the good of the competition?
