Being an Australian sports tragic, I have followed with interest the progress of the Kookaburras, the Australian men's hockey team, since Ric Charlesworth was appointed the coach in 2009.
Since his appointment, the Kookaburras have been all conquering and now possess the Champions Trophy, the World Cup, and now the Commonwealth Games gold medal. Charlesworth had similar success with the Australian women's hockey team, the Hockeyroos, when he was coach from 1993 to 2000.
When I was watching the Kookaburras demolish India 8-0 in the gold medal match last week at the Commonwealth Games, what impressed me most was the fact that when the match was clearly in their control and keeping, they kept going and completely put India to the sword. They played like a complete team machine and were relentless for the whole match.
I thought it was also interesting that when Charlesworth was asked whether he was now happy (he had been terse, grumpy and demanding through the whole tournament), he replied that he was "temporarily pleased”.
Clearly he has his eye on a gold medal at the London Olympics in 2012 and will not be happy until his team has achieved this goal.
I believe Charlesworth describes himself as a sports and performance consultant.
I was wondering if any other readers of The Roar can see any value in the ARU trying to engage Charlesworth as a motivational consultant/coach for the Wallabies?
As I watched the clinical way in which the Kookaburras crushed India, I couldn't help but wonder how good the Wallabies could be if they had the same level of ruthlessness instilled in them that the Kookaburras clearly have.
Thoughts?
