Melbourne’s premier hockey team, Hockey Club Melbourne (HCM) has officially launched its women’s and men’s squads for Season 2 of the Sultana Bran Hockey One League.
Featuring a host of recently returned Kookaburras and Hockeyroos athletes who competed at the Commonwealth Games and Tokyo 2020, including defender Josh Simmonds, key striker Nathan Ephraums, and midfielder Amy Lawton, the squads are ready to tackle Season 2.
The squads include a fine balance of experienced and emerging athletes. Season 1 captains and former Olympians Russell Ford (39) and Rach Lynch (36) return to the team with a wealth of knowledge to impart on a host of young players joining the squads for the first time.
The youngest players in the mix are Josie Lawton (17) in the Women’s Squad and Liam Henderson (18) in the Men’s.
There are a total of nine new players in the Women’s squad and nine in the Men’s who did not feature in 2019, bringing new energy and style to the playing group.
With less than 40 days until the first game, HC Melbourne’s Men’s Head Coach Lachlan Anderson is excited to take on the challenge.
“We made some really tough selection calls but I’m proud of the group we’ve put forward and believe it’s a great mix of talent from national players to the top players in our Victorian premier league teams,” said Anderson.
Women’s Head Coach, Phil Burrows remarked on the squad selection, “It has been a tough few years for our Victorian athletes and we’re excited to get these players back out on the pitch, playing in a high performance environment.”
“There’s some great competition in the Hockey One league and we’re looking forward to the challenge.”
There are also some great family connections in the squads with a total of three sibling duos.
– The Utri sisters – Ciara & Ash
– The Lawton sisters – Amy & Josie
– The Bretherton brothers – Josh & Jonno
Born in 2001, Ciara Utri joins her older sister, Ash who featured in the inaugural HCM squad. Ash Utri is in great form finishing as the 2022 highest goal scorer in the Victorian Premier League. Both sisters have been instrumental in Essendon HC’s ascension to minor premiers in the Premier League this season.
Fresh from the Olympic & Commonwealth games, Amy Lawton enters the squad as a key component of HC Melbourne’s midfield and will be a player to watch in Season 2. Born in 2004, Josie Lawton has recently been selected for Australia’s U21 squad the Jillaroos and has played an impressive season with Victorian club, Southern United.The Bretherton brothers play a key role in the midfield for MCC Hockey Section in Victoria’s Premier League. Jonno played in HCM’s inaugural team and his older brother Josh joins him in the squad after a few years playing for Reading Hockey Club in the UK.
Hockey Club Melbourne will open Season 2 of the Sultana Bran Hockey One League on 29 September against archrivals NSW Pride at Melbourne Sports Centres – Parkville.
HC Melbourne’s other home fixtures are on Friday 7 October against the Perth Thundersticks followed by the visit of the Tassie Tigers on Thursday 10 November.
3 Game HC Melbourne Memberships are available here.
Individual match tickets available here.
Follow HC Melbourne on socials:
https://www.facebook.com/HCMelbourneH1
https://www.instagram.com/hcmelbourneh1/
https://twitter.com/HCMelbourneH1
Full Squads
| Name | Club | Position |
| Megan Alakus | Footscray | DEF |
| Krissy Bates | Camberwell | MID |
| Hannah Cotter | Hawthorn | STR |
| Olivia Downes | Essendon Hockey | STR |
| Gracie Geddis | Mentone | DEF |
| Hannah Gravenall | Hawthorn | MID |
| Emily Hamilton-Smith | Southern United | DEF |
| Nicola Hammond | Doncaster | MID |
| Carly James | Footscray | DEF |
| Bridget Laurance (GK) | Hawthorn | GK |
| Amy Lawton | Southern United | MID |
| Josie Lawton | Southern United | DEF |
| Rach Lynch (GK) | Greensborough | GK |
| Anna Moore | Melbourne University HC | MID |
| Joanne Peeters | Camberwell | MID |
| Madi Ratcliffe | Doncaster | STR |
| Ciara Utri | Essendon Hockey | MID |
| Ash Utri | Essendon Hockey | STR |
| Rosario Villagra | Footscray | STR |
| Zali Ward | Essendon Hockey | MID |
| Name | Club | Position |
| Kiran Arunasalam | Doncaster | STR |
| Josh Bretherton | MCC Hockey Section | MID/DEF |
| Jonno Bretherton | MCC Hockey Section | DEF/MID |
| Doug Buckley | MCC Hockey Section | DEF |
| Cooper Burns | Altona | STR |
| Eden Davis | Camberwell | MID/STR |
| Johan Durst (GK) | Hawthorn | GK |
| Nathan Ephraums | Southern United | STR |
| Russell Ford | Doncaster | STR |
| Liam Henderson | Camberwell | STR/MID |
| Max Hendry | Camberwell | MID/STR |
| Craig Marais | Southern United | STR |
| Connar Otterbach | Altona | DEF |
| Jayshaan Randhawa | Doncaster | DEF |
| Jake Sherren | Camberwell | STR/MID |
| Josh Simmonds | Doncaster | DEF |
| Jed Snowden (GK) | Essendon Hockey | GK |
| Damon Steffens | Waverley | DEF |
| Lachlan Steinfort | Waverley | DEF/MID |
| Trent Symms | Southern United | DEF |