By Kate Allman
All eyes will be on Perth Hockey Stadium on Saturday night as the Perth Thundersticks and Adelaide Fire square off to conclude the opening round.
Catch all the action LIVE on Kayo or get along to the matches.
Tickets are available through Ticketek.
Prior to the inaugural season many thought both the men’s and women’s Thundersticks teams were going to be title contenders. However, it did not eventuate with the women’s team finishing fifth and the men’s team sixth.
Plenty can change in three years though and both the Perth Thundersticks and Adelaide Fire will be aiming to stake their claims as teams to watch out for in Season 2.
For the Adelaide Fire, 200-game Hockeyroos co-captain Jane Claxton will be a major boost for the team from South Australia.
The Fire women will need an underdogs’ win against a Perth side boasting its own contingent of Hockeyroos including Georgia Wilson, Karri Somerville and goalkeeper Aleisha Power.
Somerville’s lethal drag flick and defensive talent give her stats on both sides of the scoreboard. She was crucial in the Hockeyroos’ silver medal-winning campaign at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
In the men’s match, Kookaburras co-captain Aran Zalewski headlines a team of several current and former Australian players for the Thundersticks. Throw in youngsters like Brodee Foster, who was player of the tournament and top goal scorer at this year’s Australian Under 21 Championships, and the Thundersticks have every reason to be confident of opening their account in winning fashion.
But the Fire men could surprise with its trio of Northern Territory weapons travelling south to play for the season – striker Zach Rakkas, defender Nathan Hockman and Jye Clarke in goals.
Last time these teams met, the Thundersticks won in both match-ups.
Perth Thundersticks v Adelaide Fire
Saturday 1 October 2022
Perth Hockey Stadium at Curtin University (WA)
Match Start: Women’s 5:30pm local (7:30pm AEST), Men’s 7:00pm local (9:00pm AEST)
Broadcast: LIVE and exclusive on Kayo
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash-tag #PTXvADL #HockeyOne
Perth Thundersticks Women’s team: 1.Kate Denning, 2.Kyra White (c), 3.Candyce Peacock, 5.Georgina Dowd, 6.Georgia Wilson, 9.Shanea Tonkin, 10.Sarah Byrnes, 11.Rachel Frusher, 12.Line Malan, 13.Neasa Flynn, 16.Karri Somerville, 17.Annie Gibbs, 18.Renee Rockliff, 19.Aleisha Power (gk), 25.Jolie Sertorio
Adelaide Fire Women’s team: 1.Linzi Appleyard, 4.Chloe Carter, 5.Kelsey Bing (gk), 8.Holly Evans-Gill (c), 9.Lucy Holland-Smith, 10.Carly Hoffmann, 11.Lucy Sharman, 15.Jane Claxton, 17.Siennah Cowles, 18.Erin Cameron, 19.Gabi Nance, 20.Hattie Shand, 21.Miki Spano, 23.Izzy Gill, 30.Julia King
Perth Thundersticks Men’s team: 1.Chris Bausor, 2.Will Battistessa, 3.Tim Geers, 4.Jake Harvie, 5.Bryn de Bes, 6.James Collins, 7.Tyler Lovell (gk), 8.Brodee Foster, 10.Tom Wickham, 11.Tom Harvie, 12.Alistair Murray, 13.Campbell Geddes, 17.Aran Zalewski (c), 18.Harry Golding, 24.Matt Willis
Adelaide Fire Men’s team: 1.Tom Cleghorn, 2.Connor Richmond-Spouse, 5.Jack Holland, 6.Angus Fry, 7.Geoff Abbott, 8.Brodie Gleeson, 9.Fred Gray, 11.Cameron Joyce, 15.William Abbott, 18 Alastair Oliver, 19.Glyn Tamlin (c), 20.Matthew Magann, 21.Michael Doan, 22.Christian Starkie (gk), 23.Cameron White