By Kate Allman
Out of the frying pan and into the fire.
After taking on the Brisbane Blaze in Round 1, the Tassie Tigers go on the road to hunt a thus-far winless Adelaide Fire on Saturday night.
All eyes will be on MATE Stadium in South Australia’s capital as the Fire teams seek redemption after losing in both their men’s and women’s matches against Perth Thundersticks last week.
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The Adelaide women’s team is searing on paper, headlined by Hockeyroos trio Jane Claxton – who clocked her 200th game for Australia during the Birmingham Commonwealth Games – plus Hattie Shand, and former Roo Gabi Nance.
Claxton will meet US international Cassie Sumfest in the Tigers’ midfield, in what promises to be a captivating duel between two shrewd and powerful ball winners.
Adelaide strikers will also be tested by a rising star in the Tiger’s 18-year-old goalkeeper Evie Dalton, who stunningly shut down veteran Hockeyroos Rosie Malone and Savannah Fitzpatrick in a shootout last week.
In the men’s match, both teams are chasing their first win. There can only be one – the rules of Hockey One mandate every match drawn at full time must go to a penalty shootout.
That puts pressure on Adelaide young guns like Jack Holland, Angus Fry and national development squad goalkeeper Christian Starkie.
Fry faces a giant test as he lines up against the Tigers’ rampaging captain Josh Beltz. Fry stood up against Thundersticks midfielder Aran Zalewski last week and will need to dig deep once more to beat Beltz on the scoreboard.
The Tigers men present a daunting spine of current and former Kookaburras in national co-captain Eddie Ockenden, 2018 Gold Commonwealth Games medallist Jeremy Edwards, and two-time Olympian Tim Deavin.
Unstoppable Ockenden is showing no signs of slowing down as he builds to play his 400th international match for Australia against India in November on the very same Adelaide turf.
The announcement of the India series this week adds pressure to the Hockey One League’s men’s players, who are flexing for Kookaburras selection in the upcoming Men’s Hockey World Cup in January.
Last time these franchises met in 2019 the points were split. The Tassie Tigers men won 5-1, while the Fire women came away with a 4-0 win.
Adelaide Fire v Tassie Tigers
Saturday 8 October 2022
MATE Stadium
Match Start: Women’s 7:00pm local (7:30pm AEDT), Men’s 8:30pm local (9:00pm AEDT)
Broadcast: LIVE and exclusive on Kayo #ADLvTIG #HockeyOne
Umpires: Cassidy Gallagher & Kristy Robertson (women’s), Jayden Pearson & Zeke Newman (men’s)
Adelaide Fire Women’s team: 4.Chloe Carter, 5.Kelsey Bing (gk), 8.Holly Evans-Gill, 10.Carly Hoffmann, 11.Lucy Sharman, 13.Sarah Harrison, 15.Jane Claxton, 16.Jet Mallinson, 17.Siennah Cowles, 18.Erin Cameron, 19.Gabi Nance, 20.Hattie Shand, 21.Miki Spano, 23.Izzy Gill, 30.Julia King
In: 13.Sarah Harrison, 16.Jet Mallinson
Out: 1.Linzi Appleyard, 9.Lucy Holland-Smith
Tassie Tigers Women’s team: 1.Sarah McCambridge, 2.Jillian Wolgemuth, 4.Maddi Brooks, 5.Taylor Brooks, 6.Raeleigh Phillips, 7.Maddy Murphy (c), 8.Cassie Sumfest, 9.Emily Donovan, 11.Eliza Westland, 12.Lou Maddock, 14.Brooke DeBerdine, 20.Beth Dobbie, 21.Lauren Canning, 25.Evie Dalton (gk)
In: 17.Grace Calvert
Out: 3.Hannah Richardson
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, 12.Mitchell Dell, 17.Zach Rakkas, 18.Alastair Oliver, 19.Glyn Tamlin (c), 20.Matthew Magann, 22.Christian Starkie (gk), 23.Cameron White
In: 12.Mitchell Dell, 17.Zach Rakkas
Out: 15.William Abbott, 21.Michael Doan
Tassie Tigers Men’s team: 4.Hayden Beltz, 5.Benjamin Austin, 6.Josh Brooks, 7.Josh Mardell, 8.Joseph Murphy, 9.Jeremy Edwards, 11.Eddie Ockenden, 12.Sam McCulloch, 13.Joshua Beltz (c), 15.Kieron Arthur, 19.Tim Deavin, 20.James Bourke, 23.Henry Chambers (gk), 26.Oliver Smith, 27.Gobindraj Gill
In: 12.Sam McCulloch
Out: 25.Max Larkin (gk)