How the West Australian Kookaburras fared in the Trans-Tasman series.

The Kookaburras had a perfect run in the Trans-Tasman series – four dominant performances leading to as many wins over the New Zealand Black Sticks in Auckland.

The first of the four matches was an 8-1 drubbing, before New Zealand stepped up to the pace and kept the Aussies scoring lower, the visitors recording 4-0, 4-1 and 3-1 wins.  

Running across the past week and weekend, some of Western Australia and the Perth Thundersticks finest players put on dominant performances in the green and gold.

We see the Kookaburras perform week-in-week-out in our Premier League – one of the best domestic competitions in the world.

For those who were not able to catch the matches on Hockey Australia’s new platform LiveHockey – here is a short insight into the performances of our West Aussies representing Australia at the highest level.

ARAN ZALEWSKI

Skipper Aran Zalewski has a presence on the field that cannot be replicated, constantly proving to be a strong ball-carrying option in the midfield whilst keeping his composure when finding a pass up-front.  

The Margaret River product is the third most-capped Kookaburra following the series with 206 matches, and isn’t showing any signs of slowing down soon, looking strong across all four matches during the week.

If Zalewski scores selection into the Commonwealth Games he is looking to secure a third consecutive Commonwealth Games gold medal.

TOM WICKHAM

Tom ‘TJ’ Wickham was WA’s lone goal scorer throughout the quad-series, also contributing efforts to all four matches.

His first goal came in the 8-1 win, his second in the final match, a second-quarter conversion finding the speedy forward his 35^th international goal.

Wickham has shown immense growth in his 73 matches in the national side, becoming one of the Kookaburras’ most lethal players up front and a real threat to opposing goalkeepers and defenders.

JAKE HARVIE

Young gun Jake Harvie made an appearance in three matches – only sitting out the final match of the series.

The 24-year-old added an overlapping element to the Kookaburras’ defence, often finding himself as deep as as the opposition goal, and as high up the field as the Kookaburras attacking circle.

Since the Boyanup defender’s debut in 2017 against the Black Sticks, Harvie has scored three times, and has a total of 78 caps to his name, a total that is sure to grow.

BEN RENNIE

Mature-age selection Ben Rennie continues to impress in his debut series donning the Kookaburras uniform.

The goalkeeper was able to play his third and fourth caps for his country, making crucial saves at the back whilst providing direction from the backline forward.

For someone who is in their first season, he possessed a confidence that looked like he had been out there for a very long time.

Other goal-scorers for the Kookaburras included Blake Govers and Nathan Ephraums with five apiece, Jeremy Hayward not far behind the leaders with three, while Ky Willott joined Tom Wickham both netting a brace.

As well as Aran Zalewski and Tom Wickham’s four-match appearances, Nathan Ephraums, Joshua Beltz, Blake Govers, Joshua Simmonds, Tim Howard, Flynn Ogilvie, Daniel Beale, Andrew Charter and Jeremy Hayward all played a full series.

Catch the Kookaburras in the Premier League action before they head off to the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham next month.

For a full list of Premier League fixtures, click here.

For live Premier League scores and statistics, click here.