Australia men are on the hunt for a new head coach after Colin Batch stepped down after eight years in charge.
Batch took the Kookaburras to two Commonwealth Games gold medals and silver at the Tokyo Olympics before a disappointing last eight exit in Paris following Pro League title success this summer.
The former player who won gold at the 1986 World Cup was unable to replicate a major title as a head coach, although he did land success as an assistant with Australia’s 2004 Olympic gold.
“The Kookaburras have been a major part of my life, as a player, assistant and head coach for almost 30 years. I am extremely proud to have been part of this program, which has seen much success,” Batch said.
Hockey Australia’s high-performance director, Bernard Savage, said: “Not only has Colin developed great players, his focus and attention on developing people has supported success on and off pitch for the Kookaburras.
“Colin leaves the programme in a great position and Kookaburra success well into the LA cycle will have his mark on it.”
The new Australia coach will first have to flush out the negativity over the end to Australia’s Olympic campaign after Tom Craig’s arrest.
Former Kookaburra great Mark Knowles has been touted as a possible replacement for Batch.
Batch was inducted into the Hockey Australia Hall of Fame in 2021 and named the FIH Men’s Coach of the Year in 2019, a fitting reward having helped the Kookaburras win the inaugural FIH Pro League and another Oceania Cup that same year.
Batch’s leaving is the best thing I’ve heard this year .Hopefully this be the end of boring defensive hockey .In their final Olympics game from the way they played you would have thought the6 were defending a 2 nil lead .Pathetic