Narrogin student to make his mark for WA as Great Southern trio tackle national under-16 championships

Great Southern hockey guns Jethro Wright, Ben Blechynden and Bella Post are in Tasmania with WA teams contesting the 2026 Hockey Australia under-16 national championships. Blechynden, of Bethel Christian School and Manypeaks, and Wright, of WA College of Agriculture — Narrogin, are with the WA Gold side which will face South Australia, New South Wales State and Tasmania in their round-robin matches. Post, from Mt Barker, is in the WA Black development side who are in a pool with Victoria Development, New South Wales Blues and Queensland Gold. Spencer Park’s Evie Famlonga was a train-on player but did not travel. The event is being staged at the Aurora Energy Hockey Centre in Launceston and runs from April 14-21. All three, plus Famlonga, have had to attend regular training sessions in Perth, where the travelling trio received their squad shirts last Saturday. Striker Wright shifted to the Narrogin school from Mt Barker this year and will play junior hockey for Falcons in the town’s competition for Years 10-12. However, he’s undecided about where he will play his senior sport. Having arrived on Sunday to acclimatise, the boys open their pool B campaign on Tuesday with two games, tackling South Australia first and then NSW State. They then face Tasmania on Wednesday. Pool crossovers are scheduled for Thursday, April 16, with a rest day on Friday before finals start on April 18. Post’s team open against Victoria Development on Tuesday before Wednesday’s double-header against NSW Blues and Queensland Gold. WA Gold boys are seeded third behind Victoria and NSW State, while the girls representing WA Black are eighth seeds and competing in Pool C, the development section. Albany’s Carl Mueller is the umpire manager.