Perth Thundersticks stars Aran Zalewski Jake Harvie, Tom Wickham and James Collins named in Kookaburras squad

The Olympic dreams of four Western Australian hockey stars have received a boost after being named in the Kookaburras 27-strong squad for 2024. As the clock continues to tick towards the Paris games, Perth Thundersticks stars Aran Zalewski, Jake Harvie, Tom Wickham and James Collins have all been named in coach Colin Batch’s 2024 squad. While their spot in the Olympic team is no sure thing, the quartet’s selection is a sign they are all well and truly in contention for Paris as the Kookaburras eye up going one better than their silver medal in Tokyo. 243-capped Margaret River product Zalewski is the third-most experienced member of the Kookaburras squad, with only Eddie Ockenden (427 games) and Jake Whetton (261) having played more games amongst his teammates. Zalewski’s Perth Thundersticks teammates Harvie and Wickham were part of the Australian teams that won gold at the last two Commonwealth Games, with Wickham also winning silver at the Tokyo Games. 23-year-old defender Collins meanwhile will be seeking to be part of his first major tournament with the Kookaburras, having made his national team debut in 2022. Batch said every spot in the Olympic squad was still up for grabs and nothing was set in stone. “The selection for the team to head to Paris next year is still very open. Players will need to perform consistently both at training and in matches leading up to the Olympics to secure their position,” he said. “As we discovered this year, there is a fine line between the Kookaburras Squad and the Tier One National Development Squad members and, if required, we will select from the Tier One squad to find our best team for Paris.” The Kookaburras will kick off 2024 year with season five of the FIH Pro League in India in February, with matches against Spain, the Netherlands, India and Ireland, before heading to Europe to take on Belgium, Argentina, Great Britain and Germany in May and June.