After surviving a huge scare in the semis, former Kookaburras midfielder Simon Orchard believes Australia will be alert and on their toes as they prepare for Monday's final against India.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Kookaburras came from two goals down on Sunday morning (AEDT) to record a 3-2 win over host nation England in Birmingham to book their spot in the gold-medal clash at the Commonwealth Games.
Albion Park's Blake Govers sparked the fightback with a superb strike in the second quarter, while Wollongong teammate Flynn Ogilvie was also among Australia's best.
The result followed convincing wins over Pakistan, South Africa, New Zealand and Scotland during the pool rounds. It leaves the Kookaburras on track to defend their record of winning every gold medal since men's field hockey was introduced at the Comm Games in 1998.
However, Illawarra's Orchard - who played a role in two victorious Games campaigns (2010, 2014) - believes the Kookaburras can't be complacent on Monday.
"They'd be pretty disappointed to play the way they did. I don't want to speak in cliche, but it's harder to get into the final than it is to win it. And I think it's a sign of a pretty good team that they can play a fair way below par, but still beat a side that's considerably talented in England," Orchard said.
"I spoke to my wife on Saturday and I said if I was coaching them, I'd have been quite nervous ahead of the semi because they hadn't had that depth of contest that you'd like in big tournaments. With due respect to their opposition, they're minnows, and they obliterated them. They had a closer game against South Africa, but they're probably 12th, 14th or 15th in the world.
"The best thing that Australia did was going to Holland and Spain before the Commonwealth Games, and played games against them, who are quite good and they were hard hit-outs. Otherwise they would have been untested in those big games. Thankfully they've had a dozen matches since going over there for the Games to implement a lot of those things that helped get them back into the game against England."
Standing in their way is an Indian outfit who advanced to the decider with a 3-2 victory over South Africa.
It is the third time that India has reached a Commonwealth Games gold-medal match, with the side falling to Australia on both previous ocassions in 2010 and 2014. However, Orchard said he expected India to put up a great challenge this time around.
"India have got the same sort of weapons that Australia have,'' he said.
''They've got a really good corner, Harmanpreet Singh is arguably as good as Blake from the top of the battery, so he's going to be dangerous.
''They're quick and skilful, and their basic skills are some of the best in the world.
"They've always been supremely talented, but they haven't had the systems and structure in place to back up their ability.
''But now they do, they've got an Australian coach in Graham Reid who used to coach us.
''So he will know a fair bit about all of the players he's coming up against, which will obviously benefit India.
"Australia will be favourites, we've lost one game in the history of the Commonwealth Games, so that tells you how dominant we've been. But India are good, so it's a fitting final."
To read more stories, download the Illawarra Mercury news app in the Apple Store or Google Play.
Sign up for breaking news emails below.
Joshua Bartlett
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
