QLD FACE LAST HURDLE TO OPEN NATIONAL HOCKEY FINAL

The OAMPS Queensland Blades will play a ‘must win’ match against the New South Wales Waratahs at the 2011 Australian Hockey League (AHL) Finals Week in Sydney this afternoon.

The OAMPS Blades are the reigning Australian men’s hockey champions and have only lost one match in this year’s three month tournament.

A win today should be enough to advance the Queensland side through to the 2011 AHL grand final tomorrow, however a loss would likely see the Blades playing in a classification match for the fifth and sixth place getters.

The Queensland team is coached by Matthew Wells, who is a recently retired Kookaburras’ defender and triple Olympian.

Wells said he is confident his team can reach and win the 2011 AHL grand final, despite missing numerous senior players due to injury.

“We have got the side to win it. We are fielding a full strength side of the players we have here in Sydney,” Wells said.

“The match against New South Wales, and potentially the grand final tomorrow, will be a great test of where our younger Queensland players are at,” he said.

Queensland’s players sidelined with injuries include four-time World Hockey Player of the Year Jamie Dwyer, Kookaburras co-captain Mark Knowles, veteran Kookaburras’ midfielder Rob Hammond, ‘Comeback King’ Troy Elder, and Kookaburras’ Development Squad member Kris Glass.

Dwyer is out with a knee injury, Knowles is recovering from a foot injury, Hammond and Elder are nursing hamstring injuries, and Glass is taking time out after facial blow in round two of this year’s AHL.

The New South Wales Waratahs will be keen to secure the chance to play this year’s AHL grand final in front of a home crowd.

In 2010, the OAMPS Blades defeated the New South Wales Waratahs in the AHL grand final in Brisbane.

Today match between the OAMPS Queensland Blades and New South Wales Waratahs will be played at 2pm at the Sydney Olympic Park Hockey Centre.