Queanbeyan’s Lewis McLennan is headed to the Gold Coast for his first ever Australian Hockey League (AHL) finals series.
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The ACT’s men’s and women’s sides finished second and third respectively in their pools, and will travel to Queensland for the finals, which begin on October 25.
McLennan has taken part in two of the Lakers’ three matches in the tournament, and said that “for us [the Lakers], it’s been really good.”
He noted that the Lakers had initially struggled in their first match due to a swathe of debutants, but had since come good and dominated their last two encounters.
Former Kookaburra and Lakers stalwart Glenn Turner said that he was very pleased with the improvement shown by the ACT in their latter two rounds, against Queensland and NSW.
“We definitely made positive strides each game,” Turner said.
“The first game I think we had eight debutants, and it’s AHL so it’s a new level and they probably found it a little bit daunting.
“To their credit, we had some good meetings and then they came out against Queensland and they played really well.
“We played, I thought, some of the best hockey that I’ve been a part of for the Lakers.”
The team’s most recent win, on Saturday against NSW, was particularly satisfying due to the perennially competitive relationship between the states.
“It’s always very difficult, we haven’t had too many wins [against] New South because it’s sort of like a big brother-little brother thing,” Turner said.
“We held our own actually, I thought we were the better team on the day.”
Turner added that the 3-1 victory, in which he scored twice, gave the Lakers significant confidence ahead of their first finals fixture against South Australia.
Although Tasmania and Western Australia proved to be the teams to beat in the pool stages, Turner said that it is impossible to tell who will rise to the top in the finals.
“I still think Victoria, although they lost to WA in one of the games, they’re still a really good chance of winning it for the third time,” he said.
Both ACT sides will play South Australia in their quarter finals. The matches will take place from 2.45pm on October 25 at the Gold Coast Hockey Centre.
