New captain John Jackson admits Ireland have their sights set on crushing the TriFinance EuroHockey Nations Championships dreams of near neighbours England next week.
Andrew Meredith’s green machine, ranked 15th in the world, are pooled with Netherlands (3rd), Poland (20th) and England (4th) for the bi-annual tournament, which begins in Boom, Belgium on Saturday.
Jackson, who takes over the armband from Ronan Gormley, is back in England with Reading this year having spent six with Loughborough prior to a two-year stint in Belgium and says the clash with the country of his residence will be pivotal as Ireland chase a top four finish for the first time.
“We have a target for each game,” said the former man. “Holland — we’ve never beaten them at a major tournament. We have a good recent record of not losing to lower-ranked teams, so that’s the target for Poland.
“England is another kettle of fish, that’s the game for us. Those of us who have played in England — myself, Chris Cargo at Reading, Stu Loughrey with Bath — know exactly what we are up against, and we believe they are beatable.”
Ireland have had a topsy-turvy time since Paul Revington’s departure in the wake of the Olympic qualification near miss in Dublin in March 2012. A huge public fundraising drive yielded €60,000 to help get them to the Champions Challenge I in Argentina, duly repaid with a shock bronze medal finish.
Grit got them through a World League 2 campaign in New Delhi that was sticky in all senses, before June’s huge disappointment in round three saw them miss out on World Cup qualification due to a narrow defeat to Spain after heavy losses to the Netherlands and Belgium.
[pullquote]”Those of us who have played in England — myself, Chris Cargo at Reading, Stu Loughrey with Bath — know exactly what we are up against, and we believe they are beatable”[/pullquote]
They finished on a high by coming from four goals down to beat France 6-4 and finish seventh, but Ireland will carry a sense of wanting to put things right now.
A final World Cup place is on offer if the green machine go all the way — Jackson admits both their training programme and his chances of taking on the captaincy full-time are ‘hazy’ until they see if they can grab that chance, unlikely as it may seem. But getting out of their group and into the semi-finals is the initial aim.
“We’re targeting a top four finish, which we’ve never achieved,” he says. “I think we can turn some heads; we’re probably coming in under the radar compared to a few years ago when we had beaten some big teams. Our results are more mixed this time around, but maybe that’s a good thing. I’d be very confident we can achieve our objective.”
Australian Meredith has ruffled a few feathers in Irish hockey during his tenure. He continues to base himself in Germany while asserting that he wants his ‘wild geese’ to return to play in Ireland, and wasn’t shy in publicly taking aim at some of his senior players as well as implying criticism of Revington after World League 3.
Jackson is aware of the outside perception of in-house turbulence, but says any disturbances owe more to players’ personal circumstances.
“A lot of players’ personal circumstances are changing very quickly. I’ve just got a job in England, there’s 10 other guys who are doing law or accountancy exams, moving countries or getting engaged or married.
“That has contributed to player unavailability for certain tournaments, whereas two or three years ago we were all mostly in the same situation, either playing abroad or finishing university. Guys are getting to that age where they might need to focus more on other areas of their life.
“We’re trying to get the balance right, but is it a happy camp? Absolutely. The preparation has been direct, accurate and geared towards what we needed to be focused on.”
Regarding Meredith’s desire to see the players based in European leagues return, Jackson has mixed feelings: “I would love Ireland to be one of the stronger leagues in Europe, which of course requires our best players to be playing in it, so I echo Andrew’s sentiments in that sense.
“But then I’ve spent eight years away, and learned something every year. If you’re an aspiring hockey player you need to sample other structures and cultures. It’s beyond my remit as captain, I can’t tell the guys what to do or where to go. But we’re a strong enough group and we have support from the Irish Hockey Association that whatever decision we make will be backed. That’s a comfortable place to be.”
[pullquote align=”right”]”Is it a happy camp? Absolutely. The preparation has been direct, accurate and geared towards what we needed to be focused on.”[/pullquote]
A further hallmark of Meredith’s time with the green machine has been a willingness to blood youngsters, particularly in the hotbed of midfield. Peter Brown was brought to the Delhi cauldron at just 18 years old, while Kirk Shimmins will make his major tournament debut in Belgium having just received his Leaving Certificate results earlier this week.
“The quality of the likes of Kirk and Pete is outstanding. I don’t think it’s a matter of coping for them, they’re more than capable of replicating the performances of the guys they are replacing,” offers Jackson.
“It’s frightening how well they have adapted to the rigours of the training camps, at 18 they are more than ready. It’s exciting for me to be leading these guys into this tournament.”
Jackson was part of a side that finished fifth in Germany 2011, their first time achieving such a high A Division rank outside Ireland, and he’s confident they can go one better this time around.
“It’s always been a trend of ours to break moulds, and that’s what I’ll be saying to the guys, my family, friends, anyone who asks — we want to achieve something that no other Irish team has achieved, which means a top four placing.”
“We have a target for each game,” said the former man. “Holland — we’ve never beaten them at a major tournament. We have a good recent record of not losing to lower-ranked teams, so that’s the target for Poland.
“England is another kettle of fish, that’s the game for us. Those of us who have played in England — myself, Chris Cargo at Reading, Stu Loughrey with Bath — know exactly what we are up against, and we believe they are beatable.”
Ireland have had a topsy-turvy time since Paul Revington’s departure in the wake of the Olympic qualification near miss in Dublin in March 2012. A huge public fundraising drive yielded €60,000 to help get them to the Champions Challenge I in Argentina, duly repaid with a shock bronze medal finish.
Grit got them through a World League 2 campaign in New Delhi that was sticky in all senses, before June’s huge disappointment in round three saw them miss out on World Cup qualification due to a narrow defeat to Spain after heavy losses to the Netherlands and Belgium.
[pullquote]”Those of us who have played in England — myself, Chris Cargo at Reading, Stu Loughrey with Bath — know exactly what we are up against, and we believe they are beatable”[/pullquote]
They finished on a high by coming from four goals down to beat France 6-4 and finish seventh, but Ireland will carry a sense of wanting to put things right now.
A final World Cup place is on offer if the green machine go all the way — Jackson admits both their training programme and his chances of taking on the captaincy full-time are ‘hazy’ until they see if they can grab that chance, unlikely as it may seem. But getting out of their group and into the semi-finals is the initial aim.
“We’re targeting a top four finish, which we’ve never achieved,” he says. “I think we can turn some heads; we’re probably coming in under the radar compared to a few years ago when we had beaten some big teams. Our results are more mixed this time around, but maybe that’s a good thing. I’d be very confident we can achieve our objective.”
Australian Meredith has ruffled a few feathers in Irish hockey during his tenure. He continues to base himself in Germany while asserting that he wants his ‘wild geese’ to return to play in Ireland, and wasn’t shy in publicly taking aim at some of his senior players as well as implying criticism of Revington after World League 3.
Jackson is aware of the outside perception of in-house turbulence, but says any disturbances owe more to players’ personal circumstances.
“A lot of players’ personal circumstances are changing very quickly. I’ve just got a job in England, there’s 10 other guys who are doing law or accountancy exams, moving countries or getting engaged or married.
“That has contributed to player unavailability for certain tournaments, whereas two or three years ago we were all mostly in the same situation, either playing abroad or finishing university. Guys are getting to that age where they might need to focus more on other areas of their life.
“We’re trying to get the balance right, but is it a happy camp? Absolutely. The preparation has been direct, accurate and geared towards what we needed to be focused on.”
Regarding Meredith’s desire to see the players based in European leagues return, Jackson has mixed feelings: “I would love Ireland to be one of the stronger leagues in Europe, which of course requires our best players to be playing in it, so I echo Andrew’s sentiments in that sense.
“But then I’ve spent eight years away, and learned something every year. If you’re an aspiring hockey player you need to sample other structures and cultures. It’s beyond my remit as captain, I can’t tell the guys what to do or where to go. But we’re a strong enough group and we have support from the Irish Hockey Association that whatever decision we make will be backed. That’s a comfortable place to be.”
[pullquote align=”right”]”Is it a happy camp? Absolutely. The preparation has been direct, accurate and geared towards what we needed to be focused on.”[/pullquote]
A further hallmark of Meredith’s time with the green machine has been a willingness to blood youngsters, particularly in the hotbed of midfield. Peter Brown was brought to the Delhi cauldron at just 18 years old, while Kirk Shimmins will make his major tournament debut in Belgium having just received his Leaving Certificate results earlier this week.
“The quality of the likes of Kirk and Pete is outstanding. I don’t think it’s a matter of coping for them, they’re more than capable of replicating the performances of the guys they are replacing,” offers Jackson.
“It’s frightening how well they have adapted to the rigours of the training camps, at 18 they are more than ready. It’s exciting for me to be leading these guys into this tournament.”
Jackson was part of a side that finished fifth in Germany 2011, their first time achieving such a high A Division rank outside Ireland, and he’s confident they can go one better this time around.
“It’s always been a trend of ours to break moulds, and that’s what I’ll be saying to the guys, my family, friends, anyone who asks — we want to achieve something that no other Irish team has achieved, which means a top four placing.”