IT’S time to paint the Australian Hockey League a shade of blue.
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That’s the mission for Bathurst Premier League Hockey talents Tamsin Bunt, Jess Watterson and Nic McEwen for this month’s campaign, which gets under way this Saturday.
The NSW trio are attempting to disrupt the Queensland-Victoria show that has dominated the competition in recent years.
Victoria enter the competition as defending champions in both the men’s and women’s events.
Bunt tasted victory with the NSW Arrows in 2015 but hasn’t found a way back to a grand final appearance since then.
She will be once again by fellow PLH graduate Watterson in an Arrows team boasting a wealth of top-tier talent.
The big question is whether they have the ability to break through to another appearance in the decider.
If their efforts at training are anything to go by then Bunt reckons that’s on the cards.
“It’s unbelievable how quickly it’s come around again,” she said.
“We’ve been training hard for the past couple of months. We train in Sydney twice a week as a team and have done a lot of practice matches on a Tuesday night and the team’s looking really good.
“We’ve got a few girls coming back who were injured last year. We have Georgie Morgan and Mariah Williams who are back from injury and Greta Hayes is back from overseas.
“This year will be a different format where they only pick 14 players instead of 16 for each round. With less numbers to select from it’s critical that everyone's on their game.”
Last year’s equal top goalscorer Emily Smith is ready for another tilt with the Arrows while Lithgow’s Abby Wilson will also line up.
The Arrows and the men’s Waratahs counterparts both open campaigns with tough home match ups with their Queensland rivals at 4pm.
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“We’re always one of the top teams but the others up there are Queensland, who we play first and that will be tough, and obviously Victoria,” Bunt said.
“You never know though what’s going to happen at AHL.
“It will be an extremely tough game against Queensland to start. We know what we’re going to get from them but at the same time they’ll know what to expect from us. It will be a fiery game.”
Current Souths star McEwen and his Waratahs will be aiming to end an even longer grand final dry spell.
Waratahs haven’t been seen in a grand final in 2011 and are chasing their first title since 2005.
