International Focus - Australia's WJUC Open Team

The Aussies are returning for only their second junior worlds, a relative newcomer to the scene given the event's history, however they are not to be discounted in Devens.

Thunder returns 5 players from the 2004 event in Turku, Finland in which the team took the spirit award. They improve off their 7th place finish in the last games, according the Aussie Co-Captain John McNaughton.

Liam Kendrick will return with the team from the 2004 games as the offensive captain, while Luke Turner (another vet from the 2004 team) heads up the offense. Daniel "Drule" Rule rounds out the team leadership with the other team co-captain position, the fourth holdover from the Turku team.

The 20 who will be making the obscenely long flight to Massachussettes are a geographically diverse group, coming from 6 of Australia's 8 states most met for the first time in January when the first tryout was held in Sydney before a team was announced in April. As a result of the distance between the players most will be preparing for the games by playing with their normal open club teams.

What is interesting to me is the leadership depth on this team, not only the 5 returning members of the 2004 team, but also the coaching. Piers Truter - the head coach - has played in worlds in 1996, 98, 00, and 04; World Clubs 97, 99, 02; US nats 2000; UK nats 97, 03; Canadian nats 97; NZ nats 96, 97, 99, 2000, 02; as well as other various tournaments abroad according to his profile on the AFDA's site. With that kind of experience under the belt, as well as a team that seems very eager to get to the US and do some damage look for the green and gold to put on a show at Devens and establish Australia as a perennial contender in the juniors scene.

"The jr. open team is very keen to retain the spirit award," says McNaughton. Only three more weeks until the Aussie entourage arrives in Devens will they keep the spirit title? will they take the world by storm in their second WJUC appearance? only time will tell, but the place to be from august 13-18th is Devens, Massachussettes to see how it all turns out.

Usefull Links:
Australia player bios on Score-o-matic
Australia WJUC team website

Related posts:
WJUC Historical Rundown - Swedish Dominance
WJUC Seedings announced
If the rest of the world isnt there...

Editorial note - look for more internation coverage in the coming weeks