THE HAGUE – Australia have emphatically stamped themselves as the best hockey team on the planet, claiming back-to-back World Cups with a 6-1 demolition of the Netherlands.
The win, which five-time world-player-of-the-year Jamie Dwyer described as better than their 2010 title, capped off a superb tournament in which Australia had utterly outclassed every opponent they encountered.
“For me this is better (than 2010). To win a World Cup 6-1 is incredible. It’s unheard of,” Dwyer told AAP.
Powerful defender, and penalty corner specialist, Chris Ciriello was the hat-trick hero as Australia dismantled the Dutch to silence the raucous home crowd in the Hague.
But it was a ruthless approach taken throughout the tournament, starting with skipper and player-of-the-tournament Mark Knowles, which characterised the win.
Across the tournament Australia amassed 30 goals, while conceding just three — a feat veteran coach Ric Charlesworth modestly described as “convincing”.
“I think we play the best hockey in the world,” Charlesworth said.
