This win maintains the dominance of Western Australia hockey from the post WWII years when an influx of Anglo Indians migrated to the State with the partition of India with what became Pakistan and Indian independence.
Hockey lore still recalls the now famous 1935 tour of Australia by the Indian hockey team where their players often carried the ball on their sticks to the delight of the crowds. Hockey caught the imagination of the nation, no more so than in Western Australia.
As Western Australia developed its hockey along with the beautiful flat and smooth grass fields, not unlike the artificial pitches of today, the hockey played in the west grew exponentially in both skill and numbers.
Western Australians have dominated Australian hockey teams since then, with some misgivings along the way. The 1980's book 'Booth to Bat' by Hockey Olympian Brian Booth (also former Australian cricket team captain) speaks of the 1956 Melbourne Australian Olympic Hockey team where the forward line was made up of all West Australians yet the team missed out on the semi-finals.
When the New South Welshmen played in the 5th and 6th standings match, which included Booth himself, the Australian team won with great distinction.
Yet history cannot be denied in that the Western Australians have been the mainstay of Australian hockey and with such distinction, it is the west that the Australian Institutes of Sport Men's and Women's Hockey units are located.
Who can forget the 1981 Sydney Test disaster against lowly Ireland where the Australians could only take victory 1-0 on the horse paddock at Burwood in Sydney. Nothing spurred that State to an artificial pitch centre than that embarrassment. Little wonder top players gravitated to the delightful English garden pitches of the West.
The artificial pitch has changed hockey altogether. Every Stated has them by the bucket load, particularly those rural centres that have traditionally been strong hockey towns.
Such strong hockey centres have included Goulburn, Crookwell, Bathurst, Parkes, Tamworth to name but a few in New South Wales, while in Queensland, Mackay, Townsville, Cairns, Bundaberg, Rockhampton, Maryborough, Toowoomba and Ipswich.
The Kookaburras (Australian men's team) on the world stage are the envy of world hockey. In the top four since the first Champions Trophy in the late 1970's with Olympic and World Cup Gold medals along and a string of Champions Trophies.
Thankyou Western Australia! One of the great joys of my life has been writing my five books on hockey and writing for The Australian newspaper on hockey for 24 years to 1994, covering Olympic Games, World Cups and Champions Trophies.
Australian Hockey League standings for 2011 – results: www.sportingpulse.com