TAMWORTH’S Kate Jenner begins another golden quest tonight.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Only weeks after claiming World Cup silver, Jenner is chasing more metal – this time Commonwealth Gold.
The Hockeyroos head into Glasgow as favourites, and strong favourites too after their performance in The Hague last month.
“We did come off the last World Cup fifth and won gold (at Delhi Commonwealth Games) ,” Jenner said.
“Finishing second in this year’s World Cup, the expectation is we should win gold, and should easily.”
It will be Jenner’s second Commonwealth Games.
Back in Dehli, she’d only made her debut just before and it was her second major tournament.
Coming into Glasgow she’s been capped over 100 times.
She brought up her century during the World Cup, which was a special moment.
“I’m quite lucky to have played 100 games.
“Hopefully there’s a few more,” she said.
There have been a few rocky times in that, and she missed a fair bit of last year with injury.
“I’ve been quite lucky this year. I’ve only had injuries that I’m still able to play with,” Jenner said.
She played with her arm in a special splint during the World Cup.
“I’m now playing without the splint, which is good.”
The World Cup saw the Hockeyroos jump to second in the world and has given them a lot of confidence.
Jenner said the focus at training since has been more on the one-on-one contests.
“At training we’ve been concentrating on winning our one-on-one contests or winning our situation,” she said.
They’ve got Wales, Malaysia, the hosts and England in their pool.
While none of them can be taken lightly, and Scotland will be looking to perform well in its home games, the English appear to be their biggest challenge.
“They’re probably one of our biggest rivals,” Jenner said.
That said, the Hockeyroos have done well against England in recent years.
“We haven’t been beaten by them for a while,” Jenner said.
“I think we’ve got their measure.”
They don’t look to be in the best of form either.
“They weren’t that great at the World Cup, finishing 11th,” Jenner said. “They lost a lot of games they probably expected to win.”
But they do have a new coach and “it could go either way with them”.
“The cross-overs will be fairly tough, with New Zealand and South Africa,” she said.
They’re expected to finish top in the other pool.
The Hockeyroos played the Kiwis during the World Cup, drawing with them nil-all.
They were also their combatants four years ago, with the Aussies securing gold on penalties.
The Hockeyroos will be the first side in action and face Malaysia at 6pm tonight (AEST).