CT10 x DAY1 x AUS v NZ

Joint favorites going into this event the Australians bring a young team into Germany. With the likes of Schubert, Hammond and Brown rested it’s going to be a true test of the team’s depth.

New Zealand enters CT10 as the Champions Challenge winners in 09. This tournament sees excitement machine and Gryphon gun scorer Simon Child join the Black Sticks after missing the World Cup.

The first half was Australia going towards the “goal” end from the last game. They lived up to that start netting 4 quick goals with a new shape and formation that saw them win the World Cup.

New Zealand was able to peg one back in the first half but the Aussies went into the break 5 to 1 up.

The second half saw the young Aussie side take complete control if the game. With the young backline held by Gryphon’s Kavanagh, Carroll and Begbie the New Zealanders couldn’t find the net any more.

On the other end the Aussie’s showed their class was deep in the squad pumping in 4 more goals and 2 were disallowed in the video referral.

The final score showed Australia outplayed New Zealand by 9 goals to 1.

PHOTOS: Daniel Carson | dcimages.org

CT10 x DAY1 x GER v ENG

It’s hot. It’s humid. We’re in Germany, specifically AM Hockeypark in Monchengladbach.

It’s Men Champions Trophy time for 2010 and the opener is England versus the hosts in Germany.

Straight off the bat the English have looked to go for the Australian system that has worked so well over the past year with Gryphon’s James Tindall up front. This system gives him a huge amount of work to achieve in attack and also in the press defence.

Through the middle Rob Moore was floating around creating space on and off the ball.

England held a great amount of possession but this wasn’t enough as in typical efficiency the Germans used the ball when they got it scoring 4 goals in the first half alone.

The second gave the same goal a workout as England now stared adding pressure and finally scoreboard pressure to lock in two goals. Their intensity looked much better but wasn’t enough.

Final score – Germany 4, England 2 in a goal-fest for the spectators.

PHOTOS: Daniel Carson | dcimages.org

CT10 x CARROLL | MITTON | PATERSON x WALLPAPER x DOWNLOAD

Three of the most talented youths in Australia are about to make there Major Tournament debut’s in the 2010 Men’s Champions Trophy in Monchengladback, Germany. To celebrate their starts, we’ve released the following posters and wallpapers. If you are at the tournament then drop into the Gryphon stall to pick up your free copy, otherwise you can download them below.

Trent Mitton is a live wire striker who has exploded onto the international scene over the past 3 months scoring at an impressive rate. Still a teenager, he has gained strength, size and speed over the past year which has perfectly complemented his tenacious approach and cleverness.

Download the Trent Mitton Wallpaper: CT10_Mitton_Wallpaper

Joel Carroll hails from Northern Territory and is the cousin of Des Abbott. He is a big, tough, talented defender with impeccable timing and footwork which makes him one of the hardest players to eliminate in the new-look Kookaburras team. Having been introduced to the elite AIS/SAS/SIS programs from a young age, Joel has suffered a number of injuries as he strived to bridge the gap from promising youth to senior listed player. After spending countless hours on the track and in the gym improving his frame and skills, his focus and toughness throughout these past years have now prepared him for what may just be his break0through tournament.

Download the Joel Carroll Wallpaper: CT10_Carroll_Wallpaper

Mark Paterson is somewhat of a journey man, having been dropped by the national selectors at the end of 2009, only to return as a quicker, stronger and hungrier player, marking his status as a dominant midfielder throughout this seasons AHL. He is a traditional midfielder with a great balance of endurance and speed. He is big and strong, as well as skilful so will prove to be a handful for opposition defenders.

Download the Mark Paterson Wallpaper: CT10_PATTO_LRG

All three players will be ones to watch in what looms as one of the most competitive CT’s in history. Traditional powerhouse’s Australia, Germany and Holland are all sending young developing teams while England, New Zealand and Spain appear to be fielding their strongest available line-ups.

Stay tuned right here on gryphon-life.com as staff photographer and designer Daniel ‘DC’ Carson is on assignment in the town of Monchengladbach. As always, he’ll deliver the very best shots of the players we all aspire to be as they fight it out for the coveted 2010 Champions Trophy.

Photos: Daniel Carson | DC IMAGES

EUROPA U21 MENS CUP x ENGLAND VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS PT2

Following on from our previous EUROPA U21 MENS CUP x VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS PT1 entry, here we have video highlights of all the English Pool A games + english commentary courtesy of fieldhockey.tv

ENGLAND v SPAIN

ENGLAND v BELGIUM

ENGLAND v FRANCE

EUROPA U21 MENS CUP x VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS PT1

FOR VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS, SCROLL DOWN!

The Men’s U21 European Cup is currently underway in Siemianowice Slaskie, Poland. It is a week long competition where the best of Europe fight it out for the bi-annual title of Euro Champions.

There are a heap of talented young Gryphon guns representing all nations in this tournament, with many making waves and putting in staring performances.

Pool A consists of Belgium, England, Spain and France while the makeup of Pool B includes Netherlands, Germany, Russia and hosts Poland.

At the completion of the pool stage, here are the current standings

Ranking Pool A:

Team	No.Matches	GF	GA	GD	Points	Ranking
Belgium	3	11	8	3	7	1
England	3	10	7	3	6	2
Spain	3	4	8	-4	2	3
France	3	5	7	-2	1	4

Ranking Pool B:

Team	No.Matches	GF	GA	GD	Points	Ranking
Netherlands	3	8	5	3	9	1
Germany	3	16	9	7	6	2
Russia	3	9	13	-4	1	3
Poland	3	4	10	-6	1	4

Thursday (today) is a rest day with the Semi’s to be played on Friday and the Finals on Saturday. Semi Final 1 has England up agains the Netherlands and Semi Final 2 see’s Belgium play Germany. This tournament is a major scouting ground for the senior national teams plus the big European clubs so expect the players to be putting it all on the line in these titanic European clashes.

We have sourced the available highlights from the round matches for your viewing pleasure below. Now sit back and relax as the best youth in Europe go head to head.

DAY 1 WRAP

GERMANY v RUSSIA

GERMANY v NETHERLANDS

SPAIN v ENGLAND

BELGIUM v SPAIN

BELGIUM V FRANCE

FRANCE v ENGLAND

HOLLAND v POLAND

CT10 x KAVANAGH x WALLPAPER x DOWNLOAD

Let’s throw our minds back to the Champions Trophy 2009 in Melbourne.

Relaxed?  Thinking about the nice warm Australian summer creeping in.

Now think about the Final of that event. Australia v Germany.

One move. One player did the amazing. One goal to capture the Trophy. Fergus Kavanagh was the player who did the amazing.

To get you in the right frame of mind, here’s that goal again.

Not sure we can expect something as dramatic as that again. But this time we are in the German summer and Australia have brought Fergus with them. He since has added a World Cup title to his impressive list of accolades. Can he add three Champions Trophies?

Download the Fergus Kavanagh Wallpaper: CT10_GRYPHON_KAVANAGH_POSTER (14)

Photos: Daniel Carson | DCimages

CT10 x BEGGERS x WALLPAPER x DOWNLOAD

We are midweek now and it’s time to start ti profile some of the World Champion and current Champions Trophy Holders Kookaburras, which is well represented by Gryphon guns.

Firstly in the group that is over in Germany, Graeme Begbie is an old hat. As in, well, he’s been there and done that in barely a year. Coming from Western Australia and being selected for Champion’s Trophy 2009 in Melbourne hasn’t missed a beat in the senior list being a part of that amazing World Cup win in India.

Download the Graeme Begbie 2010 Wallpaper: CT10_GRYPHON_BEGBIE_POSTER (7)

Photos: Daniel Carson | DCimages

GRASS ROOTS x REPRESENT

We had this image come through today from a young jet out of Western Australia, Lloyd Hopkins. He plays for the Western Australian U12′s that are competing in the Nationals on the Gold Coast in a few weeks. Lloyd plays with a bunch of friends who’s fathers all played together back in the day. Great to see a talented crop of juniors coming through and loving the game. All the best to Lloyd and his team-mates at the Nationals.

Are you a frothing junior who has a photo of you and your Gryphon? Wanna represent like Lloyd? If so, email your image through to admin@gryphonhockey.com and we’ll look to throw it up in our “Grass Roots” section. We’re looking for images of crew from the world over so send them on in with a small bio about yourself!

CT10 x JOLIE x WALLPAPER x DOWNLOAD

Day two in the countdown to the CT10 and time for the next wallpaper download.

Up now is the cover model from Hockey.NL, Wouter Jolie. In this photo by Frank Uijenbroek, Wouter shows us the emotion and passion that he’s know for in club or country.  Look out for Jolie’s runs from the back line with incredible speed and his unusually powerful hitting setting up counter attacks for the Dutch.

Jolie’s Wallpaper download: CT10_GRYPHON_JOLIE_POSTER (4)

PHOTO BY Frank Uijenbroek

3RD PLACE x REDEMPTION x VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

Hi All!

The last time I wrote was just before the semi final of the Hoofdklasse with OZ. We had to play HGC, the team of Vogels, Jackson, Middleton, Garza,…. The first game we played was at home and we won 4-3. The day after we played the second game at HGC where we lost 3-1. I remember that Vogels was in good shape that game and stopped us from scoring and they scored their chances. The following Wednesday we played the third and final game against HGC that we also lost 3-1. I guess the better team won but we were really dissapointed because everybody was allready dreaming of the final.

After that it was hard to still be motivated to play the 3rd-4th place match. We had one more week of training ahead and then the last games of the season! Last year we also had to play the 3rd-4th play-off and we lost from Rotterdam in 2 games. We missed the final and a spot in the EHL so we came up empty handed. The team didn’t want to make that mistake again. Training for a full year and being left with nothing! We played the first game at Laren. We lost on golden goal just 2 minutes before the end. It was very hard and frustrating to lose like that after almost 90 minutes of hockey! After that game we had another week of training, I can tell you, at that moment the season seemed very long! We played the second match at home on saturday and we won 3-2. Of course we were very happy but we knew we had still one hard match to go. That day Bloemendaal became champions for the 5th year in a row!! That made our third and final game on sunday the last game of the season! The next day we won 4-3 at home against Laren in the final match of the season! Our youngest player Jelle Galema scored the 4-2 and that made him the match winner in the end!

It was truly a great feeling after training hard the whole year. We acheived it together, we got ups and downs throughout the season but we could end on a very positive note. It was also the last game of our coaches Roger Van Gent and Toon Siepman and also of our LEGENDARY manager Bart Gielen. So we were very happy we could end like this. We had a good party after but I will spare you guys the details! I personally was also happy with my form in the play offs scoring 4 goals out of 6 matches which was my best performance in the 2 seasons I played for OZ. I hope it will only will get better! Next year the team stays the same only the young Belgian talent Simon Gougnard will be joining us. I played with him in the national team and he is a really skillfull player, he is only 19 years old and he will learn a lot playing for OZ. It will be interesting to see him grow as a player. And of course he is a really good guy off the pitch as well so that will be fun!

After the last game on the 13th of June I had 1 week off and then I started my fitness training for the national team. We started our full time period on 26th of June. We train from 4pm until 8 pm with one free day a week. And we play 10 practice matches. As I am writing we allready played 8 practice games. The last 2 days we played New Zealand, we won the first game 5-3 and lost the second 1-0. Our last 2 games of the period we play Australia. One tomorrow and the last game on monday. After that the full time period will be over and it is time for a vacation!!!! It has been a very long season, I had my downs with 3 injuries throughout the season but I had some really great moments also and that was worth all the hard work! Nevertheless I am happy it is almost over and I can relax for 2 or 3 weeks before starting the preparation with OZ again! I am going with my girlfriend Jolien to France by car. Paris, Nice, Saint-tropez,…. Should be really good and I am looking forward to it!

You can watch the highlights of out semi finals series below, however our 3rd place series was not recorded by NOS.

Enjoy watching the champions trophy and good luck to all the G-team members who are playing the tournament and also good luck to the G-team members who play the European cup U21!

Take care,

Thomas

SEMI FINAL GAME 1

SEMI FINAL GAME 2

SEMI FINAL GAME 3

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