School cheers Aussie giant killers

School cheers Aussie giant killers

School cheers on Aussie giant-killers

A team closely linked to Trinity was always going to win, but thankfully for Aussie fans it was the Sharks who pulled off a giant-killing 11-8 victory over world powerhouse Croatia in their Olympic water polo showdown.

The Aussies, spearheaded by former Trinity coaches Lachlan and Blake Edwards, registered their first ever Olympic win over a Croatian team which had been guests of Trinity at a pre-COVID Olympic training camp.

During their stay at Summer Hill in December 2019 the Croatians had beaten Australia 12-11 in an exhibition match.

But at Tokyo’s Tatsumi water polo centre on Tuesday night it was no exhibition match; it was for real.

And Australia, whose assistant coach Tim Hamill will join Trinity’s sports staff straight after the Olympics, responded magnificently.

“It was great for the Trinity students to see their coaches on the Olympic stage,” said the School’s Director of Water Polo Seamus Rodden, a former NSW rep player and now PDHPE teacher and Housemaster.

“It gives them a greater appreciation and respect for the level of coaches provided for them.

“Hopefully they will be able to use some of the same determination they saw from Australia against teams like Newington this season.”

Cheered on by many Trinity families glued to their TV sets, the Sharks were buoyed by a miserly defence which went through the entire second quarter without conceding a goal.

Tied 3-3 at quarter time, they led 5-3 at half time and 7-6 at the final interval before goals from Richard Campbell and captain Aaron Younger, then a double from Blake Edwards, gave them an unassailable lead.

Edwards might have had a third if not for a video ruling disallowing his “goal” a split second after the half time whistle.

Australia’s victory over Croatia, gold and silver medallists in the previous two Olympics, was one of their finest moments, especially following their opening 15-10 loss to Montenegro in the so-called “group of death”.

The world eighth-ranked Aussies are now second behind group leaders Spain, but must finish in the top four of the six-nation group to advance, with their next encounter against reigning Olympic champions Serbia.

Younger said after the match: “It was great to bounce back like we did. This puts us right in the mix, giving us the confidence to play against the bigger teams.

“It has definitely kick-started our campaign.”

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