BOOOOOYAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!
It is with some regret that we announce that Australia’s Grant Schubert is out of the Olympic Games due to a knee injury………His mummy said: Team officials noted:
“He just took a brilliant dive and put the ball into the half-circle and I think it was Eddie Ockenden put it in the goal, and through taking the dive he must have landed on his knee and through the impact damaged the ligament behind the knee”.
Thanks Mrs Schubert Although this is terrible news for Grant and we can all only imagine how gut wrenching it must be for him, we also couldn’t be more stoked if we tried for our main man on the ground in Beijing…
as we like to call him…”The Hockey Show’s Own..”
SMITTY!
Schubert’s injury opens the door for the 17th man, the great Andrew “We love you ’cause you’re a Victorian” Smith to step into the squad for the remainder of the tournament. Not a bad Olympic debut v Spain in the Semi Final if you ask us!
Obviously our Voodoo-Doll antics have worked wonders and the injury gods have smiled upon this King amongst men and with the whole of Victoria behind him how can the big rig go wrong?
Best of luck Smitty, knock ‘em dead.
…now…can they get a decent keeper in the net?
Related posts:
August 20th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
It’s all been a brilliant ploy. We’ve been hiding the WMD until now, and are going to unleash him on an unsuspecting opposition
August 20th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
Now they can have someone on the field who can drag flick and play hockey
August 20th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Now if only Lambert could twist his knee for example when he starts to make a save after the ball has already hit the backboard then maybe we could get a bloke in the net who could stop a short corner shot…
August 20th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
It could be a decision to put Smitty or a “decent keeper”….
August 20th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
Awesome news!!!!! Best news I’ve heard all day!!!
August 20th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
Joking or not, this banter is very disrespectful to Grant Schubert and Stephen Lambert. Keep it to yourselves.
August 20th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
the commentators have mentioned the fact that Doerner was the one in mind as an emergency keeper…. now that Smitty is in and the drag flicking is covered, bench Lambert and put Doerner in the net!!!!
August 20th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
Hey Someone with manners…
get over yourself. have a joke mate. people like you who take life too seriously need to get a grip.
xx
August 20th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
I’m sorry…
I didn’t realise elite athletes who’s participation in the Olympics is funded by the taxpayer shouldn’t have any accountability for their performances… God forbid we say anything critical…
Lambert is a fantastic keeper, all respect, but he isn’t having a great time of it during this tournament stopping corners… Even Wansy noted that the second goal last night was right next to him…
I am sure if Gimpy had already been selected as a bench player he would be getting a run against Spain – its only the fact that the weather over there forced them to chose one keeper so they could have more field players on the bench that he wont get a run…
Gimpy is a proven performer and deserves to be out there.
August 20th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
gee smitty you have paid the price now enjoy the rewards , play good attacking hockey cos there is no tomorrow
August 21st, 2008 at 12:22 am
hope there is a tomorrow, cos thats mens semi-final day. Good Luck.
When tomorrow comes, good luck for the day after tomorrow too.
August 21st, 2008 at 8:26 am
Bartos – please dont comment on keepers, you are clearly not even qualified to have an opinion on these guys.
Good luck Smitty
August 21st, 2008 at 9:17 am
Lambert is a great keeper who is not in career best form but is still keeping well. Unfortunately we are playing at an Olympics for a gold medal and well is not quite good enough to get us the gold. He looks to be struggling against flickers and isnt the best at keeping them out at the best of times.
I mean no disrespect to Lambert he is a star and one of the best keepers in the world, but this gold medal could well come down to which keeper stops flicks the best. Lambert is maybe in the top 5 keepers in the world at defending drag flicks, which is admirable. However we have the number one drag flick stopper sitting in the stands ready to go.
Smitty is confirmed in by the way, they are not going with Gympie to replace shubert.
Terrible luck for grant who is a gun and a goal scoring machine. There is nothing wrong with being excited for Smitty seeing how many times he has been named reserve in big tournaments and the injuries he has overcome, dont let anyone make you feel bad for being happy for Smitty.
And Smitty, in your greatest hour, in case you were wondering what would Jesus do? He slam a couple home early then showtime the rest of the game to scare the sh*t out of the dutch.
Game on Mofos, the big dog just got let off the chain, would hate to be a spanish half right about now, mainly cause i dont speak spanish and so wuldnt understand any of the calls coming from my fullbacks.
August 21st, 2008 at 10:16 am
Victorians all wankers!!!!!!!
August 21st, 2008 at 1:28 pm
massive lol @ pulse and his language barrier.
I reckon gympy is just about the only keeper who has a chance of stopping taekema. He just has that extra level that other keepers don’t.
Although Lambert is good, he’s not a once-in-a-lifetime keeper. Gimp is. They have their freak flicking them, we need our freak in the net!
August 21st, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Wow – I hope the rest of you have your ‘Who?’ supplied credentials allowing you to make comment…
Haha – love anonymous wankers chiming in… oozes credibility…
August 21st, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Guys..As much as you try to be pranksters and funny I strongly disagree on your form of announcing Andrew as the fill in player.
Even though you don’t mean to disrespect Schuby have a think of what you would be feeling like if you were in his shoes right about now.
Take a good look at yourselves!!! VooDoo doll? Was that really necessary? Fair dinkum you guys our meant to be the Hockey Show, not the “Victorian Hockey Show” I am as patriotic as they come, born and raised Victorian but am disgusted the way you have gone about your business.
I don’t know what else to say except sharpen up your act and apologise to Schuby and Lamby!!!
August 21st, 2008 at 2:33 pm
no. 8
tomorrow never comes
August 21st, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Ding dong.
August 21st, 2008 at 3:32 pm
let’s hope the Smit dog can step straight into an OG semi and perform. huge pressure especially as he would no doubt have noticed that Schubert was playing really well.
as for the Gimp v Lambert debate, I think GK is the only real weakness in the team at the moment. Mowlam very very unlucky not to be in the 16. we just have to stop conceding PC’s as Lambert can’t stop them!
anyone else noticed he’s got a funny nervous sort of twitch with his head and shoulders?
August 21st, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Ding-dong – love it. hehe.
August 21st, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Disappointed – agree with your sentiment.
In the interests of transparency I wont pull the offending sections of the article, but have tidied it up to present it how it should have been written.
No offence was intended to either player and we apologise if they took any.
August 21st, 2008 at 4:15 pm
Lets not get caught up battling between each other about what was said or “who drank all the cool aid”..
Smitty is in, great. He worked hard and has got his chance.
Schubert is out. Bad luck but im sure he would want everyone to backing the Aussies.
Now lets just hope that can smash those el spandido’s tonight like a big plate of TAPAS. SALSA SUCKS!
August 21st, 2008 at 4:26 pm
Bartos – was not have a go at you, its great that Smitty is going. I just think slamming the current GK the day before the Semi Final is in bas taste.
I think Gymp is the best keeper in the world, in my opinion if he didnt have a year off and didnt leave his run so late he would be there now.
Go Lambert & Go Australia
August 21st, 2008 at 4:29 pm
So we all agree…
We would be better off with Gympy.
But we respect that Lambert is still an awesome keeper.
And we want Aus to win against los Espagniolas.
August 21st, 2008 at 4:39 pm
I dont think its that clean cut, hard to predict how Gymp would perform after a signifcant time away from the top level and an annoying injury just before the CT.
I am interested in how you would propose to get Gymp into the net? Are you suggesting the powers that be should have left Smitty waiting in the wings and brought in Gymp for Schubert?
August 21st, 2008 at 5:57 pm
yes
August 21st, 2008 at 6:46 pm
Gimpy will only get a game if Lambert gets injured.
August 21st, 2008 at 10:43 pm
CHANNELL 7 ARE AT IT AGAIN! IT IS 10.45PM AND THE KOOKABURRAS GAME STARTED AT 10.30PM! EVERYONE CALL THE CHANNEL 7 HOTLINE 1300 737 507 AND COMPLAIN.
August 21st, 2008 at 10:55 pm
CHANEL 7
August 22nd, 2008 at 12:21 am
once again lambert lets in a flick that is going nowhere near the corner and aus is out of the games. someone tell him he has a foot, oh wait he tried that against GB and it still went in….
just imagining how frustrated gimpie would be watching that from the stands.
August 22nd, 2008 at 8:21 am
its friday morning
BUGGA
the dutch germans spaniards would have shut up shop at 2-0
oh the bourbon goggles
check 7 news may have DHC clubrooms on tv
sorry about the spanish
August 22nd, 2008 at 9:06 am
F*ck!
August 22nd, 2008 at 10:00 am
We are Australia, we were the number one ranked team in the world. You only get one shot every 4 years and unfortunately we just blew ours.
Players in our team are judged harshly on their performances in big games, and rightly so, they are supopsed to be the best in the world. People who criticise either of our teams after poor performances are chastised and told to cut them some slack. The players dont want to be given any slack and we should not give it to them. Both teams are no doubt gutted with their results, but they should be.
Potting individuals is pointless and unfair. Hockey at the top level is all about the semi and then the final. Win enough games to get the semi, then win it. Outside the core or George, Dwyer, Hammond, Knowles and now Ockenden, Australia has a raft of players in the whole Aussie squad + Development who can slot in and get the job done against nations outside the top 4. We need players who can perform and do perform against the Dutch, Spanish and Germans. Anyone who doesnt agree with this is excepting mediocrity and not someone I hope is ever in a position in hockey selection at any level.
Dont really want to start selection debate about who should have been in over who as I was quite happy with the team selected. My concern was with for the Hockeyroos against China: 1. Who really wanted the ball, wanted the responsibility? 2. The decision making of those who inevitably got the ball whether they wanted it or not.
Kookaburras. 1. Semi: same question, not enough people said give it to me, ill get it done. (More players than the girls put their hand up, but still not enough.
August 22nd, 2008 at 10:20 am
did smitty get a touch…did lambert for that matter…why did we continue to use the same tactics all game when spain changed how they played at half time…
August 22nd, 2008 at 10:50 am
Stop slagging Lambert, they were all ordinary. How could dancer boot Lambert when Gimp took a year off, had no form and was injured? Eggy’s injury was a huge loss.
August 22nd, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Mowlam had been playing well up until he hurt his knee. He is the better keeper, you take him as he was fit by the start of the olympics, well and truly, he was borderline fit for Champions trophy. You take Mowlam, and have lambert as reserve, not the other way around. Soft call by selectors.
Eglington, huge loss superstar. Dancer’s feud with Elder may have also been costly.
August 22nd, 2008 at 1:37 pm
What about the tactics used by the aussies, when we played Spain in the Champions trophy, we used a full court press and really put their defence under some pressure, caused turn overs & scored. In this game we sat back with a half court and let the spainard’s pick their passes with no pressure.
August 22nd, 2008 at 2:03 pm
I am astounded at the response regarding the performance of Stephen Lambert. The ignorant amongst us are judging him on a few brief minutes of hockey coverage they’ve seen during past fortnight. These grabs highlight what the average viewer (and uneducated programmer) wants to see; goals and more goals. Unfortunately for a goalkeeper the most spectacular ”saves” rarely make it to screen, let alone the bread and butter.
If you’re going to critique, get yourself a copy of the entire game, view it, then form an opinion. Don’t write a player off from a skewed highlight package. Those of you that listened to the match (live) on ABC radio would know that he more than held his own in the first half, saving 3 PC flicks as well as numerous shots from general play. The impression I got was that he was having a solid game, not that you would have known from watching the Chanel 7 broadcast of the event.
August 22nd, 2008 at 2:24 pm
Well said George, I agree. Just make sure you remember whose forum this is… We are lucky to able to contribute!
August 22nd, 2008 at 5:21 pm
Unfortunate that the Kookas lost, however it must be said (and has been said), Lambert had an absolute shocker (or a shocking series of brain fluffs, either way). He was brilliant up until Spain scored their first goal – the 2 saves he made before the third shot went in were absolutely stunning – and rather poor defence that Spain managed 3 consecutive uninterrupted shots-not Lambert’s fault. However, it is blatant that Spain, Germany, Netherlands have him worked out: they know he is weak down low near the left post – not uncommon for decent international goalies. With that said, it wouldn’t take much for him to drop half a second quicker and shuffle over 20cm – maybe even just 10. Also if you watch a replay of the second goal he was in an absolutely atrocious position – once again a defensive slip to let the cross happen across goal unincercepted – but it wouldn’t have taken much for Lambert to prevent it going in – a side-step here or there is so critical and what makes the jump from great goalie to freak goalie.
Whilst I think its unfortunate that among losing teams goalkeepers get hit the hardest with criticism and minor BS like what I’ve put above, it’s hardly unwarranted in these circumstances as its a make or break opportunity to get a gold medal and we needed him to bring it to the next level – we needed the whole team to do something looking slightly more than complete disinterest in the game of hockey!
Hopefully he steps it up into freak mode for the bronze medal match – if we’re lucky SBS will enforce their rights to show it and we’ll get some decent coverage for once – quite sad when hockey has been shown more in montages about poor weather and/or incredible athleticism than for actual game times.
August 22nd, 2008 at 5:21 pm
Thats true. Correct me if i am wrong but i hadnt seen a spanish penalty corner yet but the count said 7? am i right or was i dreaming. Lambert must have been doing okay to stop all those.
August 23rd, 2008 at 10:58 am
Saving 6 of 7 penalty corners is a good result on paper. Spain hardly have a fearsome corner battery. Frexia and Ribas are good flickers, but they are just good, not great.
Keeping out 6 of 7 against Doerner, Taekema, Abassi, Mantell, Jang, Zeller, Gu
August 23rd, 2008 at 11:00 am
est would be an achievement. Frexia and Ribas are a level below these guys.
August 23rd, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Freixia & Ribas are much, much better than Mantell, fact. He defines mediocrity.
August 24th, 2008 at 11:29 am
There are 16 players in a team. When 14 of the 16 play at half their ability in an Olympic semi, a loss is inevitable. It is a disgrace to single out Lambert. It is just as pathetic to celebrate Schubert’s injury.
August 25th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
I guess Smitty is just a well deserved player who’s persistance, hard work and patience has paid off.
August 25th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
You can’t pick Lambert out for one save he did or didn’t make when there was a whole team out there in front of him underperforming, and not able to step up to the level that Spain set. The Kookas were outplayed, and were unable to change or adapt to what was happening in that match.