Perth Men Run Riot: Thundersticks Smash Brisbane Blaze 9-2 in Hockey One Round 5
Brisbane Blaze scored first. Then Perth Thundersticks scored just about everything else.
The Thundersticks men turned a 1-0 deficit into a 9-2 hammering at Perth Hockey Stadium on Saturday, their third win in a row and the loudest statement of their season so far. The Blaze led inside four minutes. By the end, they were chasing shadows and had even pulled their goalkeeper just to try something different.
Corey Weyer put Brisbane ahead from a penalty stroke in the 4th minute, and for a while it looked like a proper contest. Perth created plenty through corners but couldn’t convert, Ian Grobbelaar twice denied by Mitch Nicholson in the Blaze goal, and Hunter Banyard had to produce a big save at the other end to keep it at one. Perth went into the first break behind.
The second quarter changed everything. Tom Harvie buried a penalty stroke in the 28th minute to level it, and Harry Golding found a narrow gap moments later to put Perth in front. 2-1 at half-time, and the home crowd could feel what was coming.
It came in waves. Brodee Foster struck in the third quarter, Brisbane hit back through Tom Wycherley after Banyard’s initial save from a corner, and then Perth just kept coming. Harvie converted his second stroke of the night in the 45th minute, Foster added another, and suddenly it was 6-2 at the last break. The game was gone for Brisbane before the final quarter even started.
Daykin Stanger finished the job, scoring in the 46th minute and again in the 59th, the second one converted to complete the rout at nine. Brisbane kept pressing and withdrew their goalkeeper for an extra outfield player, but Banyard stood tall again from a late corner and the defence held firm.
Three straight, and the finals race is on
This is a Perth side hitting its stride at exactly the right time. They came from 3-3 down to beat the Melbourne Cobras 6-3 last weekend, and now they’ve put nine past a Brisbane side that had given them trouble for years. The Blaze had won five of the six meetings between these two since Hockey One began in 2019, and they’d beaten Perth 3-1 in Brisbane back in October. That history counts for nothing now.
For our money, the most encouraging part wasn’t even the goals. It was the response to going behind. Perth didn’t panic, didn’t force it, just kept building through their corners until the dam broke. And once it broke, they were ruthless.
The win keeps Perth’s push for a top-four finish right on track, with the finals on the Gold Coast now firmly in sight. The women did their part earlier in the day too, Jolie Sertorio’s late corner sealing a 1-0 win that booked their finals spot, so it was a clean sweep of the double-header in front of the home crowd.
Brisbane, meanwhile, have questions to answer. They led early, had their chances, and still shipped nine. Their finals hopes are hanging by a thread now, and they’ll need a big response when Round 6 comes around.
Round 5 wraps up in Bendigo on Sunday, where the winless Melbourne Cobras meet the winless Adelaide Fire. Somebody’s season finally gets going there. Perth, for their part, can enjoy this one.
The result and scorers are per Hockey WA’s match report.
