Luke Doerner, Stephen McMullen to Coach Tigers in 2021

The Tassie Tigers today announce the appointment of the head coaches for their Men’s and Women’s teams to compete in the 2021 edition of the Sultana Bran Hockey One national league, scheduled to start on October 2^nd.

Luke Doerner was re-appointed to the position of Women’s Head Coach after taking the reigns in 2019, while Stephen McMullen was appointed as the new Men’s Head Coach after the highly successful tenures of Glenn Freeman and Andrew McDonald over the past 2 decades.

Doerner is a World Cup winner as a player with the Kookaburras, one of the most sought-after drag-flick specialist coaches in the world, has had enormous success as an assistant coach with the Belgium international sides recently, and is also head of the Tassie Tigers Academy which develops the next generation of hockey talent across Tasmania.

McMullen continues to build his impressive coaching resume after a successful stint as head coach of the North West Graduates Premier League Men’s team which resulted in the 2020 title, several Southern Hockey Association Coach of the Year awards, and most recently as the head coach of the Tasmanian U15 Boys team that won the silver medal at the 2021 National Championships in April.

Announcing the appointments was Hockey Tasmania CEO Damian Smith, who said that after an open nomination process and careful consideration of all applications by the State Teams Committee, the two appointments were ratified by the Hockey Tasmania Board and he was delighted with the chosen candidates.

“We want Tasmanian coaches to coach our Tasmanian teams. It’s a Tasmanian club, first and foremost, with Tasmanian players,” said Smith.

New Men’s coach Stephen McMullen said he was excited with the new challenge and was keen to take the next step up in his coaching career.

“I’m really excited to come into a fantastic group. The Tigers [Men] have been very successful over a number of years, finished third in the last two national carnivals [2018’s AHL and 2019’s Hockey One], and when you’ve got a team led by the national captain [Eddie Ockenden] it is something really exciting that I wanted to do,” McMullen said.

Re-appointed Women’s coach Luke Doerner admitted that the team could look very different to the one that took the field in 2019, after the competition was unable to be played last year due to COVID-19, with a number of senior retirements since and a number of emerging young players impressing at recent national championships, club level, and in the Tassie Tigers Academy.

He stated that his number one priority is just to get as big a squad nominating from across the sate so he can have as early a look at possible at potential squad members.

“Hockey One has really got it right. It’s the right program, it’s the right format, and it’s at the right time of they year. Speaking with anyone who is a potential player, they want to be involved with it as it is a great product,” Doerner said.

The 2020 edition of the league was not played due to COVID-19, after the new-look national competition was launched in 2019 with new branding, format, and a broadcast deal with Fox Sports.

The 2021 Season starts on October 2, with the Tassie Tigers hosting the Brisbane Blaze at the Tasmanian Hockey Centre.