AGED just 73, Taree’s Peter Cubbin was the ‘baby’ of the combined Western Australia Country/NSW team that won the inaugural Australian over 75 hockey championship played in Adelaide.
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“I was originally picked as a shadow reserve for the NSW over 70s,’’ Peter explained.
“They were keen to get the over 75s up and running but they only had three sides. NSW didn’t have enough players and neither did Western Australia Country, so they decided to combine the two.’’
That’s how Peter got a start, although he first had to get dispensation from Hockey Australia. Once this was given the green light, Peter was right to take his place in the team dubbed the WacaTahs.
He then played a leading role in the team’s win, finishing the top goal scorer for the tournament.
Peter is the Manning River Times Iguana Sportstar of the Week, earning a $50 open order at Iguana. He was nominated by his team-mate, Taree’s Bob Bruce.
The WacaTahs went through undefeated. Peter, usually playing either left or right wing, managed to find the back of the net on four occasions. The final against Western Australia Metro was a tense affair, with the scores locked at 1-1 at fulltime before the WacaTahs broke the deadlock through a goal by Bruce in what is now known as a ‘wobble off.’
Peter admits he was surprised by the standard of the championship.
“Some of the stick work skills were unbelievable,’’ he said.
Peter is a comparative newcomer to hockey.
“I only started playing in 1996,’’ he explained.
“Wayne Rudd and Terry Ryan talked me into having a game with Tigers C-grade. They’d tried a couple of years before but they had about 17 players and I reckoned I wouldn’t get a run.’’
He’d previously played squash, golf and in his younger days, rugby.
However, he’s been a stalwart with Tigers since, serving a term as men’s president at one stage. He was still playing with the club until recent years, but now limits himself to veterans matches on Tuesday evenings which resumed this week.
He’s currently treasurer of the veterans’ group. Peter had his first taste of hockey at State level in 2009 when named in a NSW over 65s side and he’s played off-and-on in national championships since.
“A couple of years I didn’t get selected,’’ he said.
He’s still enjoying the run along with the camaraderie. Even though he'll still be underage next year, he’s hoping to play in the 75s again.
"I was told that because I played this year I’d be right next time,’’ he said.
Peter is confident NSW will get enough starters to have a stand-along team in 2017 to challenge for the championship.