news, latest-news, hockeyroos, hockey, olympic games, tokyo olympic games, katrina powell

Canberra's Katrina Powell has a big career decision to make in the next month, and it revolves around whether she will put her hand up again for the Hockeyroos' head coaching gig. The 49-year-old took on the role in March only months before the Tokyo Olympics got under way, but her six-month contract is due to expire on September 30. The Sydney-based coach said she could put her hand up again but the relocation to Perth for years was something she would have to consider. "It's also something I need to have a think about, as moving somewhere for three years versus five months is quite different," she said. "I need to talk to my partner about those kinds of things before I even commit to thinking about doing that." MORE IN CANBERRA SPORT: The Hockeyroos finished fifth in Tokyo, despite being among the gold medal favourites, after winning all five of their group matches before their abrupt 1-0 loss to India in the quarter-final. However, one unique aspect for Powell was the ability to debrief athletes so soon after an Olympic campaign thanks to 14-day quarantine measures. "It's been very different and I think beneficial, certainly from a coach's perspective, as the ability to debrief after an Olympics is unusual. Last week I had an individual meeting with every one of the athletes, so the opportunity to review the experience and the performance of the team was really unique," she said. "So there's definitely some parts of being in quarantine that were beneficial ... from a coaching perspective." The Hockeyroos were heartbroken after their quarter-final loss to India, who finished fourth in the competition. Powell said there were two emotions the side dealt with after Tokyo in their debriefs. However, she was very proud of their united front and their resilience throughout the Olympic campaign - after a tumultuous nine months - with her favourite part of the tournament being their win over China. "The playing well in the round matches and being undefeated and then suffering a defeat in the quarter-finals, there's all of those emotions. Then, of being really disappointed with the result and that one game," she said. "So I think the majority of us have those two conflicting emotions, being happy and proud, and also really disappointed and feeling like we've let Australia down as well. "That's hard and you need to get away from, I suppose, that final result to then look at the whole piece a little bit more objectively." Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:

/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/5E9aiwEpmxaHU7wKAB7bK/a36c84f5-b7b8-47b5-a085-c5ea7ce52d47.jpg/r12_97_4839_2824_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg