Experienced Heads Return To Finish Job As New Faces Look To Spur Aussie Rise Up World Rankings

Australia are set for an assault on the Men’s Box Lacrosse world rankings with Lacrosse Australia and Men’s Head Coach Adam Smith today naming the 23 players that will represent Australia at this years 2024 World Lacrosse Men’s Box Lacrosse Championship to be held in Utica, New York this September.

Australia, the world number 9, will compete alongside 28 teams in the men’s competition with the teams to be split into seven pools with one lead pool ahead of 6 evenly balanced pools. Australia was given a tricky pool with Australia set to open their schedule on opening day, 20 September, with a crunch clash against Puerto Rico before backing up against European heavyweights Slovakia and Hungary. Australia will need to finish inside the top 2 of Pool F to be any chance of progressing to the Championship bracket.

The team announcement concludes and incredibly competitive and challenging selection process cumulating with the Senior Nationals last month and a March camp. “The squad performed really well this year with the squad having a much better starting base than in 2019 and which in turn gave us one of our strongest groups ever” said Smith “we have a very athletic and hardworking group with a high level of lacrosse IQ and dedication which mean whittling the team down was a very tough process that took a lot of time and discussion to come to a consensus between the coaching staff”.

The final squad is one of the most diverse yet with 11 Victorians, 6 West Australians and 3 South Australians to be joined by 2 New South Welshmen and 1 overseas based player in Vegas Desert Dogs keeper Colin Jeffrey.

“We had a major focus on filling certain positions with players with attributes that met the requirements of those positions” said Smith “a tricky part in building a world level team from those that play in the domestic competition is trying to find the right position for each player while also selecting the best overall group, we believe we’ve done just that and have set ourselves up for a great tournament in September.”

The final mix is a nice blend of experienced players and up and coming youth with the squad one that will no doubt surprise with Smith enjoying the baseline of the team, “we have a high level of competitiveness that comes with the intensity of our domestic competition and the squad bring a great base of fitness and fundamentals, another staple of Australian lacrosse, and that’s the part that takes the most effort, so it is nice to be able to start in a great space with regards to that.”

Australia are no stranger to the Box Worlds having competed in all 5 of the previous events joining the US, Canada, the Haudenosaunee, England and the Czech Republic as the mainstays with Australia finishing 5th, 6th, 6th, 8th and 9th previously.

This side though will be looking to press to for a sharp climb from its current ranking of 9 with the side now getting down to business. “ The work starts now. It’s okay to celebrate the selection for a day or two, but then the real work begins with the goal in mind to return to the top 4-5 spots in the world” said Smith.

The work starts now. It’s okay to celebrate the selection for a day or two, but then the real work begins with the goal in mind to return to the top 4-5 spots in the world - Head Coach Adam Smith

The squad will now get back to State based training with the team with the team trying to speak as regularly as possible over the coming months with team cohesion a real focus, “our focus now will be to come together as one cohesive unit with the team needing to be on the same page for all game situations, defense, offense, power play, penalty kill, last minute, etc” said Smith, “this is going to be tough being separated by States, but it is certainly our focus to prepare for the Worlds”. The side will then come together for another full training camp before heading to Canada for a 9 day lead up filled with daily practices and games, with Smith saying “there will be a lot to go through in the lead up games but with the crew we have, I know it will be an exciting journey”.

The World Lacrosse Men’s Box Championship is scheduled from September 20 to 29 and will be held at the Utica University Nexus Center alongside the Women’s Championship. For more information on the World Lacrosse Men’s Box Championship visit World Lacrosse.