Wayne Blazejczyk & The 2026 Stars of Australian Hockey

In honour of the 2026 FIH Hockey World Cup, we started to reflect on how these incredible athletes got to where they are today. Each one of these elite players has their own unique story, which we can see when we consider four of Australia's current stars - the Hockeyroos Grace Stewart and Mariah Williams, and Kookaburras Jeremy Hayward and Tom Craig.

Grace Stewart - Forward for the Hockeyroos

Stewart (born 1997) grew up in Gerringong on the NSW South Coast, where she began playing hockey through local and representative pathways, alongside her two sisters, Lilly and Demi. Her talent quickly became apparent, and in 2016, aged just 18, she made her Hockeyroos debut in Singapore where she scored a goal that secured Australia a draw against Germany. Upon return to Australia, she moved to Perth on a Hockey Australia scholarship to train full-time with the national program, and from there her career took off. Stewart cemented her position in the Hockeyroos and has been to the Olympics, the Commonwealth Games and the FIH Women's World Cup multiple times.

Mariah Williams - Forward for the Hockeyroos

A fellow Hockeyroo, Williams (born 1995) began her hockey journey at just four years old. Growing up in Parkes, NSW; Williams enjoyed all types of sport including football and touch football before a visit from former Kookaburra Stephen Davies inspired her to pursue hockey seriously. Moving up through the representative pathways, at just 13 years old she relocated to Newcastle in order to attend Hunter Sports High School. Throughout her career she has played in two Olympics and the FIH Women's World Cup and this is despite many serious injuries and stints of rehabilitation after surgeries.

Williams is a proud Wiradjuri woman, from the largest Aboriginal tribe in NSW, and is passionate about using her platform to advocate for First Nations voices. She is currently the only Aboriginal athlete representing Australia in the national women's hockey team.

Jeremy Hayward - Defender for the Kookaburras

Hayward (born 1993) is originally from Darwin, NT and similar to Stewart, was born into a passionate hockey family. He grew up playing in highly competitive environments, often playing above his age group, alongside his brother, Leon, who also plays hockey professionally. Two-time Olympian, Hayward has also played in the 2023 Hockey World Cup, the Commonwealth Games and the FIH World League Semi Final and Final on different occasions. Outside of the world of hockey, Hayward is a primary school teacher and has a long-term relationship with fellow professional hockey player Brooke Peris, also from Darwin.

Tim Brand - Forward for the Kookaburras

Brand, originally born in The Netherlands, relocated to Australia at the age of three and grew up playing hockey at his local club. He received the call to join the national development squad in 2017, at 19 years of age. Since then, he has competed in the Champions Trophy, World Cup, FIH Pro League, the Commonwealth Games and the Olympics and isn't giving signs of slowing down.

There are so many incredible athletes competing in Australia for hockey and although they come from different places and backgrounds, the one thing they have in common is their pure determination and tenacity to excel in the sport they love.

Wayne Blazejczyk on the History of Field Hockey in Australia

Field hockey occupies a unique place in Australian sport. It isn't as loudly celebrated as cricket or AFL, yet the Kookaburras and Hockeyroos are quietly two of the most successful national teams this country has ever produced. To understand how Australia became a genuine world power in hockey, it helps to go right back to the beginning — to British sailors, cow-pat-strewn parklands, and a handful of determined schoolgirls.

How It All Began: The British Navy's Unlikely Legacy

Most sports that took root in colonial Australia arrived via the British Army. Hockey is the exception. In the late 1800s, Australia had no naval fleet of its own and depended on the Royal Navy to patrol its coastline. It was British naval officers stationed here — not soldiers — who introduced the game to the local population, teaching the sailors' pastime to communities clustered around Australia's port cities.

No one can say with certainty exactly where or when the very first game was played on Australian soil. What we do know is that private girls' schools were already playing hockey by 1900, and informal matches were underway in New South Wales, South Australia and Tasmania from as early as 1901.

The First Clubs and State Associations

Hockey's formal structures sprang up quickly once the game caught on. The South Australian Hockey Association was formed in 1903, the same year Sydney's Wandah Club — founded by Miss Clubbe and her sister — became the first women's hockey club in the country. Forestville Hockey Club, also established in South Australia, is recognised as the oldest hockey club in Australia.

From there, the game spread state by state with associations forming from all through the early 1900s. Interestingly, hockey in Australia developed largely as a women's game in its earliest years, even as men's competitions began appearing around the turn of the century.

The National Hockey Teams

The Hockeyroos (Women)

Australia's women's national team played its first international match in 1914, against an England touring side — making it the older of Australia's two national programs by more than a decade. For decades afterwards, the national picture was shaped by fierce interstate rivalry: an interstate championship to crown the best state side began in 1946, and Western Australia dominated it almost completely between 1946 and 1967. That depth of state competition made — and still makes — selection for the national team brutally competitive.

The Kookaburras (Men)

The men's side took longer to organise nationally. Although the need for a national men's body was recognised as early as 1912, it wasn't until 13 years later that it became reality. The Australian Hockey Association held its first council meeting in Sydney on 8 May 1925, with Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria represented, followed by its first AGM on 29 June 1925. At that meeting, just 54 teams were recorded playing hockey across the country — New South Wales led the way with 18 teams, followed by Victoria (17), Queensland (15) and South Australia (4).

Despite the association forming in 1925, Hockey Australia traces the Kookaburras' representative history back further still — to 1922, when Australian men first took the field in competitive international fixtures. Since then, more than 400 men have worn the Kookaburras jersey.

From Local Curiosity to Olympic Dominance

For much of the early-to-mid twentieth century, hockey remained a solid but modest part of the Australian sporting landscape — popular in schools and among club players, but far from a national obsession. That began to change dramatically in the second half of the century, as both national teams transformed into genuine global forces.

The Kookaburras built one of the most remarkable medal records in Australian Olympic history. They became the only Australian team in any sport to medal at six consecutive Summer Olympics (1992–2012), and finished in the top four at every Games between 1980 and 2012. Their overall Olympic résumé now includes:

• Gold: 2004

• Silver: 1968, 1976, 1992, 2020

• Bronze: 1964, 1996, 2000, 2008, 2012

They've also won the Hockey World Cup three times (1986, 2010, 2014) and dominate the Hockey Champions Trophy with a record 15 titles — more than any nation in the sport's history.

The Hockeyroos arrived on the Olympic stage slightly later — women's hockey only entered the Games at Moscow 1980, and Australia didn't compete until Los Angeles 1984 — but once they did, they were sensational. From the late 1980s through to 2000, they sat at world No. 1 almost continuously, adding World Cup gold in 1994 and 1998 along the way. Their Olympic resume includes:

• Gold: Seoul 1988, Atlanta 1996, and Sydney 2000.

A Legacy Still Being Written

More than a century after British naval officers first introduced the game and Sydney schoolgirls formed Australia's earliest club, hockey remains one of the country's most consistently successful international sports. In 2000, the women's and men's Australian Hockey Associations merged to create Hockey Australia which not only supports our impressive sportspeople but also supports communities through the Hockey Australia Foundation and leaves a legacy to proud of.

Wayne Blazejczyk Discusses FDCTech’s Subsidiary Genesis Divesting Mortgage Businesses for $1.75m

As a significant shareholder of FDCTech, Inc., Wayne Blazejczyk must stay aware of the business dealings of FDC’s subsidiary companies as their decisions may impact the fortune of the company and, therefore, the value of his stocks.

Australia-based FDC subsidiary Genesis Financial Inc. recently sold its mortgage brokering business, Interactive Mortgage and Finance Pty Ltd, to Haisto Consulting Pty Ltd. for $1.75 million, or AUD 2.3 million.

In a recent press release, FDC described the reasoning behind the divestment as such:

“Genesis has reached an agreement to divest its mortgage brokering business … to provide surplus capital to acquire complementary companies in wealth management, digital assets, and financial brokerage.”

FDC went on to explain the highlights of the deal in more detail through the following list:

• Enables Genesis to concentrate on its core activities in the financial planning and advisory sectors in Australia.

• Retains the ability of our 114 in-house financial advisors with over $540 million under advice and dealing group to cross-sell mortgage broking services through the Buyer.

• Proceeds from the sale of IMF will enable FDCTech to acquire other profitable dealer groups in Australia, resulting in a positive step-change in revenue, assets under advice, and assets under management.

• An ongoing relationship with the buyer, with a vast and robust distribution network, provides further organic growth opportunities and synergies.

Blazejczyk is confident about the new financial opportunities brought forth by the Genesis deal in light of this information. Not only will this deal bring forth potential growth for Genesis, but also in turn for FDC, as well; thus, benefiting all shareholders involved.

Additionally, the Executive Director of Australian operations at Genesis, Nick Brookes, provided the following statement regarding his perception of the agreement: “This transaction will realize a significant cash injection to the Australian subsidiary and enable us to focus on the core activities in line with FDCTech’s overall corporate acquisition strategy.”

Brookes continued with an uplifting message, “Our colleagues at Genesis should be commended for their efforts, along with those of our team, to achieve this turning point for the Australian operations.”

Thanks to this reassurance from Brookes and the important information provided by FDC, Wayne Blazejczyk is pleased with the announcement of the sale of IMF by Genesis. He looks forward to the future progress of FDCTech, Inc. and its subsidiaries.

For more information about Genesis and the future of FDCTech, you can read the full press release here.