Jeremy Hayward

Jeremy Hayward debuted with the Kookaburras at just 21 years old, making his mark by scoring a goal in his second game for the Australian team in the 2014 Azlan Shah Cup.

Just two months later, Jeremy was a member of the World Cup winning team edging out the Netherlands to claim the gold medal.

Unfortunately, a bout of injuries robbed him of a spot at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games but in December 2015 he returned to score goals against Great Britain, Canada, Germany and Belgium in the World League Final in India, where Australia secured another gold.

Jeremy helped Australia to victory once again at the 2016 Champions Trophy in June but unfortunately missed out on selection for the Rio Olympic Team.

Shortly after, Jeremy scored six goals across five games in the FIH World League Semi Final in Johannesburg in July 2017.

His Commonwealth Games debut came in 2018, helping the team to victory winning the gold medal in the men’s event on the Gold Coast.

Jeremy, part of the defensive backbone of the Kookaburras, made his Olympic debut in Tokyo 2020. He was  instrumental for Australia in the group stages of the tournament, netting goals against India and Argentina. Along with claiming sibling bragging rights after defeating his brother Leon, who plays for New Zealand, 4-1. 

Australia reached the gold medal match, in which they narrowly lost to Belgium in a tense penalty shootout. Jeremy received silver, his first Olympic medal in his debut at the Games.

Jeremy has built a strong reputation for blunting out opposition raids as well as wreaking havoc with his drag-flick thunderbolts. Although he plays fullback, he has scored more than 100 goals for the Kookaburras.

In 2022, he played a key role as the Kookaburras won gold at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, thrashing India 7-0 in the final.

It was an emphatic statement from a Kookaburras team that is near unstoppable when at the peak of their powers. The result continued the Kookaburras’ remarkable record of winning every Commonwealth Games gold medal since men’s hockey was introduced to the Games in 1998.

At the 2023 Hockey World Cup in India, where Australia lost 3-1 to the Netherlands in the bronze medal match, Jeremy was the leading scorer, with nine goals, including a hat-trick in an 8-0 win over France. He was also named best defender and was nominated for FIH Player of the Year.

Back home in Darwin, Jeremy was crowned the 2023 Northern Territory Sportsperson of the Year for the second time. He previously won the award in 2015.

The Kookaburras qualified for Paris when they ground out a 3-1 win over traditional rivals New Zealand to retain the Oceania Cup in Whangarei. The duel of cross-Tasman siblings was electric, as Jeremy set up a spray of attacks on Leon, in goals for New Zealand.

At the Paris 2024 Olympics Jeremy and the Kookaburras defeated Argentina (1-0), Ireland (2-1) and New Zealand (5-0) in the group stage, which included losses to India (3-2) and Belgium (6-2).

Through to the quarter-finals, that's where their campaign would end with a 2-0 loss to the eventual Olympic gold medallists, the Netherlands.

Jeremy has qualified as a primary school teacher and away from the hockey field he enjoys playing soccer and golf and loves to get out fishing.