Rebecca Greiner

Rebecca Greiner’s elite hockey career has had its share of setbacks – she narrowly missed out on selection for the Tokyo Olympics and multiple serious injuries have gotten in the way of other opportunities to represent her country.

But two things have kept her going: her passion for the game and her love of competing for Australia.

“To be honest I did have to do a lot of reflecting after I missed out on selection (for Tokyo),” she said. “I really tried to think about why I would go back, and why I would be wanting to be in the team.

“I just love playing hockey and I love playing high-level hockey, but I guess there’s something special about playing for your country.”

Striker Rebecca grew up in the Queensland city of Bundaberg and was a talented junior with the All Blacks Hockey Club. 

She won selection in the Jillaroos and was in the team that won bronze at the 2016 Junior World Cup in Chile.

Called up to the Hockeyroos for a Four Nations tournament in Japan in September 2018, Rebecca was forced to withdraw after breaking her thumb.

However, outstanding performances elsewhere that year – she was equal top scorer in the Australian Hockey League and was named Player of the Tournament at the under-21 Australian Championships – eventually earned Rebecca her Hockeyroos debut against Argentina at the Champions Trophy.

She was also part of the Brisbane Blaze squad that won the inaugural Hockey One competition in 2019.

Left out of the Tokyo squad, Rebecca was coming out of a six-month hamstring rehabilitation when she received a late call-up for her Commonwealth Games debut in Birmingham after Brooke Peris and Courtney Schonell withdrew due to injury.

Rebecca scored in Australia’s opening game in Birmingham, where the Hockeyroos won silver. They were undefeated in the pool games and after beating India in a penalty shootout in the semi-final, they went down to England 2-1 in the gold medal game.

In 2023, the Hockeyroos finished third in the Women’s International Pro League, where Rebecca scored two world-class goals in a match against Great Britain.

She was a member of the Hockeyroos squad that clinched a place at the Paris Olympics by winning the Oceania Cup series against New Zealand in August 2023.

At the Paris 2024 Olympics Rebecca and the Hockeyroos opened their tournament with three-straight wins against South Africa (2-1), Great Britain (4-0) in which she scored a goal and the United States (3-0).

A draw with Argentina (3-3) and a win against Spain (3-1) closed the group stage and advanced the Hockeyroos into a quarter-final against China. Coached by Australian Olympic champion Alyson Annan, China prevailed 3-2 to end the Hockeyroos' campaign.

Rebecca, who has a degree in psychological science, says she has learnt that the key to success is to “chill out."

“The most effective piece of advice a coach has given me was to ‘chill out and go have an ice cream’,” she said. “I’ve learnt you don’t have to take things seriously in order to be successful. You just need to be sincere – in your words and in your actions. That’s how you keep yourself accountable.”