Thomas Craig

Tom Craig’s love for field hockey came after playing the faster-paced game of ice hockey while living with his family in Canada.  

Upon returning home to Australia, Tom became involved with the Ryde-Hunters Hill Hockey club, transferring his skills from the ice rink to the field. He was a fast learner and quickly excelled in the sport. 

Tom earned a spot on the U21 Australian team a few years later and won gold at the 2013 Australian Youth Olympics.  

In 2014, Tom was called up to represent Australia with the Kookaburras for the first time in a four-test series held in Perth. The young gun scored the only Australian goal in the fourth game of the series, cementing his place on the national team. 

Tom missed selection for Rio in 2016, but won gold at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and gold again at the Champions Trophy in The Netherlands two months later.

The midfielder closed out 2018 playing in the World Cup in India, where he once again scored a hat-trick in the bronze-medal winning match over England.

Tom's success on the field continued in 2019, winning the FIH Pro League with the Kookaburras and the Inaugural Hockey One competition with NSW Pride.

The midfielder made his Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020. Helping the Kookaburra's to their undefeated group stage run, scoring their second goal of the tournament in their 5-3 victory over Japan. After dispatching the Netherlands in penalties and Germany, the Australians would reach their first Olympic final since 2004 against Belgium.

However, they would fall just short of the Gold, losing the matchup 1(2) - 1(3), earning Silver in the tournament and being Craig's first Olympic medal.

Tom scored four goals at the 2023 Hockey World Cup in India, where Australia lost 3-1 to the Netherlands in the bronze medal match.

He was also among the scorers at the 2023 Oceania Cup in Whangarei, where the Kookaburras qualified for Paris when they ground out a 3-1 win over traditional rivals New Zealand in the final game to win the series.

Tom has something of an affinity with New Zealand, however, as his parents are both Kiwis. He is an All Blacks fan and lists former New Zealand rugby captain Richie McCaw as his hero – “because of his leadership and success and his drive to win.”

Tom hosts a podcast called The Help Side, in which he speaks with some of the leading figures in world hockey.