By Tara Murray
The next generation of Australian Kookaburras are set to take centre stage with three Altona players keen to make their mark.
Kookaburras coach Mark Hager announced the 2025 squad in late December which marks the start of a new era.
Altona’s Cooper Burns was one of three debutants named in the initial 17 man squad. His Seagulls teammates Nye Roberts and Connar Otterbach have been named in a further squad of 21.
The final seven players of the Kookaburras squad are set to come from the further squad.
Altona president Brian Fanning said it was exciting for the club to see the three named in the two squads.
“It is amazing,” he said. “We’ve had Kookaburras before and had a Hockeyroo in Danielle Schubach.
“We’ve been expecting it for a while with them being in a lot of the other development teams, Australian under-21 teams.
“They have all played juniors at the club and then come through to seniors and were key members in our squad that made a premier league preliminary final.”
Fanning said all three had done a lot of hard work to come through the ranks and everyone was so excited.
He said they could tell when they were younger that they were going to be special.
“I’ve been watching Cooper and Connar since they first started,” he said. “I grew up next door to Cooper’s dad.
“Cooper’s nickname from some of the older guys was wizard as a kid due to the magic he can do with his hands.
“I played a game with Nye when he was 15 and coming up the ranks and I was going down. He was a really small fellow who had amazing vision.”
Fanning said several Altona club members were going to head to Sydney in February to see Burns hopefully make his Australian debut.
He said the Altona faithful had gotten behind the three and the other Altona players which were part of HC Melbourne in the Hockey One League.
“It’s a dream come true for them and the club,” he said. “We’ve seen them play since under-12s.
“Cooper is a hero to the kids, as is Nye and Connar. People want to go watch them.
“It’s amazing for a small little suburban club can do this, have three come through from the same age group.”
Fanning said the trio would help inspire the next generation of players at Altona and further enforce what the club was doing.
He said just as important, it wasn’t just about the individual results for the three of them.
“They are genuinely good people and they do things off field for the club,” he said. “Nye runs the umpiring at the club.
“They aren’t just talented kids, they focus on making Altona a better place.”
