NSW Pride defeat Perth Thundersticks to take out back-to-back premiership

Wagga's Dylan Martin has been a key player in the squad since the competition's first season in 2019 and was integral to his sides 2-0 win over Perth Thundersticks.

The back-to-back premiership has been a long time coming, with both the 2020 and 2021 seasons cancelled due to COVID-19.

"We're counting this as going four years in a row," Martin said.

In an action packed weekend, both the semi-finals and grand final were played across two days in Bendigo, Victoria.

MORE LOCAL SPORT NEWS

On Saturday Pride defeated minor premiers Brisbane Blaze to secure their spot in the Sunday afternoon final.

Martin said good preparation was key to their win, with little time for recovery between games.

"I think we tried to work as hard as we can, it was a pretty tough match, I think everyone in the team had to travel for it but we had to stick to our process and stick to our plans," he said.

"When we finished the game (on Saturday), we started with the preparation for Sunday. We had a pretty good morning (on Sunday) and it set us up well."

Martin said Perth came into the final firing and the team had to step up their game to match their intensity.

"The first quarter they came out pretty hard but I think working as a team, we went in stronger into the last three quarters," Martin said.

"The first quarter got on top of us a little, but we stuck to our processes and got back on top."

Pride were the last team to qualify for the finals series, finishing fourth on the Hockey One ladder with a 50 per cent win rate.

Speaking to Hockeyone.com.au Pride captain Jake Hayes said it was satisfying to get the premiership win after the side's three consecutive losses in the back half of the season.

"It's unreal...it was well documented that we couldn't win after losing three in a row so it was great to come out and get the win," Hayes said.

"It is always tough losing three in a row but we had the belief...we got the job done early enough in the season to be here on the weekend and we knew we were good enough. We arrived in a Bendigo a few days early and just got to work."

With celebrations continuing into Monday morning, Martin said his eyes will be set on the next goal come Wednesday when he flies to Adelaide to be with the Kookaburras squad.

The squad will play India in a five match test series starting on Saturday, November 26. Martin hopes to impress during the series in order to book himself a spot in the 2023 Hockey World Cup to be held in India in January.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: