NSW Pride coach Peter Shea reflects on Hockey One victory

Coaching NSW Pride in the Women's Hockey One tournament, the Orange-based Shea could sense stress and hesitation in his side during their campaign.

His solution? Playing Hakuna Matata.

"It was about having no worries - you make mistakes, we knew they were doing their best," he said.

"That was the approach I had towards them playing and that gave them a bit of freedom to think okay I can do this, I can make mistakes."

It was one of many pivotal moments for Shea in a championship winning campaign.

Over the last few years, the experienced coach has been known for timing his runs late, particularly with Orange CYMS in 2021.

NSW Pride, in its run to the grand final, won its last four games, to have all the momentum.

Playing against Brisbane Blaze in the decider at Bendigo, the game was an absolute nail-biter, going into a shoot-out after a 2-2 score at full-time.

"Before the shoot-out I was thinking we need a few more opportunities and should've put a few away, but I thought we had control of the game," Shea said.

"We didn't look threatened too much and obviously Queensland had a few classy players but we scored two field goals with no conversions and they scored one field goal with one conversion.

"You go into those one-on-one scenarios and it's not quite a lottery but it's something that's really a 50/50. Our odds were put in our favour by the quality of our goal-keeper (Jocelyn Bartram) who is world class, she's played one-on-ones at Olympic and world cup level, even though they had high quality Australian players I was confident we had better of two goal-keepers."

Shea's faith in Bartram is a reflection of the confidence he gives his players.

Ahead of what was meant to be the most nervous moment in his coaching career, he wasn't flustered.

All the training, preparation and flights had gone into the next 10 minutes and he knew it was an outcome he had no control over.

"I was hopeful, I don't know about nervous, I just felt this is what we had to do," he said.

"You can't be overwhelmed by those types of scenarios, you just have to think OK that's what we have to do and trust the girls with their process. I wasn't nervous per-say, I wasn't hundred percent confident either.

"I felt calm, we felt OK, we just had to make decisions about what we wanted to do."

His faith was rewarded with Bartram saving three of Brisbane's four attempts as his side converted three of its chances.

"We scored two or three one-on-ones in the tournament, so it wasn't our biggest strength, but we were just going through our thought processes and what we trained for and the girls did it brilliantly," Shea said.

The victory kicked off a number of emotional scenes that not even the greatest movie director could portray.

Before the tournament started, Shea had made Lithgow's Abby Wilson captain.

It was a decision he was sure of, but Wilson herself wasn't convinced. However, the magic of a brilliant coach like Shea is his ability to make players believe in themselves.

Understandably, Wilson was one of the first players he went up to.

"(Initially) she was quite doubting in her leadership skills and I went over to her after the game and said 'how good was that?'," Shea recalled.

"She just burst into tears and as soon as she started crying I couldn't help myself.

"It was a good moment for her to put herself in those leadership roles and be successful, not only leadership wise but results too.

"That was a beautiful moment - and obviously Jocelyn Bartram, I've had a friendship with her for 10 years, so to see her perform (was great), she was genuinely excited to win for NSW so that was another great moment."

Wilson and Bartram weren't the only players Shea was able to share in his jubilation with.

But not all the moments came from the grand final - some were in the lead up, as players realised what they were capable of.

"I had a conversation with Maddison Smith from Woolongong, and said after a game 'you're playing well' and she said 'I had a chat to mum last night and mum said I was playing well and replied mum I don't think I could've done it without Pete'," Shea recounted.

"It was a beautiful coaching moment.

"She said 'you've just given me the encouragement and freedom to make decisions, you're supporting me'.

"There were players that come from a background of training and training with a lack of success and to give them the trust and confidence to play at that level was the sweetest thing. They felt happy and enjoyed playing hockey.

"Some of the commentary on Fox Sports said the players are thriving under the way I'm coaching, and for someone externally to recognise the players are playing well because of the environment we're giving them to make decisions and back themselves was clearly one of the most satisfying aspects of the campaign."

Along with the grand final victory, one of the proudest moments for NSW Pride was bringing the game to the Central West.

For Shea, it was a chance to show the state how much love hockey has in the region.

More importantly though, the November 12 game at Parkes against Canberra Magic was essentially do-or-die.

His side found its mojo, winning 6-0.

"There was so many things about that Parkes game that were so good," he said.

"It was just a nice venue to go to, it was nice to be there, the locals were so welcoming and so happy to be there and have the game there.

"Having (Parkes born) Mariah Williams lead the team (was nice), and the girls played so well. Some said it's the best game they'd ever played because of the venue and excitement.

"It was an awesome weekend, one of the points where players went okay this is how good of a team we are."

To go with the victory, Shea believes the spectacle was the catalyst for turning his side around.

"It consolidated the culture and team, it was absolutely what we were trying to do by bringing the team together as a unit, it was a whole consolidation of the stuff we'd been working towards and around, it was a really good event," he said.

Along with the women's success, NSW Pride were champions in the men's competition too.

Shea hopes this will allow the sport to progress in the state as people start to appreciate the skills and talents of its players.

"NSW have had a few changes and to do what we did with boys and girls there's a real change in the way NSW people are talking about hockey," he said.

"We're bringing back people into the game around the state, there's a few good things happening."

But it's not only the off field change Shea was delighted with.

In 2019, the Hockey One tournament was a disappointment for NSW with a second last finish.

Shea was scheduled to coach in 2021, but COVID ruined all plans.

His work in 2022 will hopefully set up a dynasty for the state.

"It's really good to go from a team that wasn't doing great to a team that was highly functional and connected," he said.

"It was interesting because it was a lot of these players first foray into this level and it was a different environment.

"Every week they'd come up and say something else about how it's the most fun they've had, even Australian players in interviews said it's the most fun they've had in a tournament in a long while.

"For me to create that environment, to prove you can win and enjoy playing the sport, is one of those things I'm very happy about."

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