“His name is certainly on our minds,” Favier told Channel 10 when asked about the possibility of Charlesworth returning as Hockeyroos coach ahead of the Tokyo Olympics in June.
But playing group sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of potential repercussions said this suggestion caused anger in some sections of the squad.
“It’s the easy hire for them because they can talk about his decorated career but it does zero to unite the group. If they’d consulted with the playing group they would know how much anger was caused just by suggesting him,” one source said.
Players have been angry with Charlesworth since late last year when hespoke publicly about having to deal with “loud voices that do not reflect the team’s will or wishes” from his time as Hockeyroos coach. He referred to their behaviour as “group think”.
Charlesworth’s comments came shortly after HA called a review into the Hockeyroos’ culture in late 2020,sparked by player unrest with non-playing leadership around the group. At the time it was also revealed those concerns had beencommunicated to the governing body by players as early as 2017.
In October 2020 the team’s co-captains Emily Chalker,Jodie Kenny and Georgina Morgan quit their roles. Kenny also retired immediately.