Historic meeting for Aussie greats Dwyer & McBryde

November 23, 2010 

By Alan Waterman 

Recently in Montreux, as Kookaburra captain Jamie Dwyer stepped up to the podium to receive his fourth Player of the Year title there was, unbeknownst to Dywer, another Aussie skipper in the crowd.

John McBryde captained Australia to a bronze in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and, as such, was the first Australian to ever receive an Olympic hockey medal.  Forty years later, in Athens, Dwyer was on the first Aussie team to be awarded an Olympic hockey gold medal.

Photo: FIH/Mark Shapiro

But the similarities don’t end there.  Both began their hockey careers in rural Queensland, McBryde in Maryborough and Dwyer in Rockhampton.

The two finally met for the first time, backstage, at the 2010 Player of the Year gala dinner.

McBryde noted the historic moment by saying, ‘It was an honour and a pleasure for me to be able to congratulate Jamie on his fourth Player of the Year Award, as well as all his other achievements – and especially to be included in the post-award photography sessions. It was a super evening; the atmosphere during the presentation ceremonies was electric.’

In a seven year international career (1960-1966) McBryde amassed what was then considered to be a substantial total of 40 caps.

In contrast, after nine years of wearing the green and gold, Dwyer has surpassed the 250 cap mark.

McBryde put the difference in perspective, saying that, ‘Up until the 1956 Olympics (Australia’s first), a player would need to represent Australia for at least a decade to reach 10 caps. Apart from a couple of occasions between 1920 and 1955 when an Indian team played a game or two in Australia en route to New Zealand, the only opportunities for Aussies to play international hockey were the triennial Manning Cup test series with New Zealand.’

John McBryde emigrated to Canada in the late 60’s and went on to a successful career as Canadian Men’s coach and, until his retirement this last Congress, a long-standing position on the FIH Equipment Committee.