Staines twins set to reunite after Canberra Chill signing

It was announced late last week by Hockey ACT that the brothers were among the first to sign on with the Canberra Chill ahead of the 2021 season.

As both have spent time training with the ACT Academy of Sport squad and in Australia A teams, selection was not necessarily a surprise, but pleasing all the same.

"We train with the ACTAS squad in Canberra in preparation for Hockey One, but it is good to get the call-up," Jake said.

"It looks like Ben's playing really well over in Perth, so I'm looking forward to it."

The Hockey One tournament will be the first time the twins have played in the same side since the 2020 season, after Ben relocated to Perth earlier this year to pursue his goal of Australian selection.

Having spent almost all of their lives playing hockey together, Jake said it will be "refreshing" to get back on the pitch with his brother after roughly six months apart.

"[Playing with Ben is] a comfort, I know how he plays and what his strong points are and that sort of thing," he said.

"It makes it a bit easier, but in saying that when you play with guys every weekend you learn their strengths and weaknesses."

In the first edition of Hockey One, which was held in 2019, the Canberra Chills men's team struggled to string together consistent performances and, despite some good wins, finished in fifth place.

This year, the team is determined to improve its placing, although Jake knows some of their opposition have more powerful lineups on paper.

"We probably don't have the strongest squad out there to be honest," he said.

"NSW are loaded, I think they've got seven or eight Kookaburras. It'd be nice to get a top four spot, if we could scrape third or fourth that'd be successful season.

"It's a pretty young side I think, but in saying that we start training next week. Leading into it, there's two months of training for two days a week, so it'll be a pretty solid block of training. You never know, it's a young fit side with a few older heads in it, we could be successful."

Regardless, Staines said he is "excited" to get back on the field and play representative hockey after an extended break due to COVID-19.

Canberra Chill high performance director, Ben Bishop, said they were "very excited" about the talent within the squad.

"We are grateful to have such world-class talent in our team as we build toward improving on our results of the first season of Hockey One," he said.

"We know these players will lead our men's and women's team with class, humility and passion that is a natural part of their character."

The Canberra Chill squad will begin training next month, with the final teams to be selected in September. The competition will begin in October, with the Chill's first home game scheduled for October 15 against the Adelaide Fire.

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