By Rob Cole
Gareth Furlong believes Wales can cause a few upsets when they get stuck into the hockey tournament at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
The 83-times capped Surbiton defender, still only 25, is heading to his second Games and is convinced the current squad is in a much stronger position that it was heading to Glasgow four years ago.
“The year before the Glasgow Commonwealth Games we got relegated to the third of four tiers of European hockey, so it was a bit of a rebuilding thing after the Games,” said Furlong.
“We were 37th in the world, but as of this summer we’re up to 24th, so it’s quite a big jump. We won the 2015 European third tier to go into the second tier and, last year, we finished second to go into the top European tier with all the top European sides like England, the Netherlands and Germany.
“It has been quite a good couple of years. It will, hopefully, mean we will get to go to more higher profile tournaments and be invited to more stuff, so we’re in quite a good place at the moment.”
With an average age of 23, Furlong is one of the more senior players in the Welsh squad heading down under. He made his international debut in 2010 and is one of seven players with previous Games experience.
“I wouldn’t consider myself to be near the end of my playing career, and that is the same for a lot of the boys,” Furlong told the Cambridge Independent.
“If we can keep this training group together, we’ve got some really exciting young players coming through as well, we can continue to push on and keep our ranking going down,” he added.
There may have been significant strides made since 2014, but Wales will still go into the Gold Coast tournament as the lowest ranked of the 10 teams. The experience, though, will be vital ahead of next year’s entry into Tier 1 in European Hockey.
“It’s definitely not the case of going there as the lowest-ranked side and making up the numbers. We’re looking to go there this time and cause a few upsets,” said Furlong.
“We will have to play as well as we can, but we definitely feel if we do, we can compete with the majority of the sides in the tournament. It’s exciting to get out there and see what we can do really.
“Leading into the top division next summer, this is definitely a really good building block for us. Being able to play against all these top sides will stand us in good stead.
“Every four years, it’s definitely something to have your eye on and we’ve had a good couple of years, so we’re really excited to just get out there and pit ourselves against some of the top ranked sides in the world to see what we can do.”
Furlong’s younger brother, Rhodri, just missed out on selection for the squad, but will still be in Australia as a travelling reserve involved in all the preparation work.