A GROUP of Perth water polo players are still floating on cloud nine after fending off superstar players to claim a history-making world title.
The Perth Cockatoos men’s water polo team won the inaugural 70-plus age group crown in a nail-biting competition at the FINA World Masters Championships in Budapest,
capturing gold with a last-second flick-in goal.
“It is the first time a men’s Australian team has won a world championship,” said Gary Payne, one of the driving forces of water polo in WA.
He said the team came into the August competition as “rank outsiders”.
“Our coach Tom Hoad, an eight-time Olympian, was familiar with the players we were up against. He said, ‘Boys, if you guys finish last you would have done well’.”
But the Aussie underdogs confounded all expectations.
“We just kept winning. Blue Thunder, the team we beat in the final, included past Olympic medallists and world champions.
“We had no superstar players in our team, but we proved the adage a champion team can beat a team of champions.”
In a tense match, the Cockatoos finished 6-5 ahead, with captain Billy Wallace
flicking in a rebound with less than half a second remaining to avoid the penalty shootout.
The Cockatoos included seven WA players, two from the eastern states, a New Zealander and goalkeeper from the US.
“The guys from WA were training six days a week and we kept in touch with the others by email so we all knew what goals we were trying to achieve,” Gary said.
“We were the fittest team for our age group, we had all played together over the years, and we had a good leader in captain Bill Wallace.
“We gelled well together and nearly everyone in the team scored goals. Blue Thunder was surprised by us; I think they had already written their names on the medals.”
Gary, 70, began playing water polo in the river at Guildford when he was 15.
“It is a great sport, a lot like basketball, and because you are suspended in water there is a lot less chance of injury.”
Seven masters teams from Perth took to the pool in Hungary, with the next best, the women’s Pink Pointers, claiming silver in the 50-plus/60-plus age group.
All masters are now back home playing in the Perth summer competition, which is held at UWA every Tuesday from 7pm.
The next world champion-ships will take place in South Korea in 2019 and the Cockatoos are expected to defend their title, after participating in the Thai Pacific Asian Masters tournament in Bangkok next year.
“At my age it is good to have a goal that gets you out of bed and gets you going every day,” Gary told The Senior.
