Jeremy Hayward (hockey) donned the Kookaburras’ shirt for his second Commonwealth Games in Birmingham where the hard-nosed striker was amongst the tournament’s leading goal-scorers with six goals. In Birmingham, Jeremy lined up against his older brother Leon Hayward who played for New Zealand’s Black Sticks – the first time siblings represented different nations in hockey at the Commonwealth Games.

The Darwin-born player burst on to the international scene in 2014, scoring in his second game for Australia at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia and being part of the World Cup-winning side where he was named Young Player of the Tournament. Injuries set him back after his early impact, but he helped the Kookaburras win gold at the 2015 World League Final and the 2016 Champions Trophy. He missed the Rio 2016 Olympic team but found form again in 2017 as the Kookaburras won the World League Final for the second time.

At the Tokyo Olympics, he was part of the team that won silver. He was the leading goal-scorer at the 2023 World Cup in India (9 goals) where he made his 200th international appearance in the bronze-medal play-off against the Netherlands.

Jeremy has a Bachelor of Education from Murdoch University in Perth.