Grace Stewart reflects on Commonwealth Games silver medal

After winning the past three Commonwealth Games gold medals, the 20-year-old’s side were again expected to be among the medals.

“I was so excited to just be selected in the squad, after coming off not my best season in 2017,” Stewart said.

“So to be selected for a home Commonwealth Games was amazing.

“I knew we had the side that could go deep in the tournament, having won the past three gold medals.”

Stewart’s side opened the tournament at the Gold Coast Hockey Centre with wins against Canada (1-nil) and Ghana (5-nil) before drawing nil-all with New Zealand.

“I thought our team started the tournament slowly, which is expected at any competition,” Stewart said.

“However, as the tournament went on, we started to play some really strong hockey as a group.

“In particular, the group match against New Zealand was so tight and all the girls played to the best of their abilities.”

The Hockeyroos finished the group stage with a 2-nil win against Scotland, sending them into the semi-finals against India.

In an entertaining semi-final the difference between the two sides (1-nil) was Stewart’s sensational goal.

“I saw the ball come towards me and just hit it – it was all instinct,” she said.

“Any other day I would have missed it and I just hit it so sweetly.

“It took a couple of seconds for me to realise what I had just done.

“It’s easily the best goal of my career and made even more special to do it in front of friends and family.

“Although it was the only goal we scored, our defenders and goal keeper were the real difference, pulling off a number of amazing plays down the stretch.”

This win set up another showdown with the Black Sticks.

“Going into the clash, we were positive, because of the way we had played against them earlier in the tournament,” Stewart said.

“At the end of the day, it came down to who steps up and unfortunately, we couldn’t match them, as they ran out winners 4-1.

“It’s hard to gain an advantage over teams like New Zealand, as we play against them so often.

“Looking back on it though, I’m still happy with a silver medal considering both New Zealand and England are higher than us in the world rankings.”

The 2016 Olympian, looking back at the tournament, believes she is happy with her performance on the field.

“After such a big year in 2016, which saw me come from nowhere and be picked for the Olympics and a tough year last year, I was super happy with how the year started,” she said.

“Over the summer, I put my head down and did the hard work, to ensure I was part of this squad and the training has now paid off.

“I now realise the standard that I need to be at to be performing for Australia.”

Stewart doesn’t have much time to appreciate her silver medal, with her Hockeyroos team headed to Perth next week, to prepare for the Tri Nations Women’s International Hockey tournament against New Zealand and Japan.

The Hockeyroos will then head to London for the World Cup in July.