Cooktown’s Rocco Thomason celebrates a gold medal win for Queensland in the Elite men’s division. Photo: Australian Underwater Hockey National Championships.
Three Cooktown Crocs players have been dubbed some of the top players in the country after a thrilling grand final round at the 2026 Australian Underwater Hockey National Championships.
Cooktown was well represented in the five out of six grand final rounds Queensland qualified for, the players bringing home the hardware for themselves, their community and their state.
It was a big step up for player Rocco Thomason, who after only recently moving up to the Elite division, helped the team get its first gold in decades.
“It’s the first time the Elite men’s A have won in over 40 years,” coach Scott Thomason said.
“Rocco, he was a part of that team, which was pretty special, and that was his first year playing Elite.”
Sienna Thomason also played in the Elite division, helping the women’s A team snatch silver in what was an extremely close game.
“The two finals both went into double extra time,” Scott said.
“The Elite women’s and men’s, they’re some of the most amazing games of hockey you would ever see; they were down to seconds.”
In the B grade, Scott competed as part of the Masters men’s team in the bronze medal match, while youngsters Eli Carol, Sam Ryder and Josh McDermott competed in the 5th vs 6th match against Tasmania.
“Overall, it was an amazing tournament for Queensland,” he said.
“We won the overall champion state, which was very impressive; Queensland haven’t done that too often, so that was really cool.”
Eli, Sienna and Rocco were selected for the Australian team trial for the 2026 CMAS World Championship Underwater Hockey Age Group.
“Throughout the competition, there were selectors that went and watched their games, and there’s a criteria that each player is judged on,” Scott said.
“I think it’s the top 16, and they will pick the squad in March; they’ll cut it down to 12 to take away to Turkey.”
Scott congratulated the Crocs on the amazing results despite the logistical challenges of nationals being held in the peak of the wet season, and added that community support had been integral to their success.
“To be honest, without the community, we wouldn’t have been able to get where we’ve gotten to with our hockey,” he said.
“We had one of our councillors turn up to the nationals down on the Gold Coast, and it was so cool. Marilyn Morris came down and supported the Cooktown kids, and I’ll guarantee you not one other councillor from anywhere else in Australia was there doing that.
“They’re the things that make this little town and little club so special.”
The Elite women’s Queensland team took silver in the grand final game that came down to seconds. Photo: Australian Underwater Hockey National Championships.
