AUSSIE SHARKS FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS CAMPAIGN

11-12 PLAYOFF - MEN - AUSTRALIA 19 d SOUTH AFRICA 4

The Aussie Sharks have rounded out their 2022 FINA World Championships campaign with a strong win over South Africa.

Eager to leave the competition on a high, the Aussie Sharks gave the last game their all, finishing with a 15-goal victory.

Luke Pavillard led the charge for the Sharks, scoring five goals of his own and causing havoc in attack.

Young guns Charlie Negus ad Rhys Holden scored three each, with co-captains Blake Edwards and Nathan Power the next highest goal scorers with two each.

Aussie Sharks Head Coach Tim Hamill said it was a great way to close out what's been a tough tournament for the new look Aussie Sharks.

"It's been a challenging couple of weeks for us here in Budapest, and while it was nice to finish with a good win against South Africa today it wasn't the classification game we wanted to be playing in," Hamill said.

"But with this new group, we need to go through these challenging times to make sure that we grow as a group and so the players keep developing individually too.

"We've learnt a great deal in these last few weeks about areas that we need to get better at.

"We've got a group of players who are fully committed to working hard, they're enthusiastic and will continue to improve on the road towards the Paris 2024 Olympic Games," he said.

9-12 PLAYOFF - MEN - AUSTRALIA 7 def by JAPAN 15

The Aussie Sharks have gone down fighting to Japan in the 9th-12th playoffs, at the FINA World Championships overnight.

After a tough cross over match against Italy, the Aussie Sharks bounced back to face an in form Japan in a bid for a top 10 finish.

Despite some strong defensive pressure from the Sharks, the Aussies were unable to hold off their Japanese counterparts.

Aussie Sharks co-captain Blake Edwards said he was proud of the team's effort, they were just outclassed by Japan.

"It was a disappointing result - we would've like to have been a bit more competitive than we were," Edwards said.

"It's all learning for our team, we've got 8 players who have debuted at an international level this year and we need to remember that.

"I can't fault any of the guys on their effort or intent, we just needed to be.a bit better at converting.

"Today's just one step in the journey, and we'll be better for learning from this experience," he said. 

Aussie Sharks Head Coach Tim Hamill said there's a few things the team will need to work on before their last match against South Africa.

"We just weren't able to combat their dynamic press and counter attack tonight," Hamill said.

"We were in the game early on, playing really smart water polo but then we made a few poor choices and as a result they got on a roll.

There's a few things for us to work on moving forward, but we're looking forward to our final game against South Africa now," he said.

With final rankings still at play, the Aussie Sharks will now face South Africa on Saturday 2 July at at 1am AEST. Click here to watch live on 9now.

GAME 4 - MEN - AUSTRALIA 6 def by ITALY 17

Overnight the Aussie Sharks were defeated by European powerhouse Italy 6-17, in the cross over game at the FINA World Championships overnight.

The fresh faced Aussie Sharks outfit gave it their all but were no match for the Italians who were out to dominate from the outset. 

After the Italians set up a commanding 4-0 lead at the end of the first quarter, the Aussie Sharks came back strong to match their opposition goal for goal with each side notching up three a piece to take the score to 7-3 at half time. 

While the Aussie Sharks had momentum in the second quarter, the Italians dominated the second half notching up 10 goals to the Aussies 3 to round out the match 17-6.

In the goal scoring efforts it was Co-Captain Blake Edwards that led his side from in front with three goals, with young guns Chaz Putt (2) and Reilly Townsend (1) also contribuing  to the scoreboard. 

For full results - click here. 

With final rankings still at play, the Aussie Sharks will now face Japan on Thursday 30 June at at 1am AEST. Click here to watch live on 9now.

Results

FULL TIME: AUS 6 - ITA 17

QUARTER TIME: 0-4; 3-3; 1-4; 2-6

AUSTRALIA: 2. Keenan Marsden 3. George Ford 4. Charlie Negus 5. Nathan Power 6. Tom McJannett 7. Luke Pavillard 8. Rhys Holden 9. Reilly Townsend (1) 10. Tim Putt 11. Chaz Poot (2) 12. Blake Edwards (3) 13. John Hedges

GAME 3 - MEN - AUSTRALIA 9 def by USA 14

The Aussie Sharks have gone down fighting in their third and final pool match at the FINA World Championships overnight, against the USA 9-14.

The Aussie Sharks pushed right until the end, keeping it to a two goal margin in the first quarter before the USA edged it out to a four goal lead at half time.

In the second half, the Aussie Sharks came out firing, scoring three goals to the USA's four in the third quarter, before an even 2-2 last quarter.

The Aussie Sharks shared the goal scoring load, with dual Olympian George Ford, Charlie Negus and Luke Pavillard all scoring two each. Reilly Townsend and Tokyo Olympians Nathan Power and Blake Edwards all scored one goal.

Co-captain Edwards said although the loss was tough, it was a great effort by the boys, and highlighted some key aspects to work on before their Round of 16 match against Italy.

"We just needed to stay a little bit more composed in our attack, unfortunately the experience of the USA really showed in that game," Edwards said.

"Moving forward, we just need to play with a bit more composure, and be a bit more relaxed in front of the goal," he said.

Aussie Sharks Head Coach Tim Hamill said he was proud of the team for giving it their all, in an unfortunate loss.

"Not the result we were looking for tonight, by in large I couldn't fault the effort of the team," Hamill said.

"We backed up the best we could following the game against Serbia, but we really need to keep our composure in key moments tonight.

"We were a bit too rushed in our attack, which ultimately cost us in the end," he said.

The Aussie Sharks will now face Italy in the Round of 16, on Tuesday 28 June at 1am AEST. Click here to watch live on 9now.

GAME 2 - MEN - AUSTRALIA 5 def by SERBIA 6

The Aussie Sharks have delivered a strong second game at the FINA World Championships, narrowly going down by one goal to current Olympic Champions Serbia, 5-6. 

With scores locked throughout the entire game, both sides matched up with their intensity. 

The opening quarter set the tone for the rest of the match with both sides only getting one goal a piece. The score was 3-3 at half time and again locked 4-4 leading into the final quarter.  While Serbia managed to get one past the Aussies in the final quarter, the Sharks weren’t able to get on the board going down 5-6. 

Co-captains Nathan Power and Blake Edwards led from in front both with two goals a piece, with George Ford also getting one of the Aussies. 

Aussie Sharks Coach Tim Hamill said while the result didn’t go their way, he couldn’t fault the boys for their effort.

“While it’s disappointing to lose the game, our effort and our intent throughout was incredible. 

“We had a number of players play really big minutes and were really proud of them. 

“From here we play the Americans and then that match will determine who we play in the crossover rounds,” he said. 

Results

FULL TIME: AUS 5 - SRB 6

QUARTER TIME: 1-1, 2-2, 1-1, 0-1

AUSTRALIA: 1. Nic Porter 2. Keenan Marsden 3. George Ford (1) 4. Charlie Negus 5. Nathan Power (2) 6. Tom McJannett 7. Luke Pavillard 8. Rhys Holden 9. Reilly Townsend 10. Tim Putt 11. Chaz Poot 12. Blake Edwards (2) 13. John Hedges

For full results - click here

The Aussie Sharks will return to the pool on Sunday 26 June (3:30am AEST) against USA for the final match of the preliminary rounds. Click here to watch live on 9now.

GAME 1 - MEN - AUSTRALIA 10 d KAZAKHSTAN 4

The Aussie Sharks have opened their FINA World Championships campaign with a 10-4 win over Kazakhstan.

Having not played Kazakhstan since the Tokyo Olympics, where the Sharks claimed a 15-7 team, both sides were eager to get the win.

It was a memorable night for more than one reason the Aussie Sharks, with nine players making their World Championships debut.

It was also the first World Championships game at the helm for Aussie Sharks Head Coach Tim Hamill, who was pleased with the team’s performance.

“With so many players on debut, there were a few nerves before the game,” Hamill said.

“But pleasingly our defence in the first quarter set up a solid performance for us, and an eventual 10-4 win.

“It was a solid performance for all of our players, and everyone managed to get minutes which is important at this stage of the tournament.

“We’re looking forward to the next couple of games against Serbia and USA,” he said.

In his debut World Championships game, Nic Porter earnt the Player of the Match award for his formidable defence in goals.

“First and foremost I think we were really brave, there was nine of us making our World Championships debut,” Porter said.

“We were really brave in defence, lots of great field blocks - we were able to identify their better players quickly and nullify them which was good.

“It’s not just me putting in the hard work, it’s our whole defensive line up. The guys in the field were doing their job, I was doing my job and it just worked really well tonight,” he said.

Results

FULL TIME: AUS 10 - KAZ 4

QUARTER TIME: 1-0, 3-0, 3-2, 3-2

AUSTRALIA: 1. Nic Porter 2. Keenan Marsden 3. George Ford 4. Charlie Negus (1) 5. Nathan Power (3) 6. Tom McJannett 7. Luke Pavillard (3) 8. Rhys Holden 9. Reilly Townsend 10. Tim Putt (1) 11. Chaz Poot 12. Blake Edwards (2) 13. John Hedges

For full results - click here

The Aussie Sharks will have a rest day, before returning to the pool on Friday 24 June (2am AEST) against reigning Olympic champions Serbia. Click here to watch live on 9now.