CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Dragon's head coach Rein van Eijk has been in charge of developing the next generation of hockey players in Germany. Now, with the Hockey India League, he has the challenge to make the Dragons ready for the competition starting in Rourkela on December 28. He spoke with this daily about the inclusion of a few players, his hopes for the season and more. Excerpts...
On the excitement ahead of HIL season
It is extremely high. I think the auction being as big as it was has already shown much about the excitement of all the players wanting to join. And now we are four weeks out. The excitement has just simply grown, I think we cannot wait to start to get together. Playing in Rourkela is going to be amazing. The stadium that was built for the last World Cup is a piece of art, with all the players looking forward to that. Luckily enough, we have some time to connect with the region as well to have a pre-camp in Chennai. We are happy about that.
On bidding for Selvam Karthi
There are several reasons for that. First of all, he's a great player. Secondly, the connection with the region is something that obviously plays a part in that. I think he is hungry and eager to establish himself again in the national team. And obviously on top of that, if you look at the team that we've picked and the one we want to build, a lot of it is based on communication. Selvam Karthi is obviously the best player from the Tamil Nadu region. It was elementary for us to get to, to get him. I think the way he has played at the national championship four weeks ago already shows the form that he's in. With him now being in Europe, with the Indian core group says a lot about his capacity. He is just a great player and I am looking forward to working with him.
On Amit Rohidas' role
He adds a lot to the team. His experience and his ability to play multiple positions is something that will help us as well. Our game is going be very dynamic full of energy and the game is going to be very open. I think that fits his playing style. Amit is a humble player and a team-first player. That's the core quality of one of the more important players and that's something that leads into culture as well. Along with that, he is a great first runner with penalty corners so he can help us defend on that part. He plays center-back where he can communicate the best. He's a great asset for us and he's a warrior. One of the reasons why we picked him is because he's someone who desperately wants to win and he's a very skillful defender. He will do everything to achieve his goal.
On the importance of having Jip Janssen
He is one of the top drag flickers in the world and plays center-back. If you look at rotations, there are certain positions that don't get substituted as much as other positions. One of those positions is the center-back position. We wanted to have one Indian and one overseas center-back. That's a position that he can play, he can communicate and organise. His passing ability makes him valuable for the team as well. After we got David Harte in the round of goalies, David is a player that Jip has played with for over 10 years already at club level. So they have a good connection, they already know each other. Our style of play will require our wing defenders to run a lot more. It will be a lot harder to keep that player on the pitch at all times. Therefore that just adds to the value of Yip.
On expectations from Rourkela crowd
The crowd is going to be amazing. The state of Odisha has really embraced hockey. As people embrace hockey, I hope we will be able to fill up the stadium for the entire month. It's one of the reasons that the players want to come and they want to join.
On assistant coach Charles Dixon:
Charles is very enthusiastic about hockey and he puts his players first. He recently sent me videos yesterday of how he was already doing the running with the players. I like that a lot because the best way of leadership is leading by example. The way the hockey unit of Tamil Nadu has played under his guidance at the national championship last month, says a lot about the way he wants to play. That matches my philosophy as well.