CHENNAI: The main priority for new SG Pipers coach from Netherlands, Tim Oudenaller, is to integrate the thirteen Indian players with the seven foreigners. Pipers, who had a wooden-spoon finish in last year's Hockey India League (HIL), now have fresh faces, both on the court and in the coaching staff, and they'll be hoping for a turnaround in fortunes.
The Pipers begin this season's campaign on Monday with a match against HIL Governing Council Team — a team that replaced the UP Rudras — at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium here.
Oudenaller was last seen on the sidelines here, when he was assistant coach of the U21 Netherlands team during the Junior World Cup last month. Known for prioritising a strong defensive structure, Oudenaller guided the renowned Dutch Hockey club SV Kampong to the national league title in 2023-24, and also reached the Euro Hockey League final that season.
"I think we have all the ingredients for having a better season this year," he said in a virtual media interaction on Sunday.
Last year, the Pipers had a season to forget, scoring 18 goals and conceding as many as 30 goals. After the mini-auction in September 2025, the Pipers added Jacob Draper of Wales, who was traded from Ranchi Royals and young Belgian forward Roman Duvekot. Veteran Rupinder Pal Singh is also another new signing for the team. The defensive spine, led by newly-appointed captain Jarmanpreet Singh, will have drag flicker Varun Kumar, who has 39 goals in 142 international matches.
One of the key areas that Oudenaller said that they are working on is penalty corners. The likes of Rupinder, Varun and Welshman Gareth Furlong are some notable drag flickers. "We are working hard on both penalty corner conversions and penalty corner defence. Those are the most important things. (With conversions) we are trying to give the guys confidence, because if they can flick, they have a really good ball. With defence, we now have a really good Argentinian goalie, Thomas Santiago, and he is working on the defence as well. So it looks sorted," he added.
Goalscoring was one of their concerns last season. Tomas Domene of Argentina and Welshman Furlong were the main goalscorers then. This time, Oudenaller is confident that the talented players in the team can step up. "We have a young Belgian striker in Duvekot, who is a little bit unknown. We have Aditya Lalage, who has stepped up to the senior Indian men's team and Dilraj Singh, who had a good Junior World Cup, scoring eight goals. So, compared to last year, I think all the guys are more experienced. They know they have to combine to score with four or five guys. I feel good about that," he said.
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