From Canberra to the World Stage..

When the CBR Brave take the Ice today (Sunday) against the Central Coast Rhinos, they will do so without four of their best Players - who will be over 17,500 kilometres away on the other side of the world.

For Casey, Tyler and Bayley Kubara and Andy Camenzind - this is the culmination of a journey that began in late 2022, and takes them all the way to Madrid, Spain and the IIHF Division II Group A World Championships.

There, they and the rest of the Australian Mighty Roos team will face the host nation, Croatia, Georgia, Iceland and Israel in a Round Robin tournament over 5 days. 

All of these teams are close together in the IIHF Standings - with Spain, Israel and Iceland occupying positions 32 to 34. Australia sits at 36th and Georgia at 41st.

The team that finishes on top of the standings after five games, wins the Gold Medal and promotion to Division I. Australia has been there three times - in 1982, 2009 and 2012.

The Journey for Mighty Roos selection began in Melbourne last November with a first Trans-Tasman series against the New Zealand Ice Blacks and a squad of 39 players - which then included 9 CBR Brave players: Jordon Brunt, Mike Giorgi, Bayley Kubara, Casey Kubara, Tyler Kubara, Kai Miettinen and 2022 Brave players Declan Bronte, Wehebe Darge and Lynden Lodge.

From this, there were a number of training weekends and a trip across the Tasman for a return series against the Ice Blacks in Auckland in March 2023 - where Andy Camenzind was added to the Squad. 

Both Trans-Tasman series were played in an excellent spirit and proved to be excellent hit-outs for the Squad as it was forming.

In addition to the four Players who will pull on the Green and Gold Jerseys in Spain, Brave Captain Kai Miettinen was been named as a Reserve for the team.

The Brave are well represented in the off-ice personnel too - with Darryl Day named as Equipment Manager for the team, and former players Matti Luoma named as Coach and Mark Rummukainen as an Assistant.

We caught up with Brave Alternate Captain Bayley Kubara to ask a few questions - as the team were in transit..

When are you leaving for Spain?

We’ve just landed in Dubai - so we are now waiting for our flight from here to Madrid! 
The Tournament officially starts next Saturday (Spanish time). 

What preparation will the team go through once you arrive there?

We have about 6 days in Madrid where we’ll be on the ice everyday getting ready. 
In between that there’ll be lots of meetings and film sessions to fine tune things to make sure we’re ready for our first game against Croatia.
The team has already played together in New Zealand a few weeks back and twice in Melbourne over the past couple months so we’ve had a pretty good chance to get familiar and skate together. 

What is the one thing you’re looking forward to about the World Champs?

First thing that comes to mind is some warm Spanish weather! I left Finland right at the end of winter so didn’t get much sun on the skin. 
Then there’s the obvious factor of getting the chance to play with the best players around our League - who you usually hate playing against during the AIHL season. 
A little added bonus for me is also having two of my brothers here with me which makes it that much more special!

What do you know about the other teams you’ll be playing?

Honestly - not too much. I think Croatia and Spain are ranked highly and anticipated to do well.
But you never know which guys can and can’t make these kinds of Tournaments and what quality of team each country has put together. 
We just have to take each game as it comes and make sure we give ourselves the best chance to win every time. 

What is it like playing for Australia?

It’s a huge honour. 
It’s always really exciting to be selected as part of the top group of players from Australia and put on the Green and Gold again.
It’s definitely an opportunity you always hope to get growing up here and playing locally, so it’s something none of the guys on the team take for granted. 

How is playing for the Mighty Roos different to playing for the Brave?

Playing for the Brave you roughly know who’ll you be going up against each weekend. Here it’s a bit of a mystery - so you just have to make sure you’re ready for anything. 
On top of that, every game is do-or-die when you’re hunting down a Gold Medal, so the overall mentality and expectations are higher than your typical 28-game AIHL season where one loss here and there isn’t the end.
It’s also different because while you’re away with the Australian team, everyone’s focus is purely on Hockey. 
No one is working or having to deal with everyday life, it’s just two weeks where there’s one collective goal and nothing else really matters until the end of the last game. 

We’re all excited to be watching you playing for the Australia - but the other question everyone is interested to know - when will you be back playing for the Brave?

We’ll all miss the first three games of the season - and unfortunately our home opener - but we will be back in time for the trip to Melbourne (April 29/30).
We’re looking forward to another big year with the Team and seeing plenty of packed games at the Brave Cave!

The Mighty Roos had their first hit-out over in Spain in the middle of the past week - when they faced off against the Host Nation in a friendly game. The Mighty Roos came out as victors 9 goals to 5.

They play their first game of the World Championships against Croatia at Midnight (Australian Eastern Standard Time) on Monday April 17.

The remaining games (with their Australian Eastern Standard Times) are:
- versus Spain - Tuesday April 18, 3:30am
- versus Iceland - Thursday April 20, Midnight
- versus Israel - Friday April 21, 8:30pm
- versus Georgia - Saturday April 22, 8:30pm

Stay tuned to the Brave’s Social media channels for information about the games - along with links to the Game streams.