CHARLIE MORRISON IS READY FOR ROUND TWO AT THE 2026 FIH HOCKEY WORLD CUP
In 2023, Charlie Morrison was in Canberra with the Junior Black Sticks when he received a call from head coach Greg Nicol.
The message was simple: he was going to the Hockey World Cup in India and would make his Vantage Black Sticks debut.
“I guess I was lucky enough to get that opportunity,” Morrison recalls.
“Original thoughts were a bit of self-doubt. Am I good enough? I’ve never played an international test match before. How will I stack up at a World Cup?”
Those questions were quickly replaced by excitement and gratitude, particularly when Morrison found out his older brother Joe would also be heading to India.
For a young player who had grown up watching many of his new teammates on television, the step into international hockey was a significant one.
“I got thrown straight in the deep end,” he says.
Morrison’s first international appearance came against Chile, where he was named in the starting lineup despite having Vantage Black Sticks veteran Blair Tarrant competing for his position.
Seeing his name on the team sheet was a moment he won't forget.
“I thought it was a bit random, considering Blair Tarrant was in my position and had played 200 games. But I am grateful to have the opportunity to start in my debut game with my brother.”
“Singing with national anthem for the first time with Joe next to me and beating Chile 3-1 helped settled the nerves for sure.”
One of the biggest lessons came just a few days later when the Vantage Black Sticks faced India in a crossover match with a place in the quarter-finals on the line.
Playing India in India, in front of a huge home crowd, was an experience Morrison had never encountered before.
The Vantage Black Sticks produced one of the memorable results of the tournament, defeating the hosts to progress through to the quarter finals.
“That was a game I’ll remember probably forever,” Morrison says.
“Managed to tip India over in India at a Hockey World Cup. I’d never really been exposed to that before, so to have that experience being that young was surreal.”
The tournament also gave Morrison a clear understanding of the demands of international hockey.
“You have to be switched on the whole time,” he says.
“At international level, you get found out quickly with one slip-up or one lapse in concentration.”
The pace of the game was another adjustment, with Morrison quickly learning that there was little room for error at the highest level.
Those experiences have stayed with him.
Now, three years on, Morrison is heading into his second World Cup with 53 international appearances behind him.
The difference is clear.
“I’m a little bit more confident being part of the team for the last few years,” he says.
“I know my role within the team a bit more and the culture we have allows me to do that and contribute in different ways.”
At his first World Cup, he was the young player learning from teammates who had already experienced multiple World Cups and hundreds of international matches.
Now, he has the opportunity to pass those lessons on.
“I’m really grateful for the learnings and everything I got from the first World Cup to now be able to share some of those learnings to guys who are at their first.”
There is another part of the 2026 World Cup that makes it particularly special for Morrison.
He will once again line up alongside his older brother Joe.
The pair have played together throughout their lives, from Marist to Canterbury and now on the international stage.
“It can be easy to take it for granted a little bit, being in the team together and travelling around the world, playing alongside each other,” Morrison says.
“I think it will be when we look back in a few years and realise how cool it actually was.”
This time, Morrison arrives at the World Cup with a very different mindset.
He knows the environment, knows his teammates and understands what is required at the highest level.
But perhaps most importantly, he is determined to enjoy it.
The Vantage Black Sticks open their World Cup campaign against the Netherlands in their own backyard, a big challenge, but one Morrison is embracing.
“I’m looking forward to having a crack and getting stuck in and just enjoying this tournament.”
From a nervous 19 -year-old making his international debut in India to a 53-test defender preparing for his second World Cup, Morrison has come a long way.
He'll be stepping into a World Cup knowing exactly what it takes and ready to enjoy every moment of it.