Matt Dawson is just a good ol’ boy from Killarney Vale in Australia. He played for the Australian team in the 2016 and 2020 Olympics. He got a taste of what could have been during the 2020 Olympics when Australia made it to the gold medal game, but ultimately lost to Belgium in a shootout. Then in the 2023 Field Hockey World Cup, Australia ended up losing to the eventual champions, Germany, in the semifinals.
Suffice to say that Australia is coming into the Olympics next month with a chip on their shoulder. But while Matt Dawson might have a chip on his shoulder, he won’t have all of his fingers on his hand.
Option A) Keep all 10 fingers on your hands and not handicap yourself for the rest of your life while waiting for your broken finger to heal on its own.
Option B) Have a plastic surgeon amputate the broken finger so you can play in your 3rd Olympics next month and have a shot at finally winning gold.
The decision for Matt Dawson was simple. What good would all 10 fingers be if he doesn’t have a gold medal around his neck to go with them? I bet if you asked him right now, he’d get all 10 fingers removed if it meant he’d win gold in Paris. Because it doesn’t matter if you’re playing on a sheet of ice or a field of turf–hockey guys are all the same. Just a bunch of dudes who care play for the name on the front of the jersey instead of the one in the back. Guys who will do whatever it takes to help their team get the win. If the team needs them to bleed, then they bleed. If the team needs them to get their finger amputated because it won’t be healed in time before the Olympics to start, then they get their finger amputated.
Imagine being Belgium or Germany right now and knowing that’s how bad Australia wants to come in here and beat your ass. You know that everyone is going to give you their best shot as reigning gold medalists. But that’s a new layer of unhinged motivation. Gonna be a bloodbath out there.
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