Boomers: 'We Want Gold'

The Boomers broke their medal drought at the Tokyo Olympics, and now they’re hungry for more success, according to former Melbourne United centre Jock Landale.

Landale – who won an NBL title with Melbourne United in 2021 – looks set to once again reprise his role as the team’s starting centre alongside a host of NBL, NBA and European based talent.

Brian Goorjian has named an 18-man squad ahead of the August tournament, which will be trimmed down to 12 members by the time the first ball is tipped.

The Phoenix Suns centre reminisced on the historic Olympic bronze medal game against Slovenia on Hasbeen Hoops, with former Boomers Mark Worthington and Chris Anstey.

“I look back on the game and a lot of it’s a blue to be honest,” Landale reflected. “That was the peak of any emotion I had felt going into a game. I was shaking going to the court because I knew how much it meant, how many times we’d come fourth, how many times we’d pulled up short.

“Whilst I was feeling those nerves and those jitters I also understood there was no way in hell we were walking out of there without a medal.

“What helped me a little bit was going through the 2019 World Cup loss and feeling that fourth place, and then one of my best mates in (Andrew) Bogut retiring and not being able to come to the Olympics.

“Those memories were just playing back that whole game. I was just thinking ‘we can’t lose this. We’re not going to lose this’.

“Once it sinks in and you’re standing on the podium with the boys you’re like ‘this is history making’, and I couldn’t believe we’d done it.”

While the Tokyo ‘rose gold’ was the first medal the Boomers had won at a major, worldwide tournament, Landale says the heartbreak suffered by the nation’s top players through years past has become an integral part of the team's identity.

“The first thing was a lot of the old heads that I became close with like ‘Bogues’, ‘Longers’ (Luc Longley), even Andrej Lemanis, I reached out to as soon as we walked into the locker room,” Landale said.

“Before I even picked up the first can of beer I reached out to those guys and said ‘look, this wouldn’t be possible without you guys, your sacrifice, and you putting us in the position to realise how much a medal means to this country’.

“It was like it was an achievement for all of us. I think that embodies … why there was so much happiness.

“Seeing Gazey crying on live TV, it was all of those instances where you realise just how much it meant to that group of Boomers.”

The Boomers, nor Landale, are resting on the achievement from two seasons ago.

Australia is ranked as the third best team in the world heading into the World Cup – behind Spain and the United States – and is gunning to add another medal to the cabinet.

“That brings us to where we’re at now coming into this World Cup. With the roster we have and everything, it’s really exciting,” Landale added.

“I know we’re all feeling it and texting about how hungry we are to come away with the gold medal.”