Travelling to Western Sydney, Hill accompanied a team of Australian representatives from the Illawara to the NSW Field Hockey State Championships.

A battle of player attrition, however, saw the team slump towards the finals.

"We started with 10 Australian representatives, but about five of them pulled out because they were unavailable," Hill said.

"On the eve of the tournament, we lost another two, so we went in with a squad of just 14 instead of 16."

Facing tough competition, each new game brought with it a world of hurt as players were forced out of the championships with injuries.

Nevertheless, at the end of the first day, the team were sitting at the top of the leaderboard after a 10-nil victory over Penrith, and a nine-nil smash to Sydney.

"Eventually we were at 12 players, but we remained undefeated all the way to the sudden-death semi-final," Hill said.

Another win saw the team progress to the final against equally-undefeated Newcastle.

"They're a strong team, so it was definitely the top teams up against each other," Hill said.

On the field without subs, Hill's boys choked in the final moments ending the game with a narrow loss.

"We ran out of pull, we lost in the one-on-one penalty shoot out," Hill said.

"We kept it going for 60 per cent of the game, but fatigue got us in the end. It was a bit disappointing but the boys performed well under enormous pressure."

The loss represents the second in a pattern of three years. Having made it to the finals every year for three years, it has been twice the team has lost in penalties.

"It's a bit of de ja vu to have it two years in a row," Hill said.

With the hockey now in the periphery, Hill returned to Junee for the Jaguars training on Wednesday night.

The locals will travel to Lake Albert's Rawlings Park on Sunday afternoon to meet Tolland.

"Our mid-season recruitment went well, and we've got another four experienced with us, so it will be interesting to see how it all goes," Hill said.