Men's Health Lunch Second Speaker Announcement

We’re excited to announce the final guest speakers for Hockey Victoria’s Men’s Health Lunch on Friday, 7 August.

Well known throughout the hockey community and key members of the 2025 Hockey Club Melbourne team, Johan Durst and Josh Simmonds will join us on stage to share their experiences both on and off the field. Following back-to-back premierships together, the pair will discuss their journey through the HC Melbourne program, life as high-performance athletes with the Kookaburras, and the challenges of balancing elite sport with everyday life.

Johan’s hockey journey is an impressive one. He first took up goalkeeping at the age of 14 before representing the Victorian Vikings in the Australian Hockey League from 2015 to 2018. He was also a member of the inaugural Hockey Club Melbourne squad and earned his first Kookaburras selection in 2018 following a standout AHL campaign. Since then, Johan has helped Australia win Commonwealth Games gold at Birmingham 2022 and was named as a travelling reserve for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Josh has also built an outstanding career at the highest level of the sport. After picking up a hockey stick in his first year of high school, he quickly progressed through the ranks to become a key member of the Victorian team, helping secure back-to-back Australian Hockey League titles in 2016 and 2017. Josh joined the Kookaburras in 2018 and was part of Australia's gold medal-winning campaign at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. He made his Olympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (held in 2021), where he was the only Victorian selected in Australia's silver medal-winning squad.

Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from two of Australia’s elite hockey players as they share insights into high-performance sport, resilience, and maintaining wellbeing while competing at the highest level.