11 November 2026
Team Australia Team Australia - Men
Team Australia Settles In at the Tokyo Dome Ahead of Tomorrows Korea Clash
TOKYO: Team Australia has settled in at the Tokyo Dome, completing its first training session at the iconic venue ahead of tomorrow’s opening clash with Korea at 12pm local time.
Practice was full of energy, with the group connecting well after its camp in Fuchu. Excitement is building across the squad ahead of a big week at the Asia Professional Baseball Championship.
For Sydney’s Jo Stevens, the feeling started before he even reached the field.
“The team’s good. Everyone looks great. Preparation was really good,” he said. “Walking from the hotel to the stadium, you get chills.”
Chills at the Dome
Stevens said the moment felt even bigger given where he was only weeks ago.
“I was only here like four weeks ago, sitting up in the stands,” he said. “So now hitting and fielding on the field, it’s a great experience. It gives me chills. Excited for tomorrow.”
Fellow Sydneysider Jaylin Rae was just as blown away by his first hit out at the venue.
“Unbelievable. Nothing really compares to this,” he said. “Even just coming down from the hotel and walking through the tunnel, coming out to the stadium. It’s going to be an incredible experience.”
Both players praised the team’s base in Fuchu, where the squad spent the past few days preparing.
“Fuchu was awesome. Pretty cold, but it was awesome,” Rae said. “The town looked after us, and the fields, the facilities and everything they had for us were awesome. Great training camp, and the boys were ready.”
“Fuchu was great. They treated us amazingly,” Stevens added. “We got looked after really well.”
From juniors to the men’s team
Rae and Stevens have both worn the green and gold at Under-18 and Under-23 level. This week is a step into the men’s national side.
“It’s pretty surreal,” Rae said. “Any time you can put on the jersey, it’s a pretty incredible experience. You can’t really describe it. Everyone is up to the challenge, and we’re ready to show out.”
“It’s been a goal of mine for the last couple of years, just being able to put my foot in the door,” he added. “It shows that the work that I put in is paying off. All these guys, we’ve been playing together for years now, so to come through together is just something you can’t really describe.”
Stevens said the setting is very different from the junior World Cups.
“With the Under-23s and 18s, you’re more in a World Cup stage, going through the process of teams a little bit quicker,” he said. “Then you go into this, and it’s a bigger stage. You’ve just got to settle the nerves a little bit more. Know the preparation that you’ve done is correct, trust your instincts and go get it.”
He is also enjoying helping the newer players settle in.
“We’ve all pretty much played together. You get some new guys in, and it’s great to take them under the wing and show them what Team Australia is about,” he said.
Looking further ahead, Stevens is open about what he is chasing.
“To possibly be in that Premier12 team and then possibly an Olympian, that’s definitely a dream,” he said. “To be a part of it is amazing, and hopefully I get that opportunity.”
“We expect to qualify”
At the pre-tournament press conference, head coach David Nilsson was clear about how this week fits into the bigger picture.
“The Olympic qualifier next year at the Premier12 is something that we’re expecting to perform very well in, and we expect to qualify for the Olympics,” he said. “So we’re using this event to see some younger players, and to see if there are some pieces that can be added to the men’s senior team. So it’s a very important event.”
Nilsson said Australia’s growing depth is what stands out about this group.
“As a nation, we’re developing more players. We have more depth than we’ve had before,” he said. “For this group here, we have some very good athletic players. We always want to be very athletic defensively and we want to have good strength, so I think you’ll see that with our players.”
With players drawn from the Australian Baseball League and the US minor leagues, Nilsson said blending the group was easy.
“They’ve all grown up in Australia, and we’ve all known each other for a long time,” he said. “We all support each other and we all follow each other. Regardless of where they play, it’s very easy from my point of view to have them blend in together.”
He believes the best is still to come.
“Over the next 5 or 10 years, you’re going to see Team Australia continue to get better and better because of the depth,” Nilsson said. “As you see more players coming through college, the minor league system and the major league system, we as a team are going to get better.”
As for the mood heading into the opener:
“We’re very relaxed. As a group, we’re very confident, and we’re really looking forward to competing on this stage.”
“We’ve all got each other’s back”
Catcher Alex Hall, who joined Nilsson at the press conference, said the chemistry in the group is already strong.
“We have good chemistry going on with this team,” he said. “With a bunch of experienced guys coming back and then fresh faces, we’re all leaning on each other’s shoulders. We’ve all got each other’s back during the games. Even in practice, we want to practice perfect. So we’re just having that mentality of next dog up.”
Hall, who has a strong record against Japan, played down any talk of power.
“I’m just looking to drive the ball, not trying to hit home runs,” he said. “Just try to get the ball in the gap, try to pick out a weakness of the pitcher and be on time. That’s all I’m really trying to do.”
He said his main job is a simple one, and it is shared by the whole lineup.
“My main role would just be to get on base as many times as possible. That’s what we all think,” he said. “The more we can get on base, the more we can score runs, and the more we can win games.”
And whoever is on the other side, the plan stays the same.
“At the end of the day, we just focus on what we can do to beat them,” Hall said. “We just need to do it the Australian way, play our baseball, and we’ll figure it out from there.”
Team Australia opens its tournament against Korea at the Tokyo Dome tomorrow at 12pm local time. Watch Live and Free on Baseball+
