The third Olympic campaign of Merewether’s Richie Campbell has ended in Rio despite scoring a goal in Australia’s 12-7 victory against Greece on Monday morning (AEST).
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The Sharks finished fifth in their pool, one point off a quarter-final berth, with Campbell netting eight goals at the Games including four against Hungary.
In order to advance to the knockout stage Australia needed final round results to go their way but Hungary defeated hosts Brazil 10-6.
The Sharks recorded two wins, two losses and a draw at the tournament.
Vice-captain Campbell, 28, picked up a game-high personal haul in a 9-all draw with Hungary.
He also managed a double in the opener against Brazil (8-7 loss) and registered once versus Serbia (10-8 loss).
The sole match Campbell didn’t convert was Japan (8-6 win).
Australian coach Elvis Fatovic was pleased with the improving performance of his team on the international stage, especially after the setback against Serbia in the penultimate round.
"I’m happy with the performance of my players because it’s not easy to step up after the game with Serbia, which I think we played even better than we played today," Fatovic said.
“We played better on this tournament every game and that’s a signal to us that we need more and more games to have more experiences in a situation like this.”
Sharks skipper Rhys Howden was impressed with the way his squad bounced back against Greece.
“I think today we came out and definitely wanted to put in a good show," Howden said.
"It was very disappointing coming off the loss to Serbia.
"We still wanted to come out today and put in a good effort."
