Australia should focus on the Olympics rather than the Commonwealth Games, former national hockey player Simon Orchard says.
"My personal opinion is I didn't grow up wanting to play at the Commonwealth Games, I wanted to go to the Olympics and be a world champion," Orchard said.
Orchard, now player-coach of Maitland Rams, was a member of the Kookaburras for about a decade.
He won two Commonwealth gold medals at Delhi 2010 and Glasgow 2014, two world cups in those same years and a bronze at the London Olympics in 2012.
"I had great experiences at the Commonwealth Games. I don't want future athletes not to experience that sort of fun and level of competition," he said.
"It's also a reasonably good training ground for an Olympic Games. But let's be honest, it's a bit Mickey Mouse. Most of the best athletes are from America, China or Europe."
He said if Aussies were "serious about being the best in the world, they wouldn't really care about the Commonwealth Games".
"We always win a hundred medals. By the end, everyone has a medal. That's not what we're about. We want to beat all the good guys."
He said the Commonwealth Games was the "fun alternative" to the Olympics and "a bit less serious", so Victoria's decision to scrap the 2026 event wasn't the end of the world.
"There's two sides to the story. A lot of kids grow up watching the Commonwealth Games and their favourite athletes taking part.
"It's a stepping stone to an Olympic Games or world championships and it's exciting to have a lot of good athletes come to Australia. Future athletes see these people in the flesh and aspire to be like them."
In pulling out of hosting the Games, the Victorian government instead announced a $2 billion investment in regional Victoria.
Orchard said a lot of people would probably say "bloody oath" if asked whether they'd prefer "a new school for their kids instead of the Commonwealth Games".
"Does Joe Blow really care that the Commonwealth Games is not on, probably not."
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said the cost of hosting the Games had blown out from $2.6 billion to $6 billion to $7 billion.
"Whoever did the budgeting should get tossed. Imagine if someone said they're building a house for $1 million, then it was $2 million. I'd tell them to nick off," Orchard said.
