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Fergus Kavanagh, a UWA engineering student, has made a big impact during past 12 months, going from fringe player to a member of Australia's bronze medal-winning hockey team at the Beijing Olympics.

If the 8 months leading up to Beijing had been stressful for the 23-year-old, the next couple of years leading up to London are going to be even tougher as he tries to secure selection while leading the WA Thundersticks during the final week of the National Hockey League in Hobart.

Kavanagh replaced Bevan George as WA's leader following the Olympic gold medallist's retirement after Beijing.

Kavanagh in his fifth year of an engineering commerce degree at UWA, will have the added pressure of study as he campaigns for two Champions Trophies, the World Cup and Commonwealth Games in the next 18 months.

Kavanagh said his immediate focus was on his studies. "I had a three - months break after the Olympics but university is a major focus because I want to get my degree out of my way before I go travelling for an extended period of time," Kavanagh said.

He had an amazing few months leading up to China, going from fringe player to being selected in the 2008 Champions Trophy and then the Olympics having played a couple of dozen international games.

"It all seemed to fall into place at the start of 2008 and I felt I played well at the Olympics where I contributed to the team even though we lost in the semifinals", he said.

"It was always a big push to force my way into the team... the challenge is to stay there."