Hockey News
It will be the first time the national team has competed in South Australia since 2009 when a 23-player Australian hockey team gathers in Adelaide for the five-match Test series against India.
Following the conclusion of Australia’s domestic hockey league in Bendigo last weekend, head coach Colin Batch chose the team for the Saturday opening encounter.
Eddie Ockenden, who will play in his 400th international game in the second game on Sunday, and Aran Zalewski will serve as the team’s co-captains.
Sam Collins, Tom Craig, Dylan Martin, Ben Rennie, Lachlan Sharp, Jack Welch, and Ky Willott were also a part of the team that won the Kookaburras their eighth consecutive gold at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Due to his upcoming wedding in Perth on Thursday, goalkeeper Andrew Charter will be absent for the first two games.
As the No. 1 team in the world gets ready for the World Cup in Odisha in January, Batch acknowledges that the fact that the entire group hasn’t been together since the CWG is a “tricky situation.”
We generally train together for a long period in Perth, but we haven’t all been together since the Commonwealth Games, so this is a little different from how we usually prepare. In order to get it right quickly and reestablish communication, there is a sense of urgency, according to Batch, who wants to lead Australia to their first World Cup victory since 2014.
“With this series against India, we can get started. We have a lot of confidence that we can do that. We won’t make many changes to our team because it’s primarily World Cup preparation. A core group of our players is doing well, and we think they can continue to do well. Still, we would want to provide some chances.”
“Before the World Cup, Australia will only play these five international games. In contrast, a variety of different nations have participated in the Pro League. Late February marks the start of the Kookaburras’ Pro League season. India’s most recent encounter with Australia ended in a 0-7 defeat in the CWG final.”
“Since our first Pro League games won’t be until the following year, these matches against India constitute our World Cup practice. We’ll be prepared for the World Cup when it arrives, but we must learn a lot from the matches against India and apply what we learned to our last weeks of preparation before leaving for the World Cup,” according to Batch.
Australia’s sole international hockey contests prior to the World Cup are these five games. The Pro League has featured players from a variety of other nations, in contrast. Not until late February do the Kookaburras begin their Pro League season. India fell to Australia 0-7 in the CWG championship game the last time the two teams met.
“These games against India are our World Cup practice because our first Pro League games are next year. We’ll be prepared for the World Cup when it arrives, but we must learn a lot from the matches against India, use what we’ve learned from them, and use it in the last few weeks of training before we leave for the World Cup,” stated Batch.
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