Hockey
Australia has today announced the 18-athlete Kookaburras squad that will
compete at next month’s Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia. The
announcement came on the same day that the 2014 men's national senior and development squads were named.
Three-time
Olympian and Athens 2004 gold medallist Liam De Young is set to become
only the fourth Australian to make 300 appearances for the Kookaburras
after being named in the squad for the prestigious invitational Sultan
Azlan Shah tournament. He will join Jay Stacy (321 caps), Brent
Livermore (317) and fellow Queenslander Jamie Dwyer (308) as a member of
the ‘300 club’.
Tasmanian
Eddie Ockenden - a two-time Olympic bronze medallist and World Cup
winner - will make his 200th appearance for the Kookaburras while
Victorian Glenn Simpson will reach a century of matches for Australia.
National Coach
Ric Charlesworth makes eight changes from the Kookaburras squad that
competed at the World League Finals in Delhi in January with several
other significant milestones expected.
Darwin-born
Jeremy Hayward will make his competitive senior international debut in
Ipoh having impressed at the International Super Series Hockey 9s in
Perth last October and at the Junior World Cup in Delhi in December.
Western
Australian Trent Mitton - a Commonwealth Games gold medallist - and
Queenslander Jake Whetton will both play their 50th international
matches.
Five-time
World Player of the Year Jamie Dwyer returns to the Kookaburras’ line-up
having been rested for the World League Finals while there are also
recalls for goalkeeper Andrew Charter, Simpson, Matt Gohdes, Rob
Hammond, Mitton and Andrew Philpott, who has be elevated into the national senior squad for 2014.
Penalty corner ace Chris Ciriello returns having been withdrawn from
the World League squad after suffering a torn calf. In all, nine of the
squad have recently returned from the Hockey India League, including
Tristan White, who along with Gohdes, was a winner with the Delhi
Waveriders in hockey’s premier franchise-based competition.
Announcing the
squad, Kookaburras coach Ric Charlesworth said, “The Sultan Azlan Shah
Cup is our last tournament before the World Cup and the squad has been
picked with that in mind.
“We’ve
selected based on a range of objectives, including load management.
We’ve got athletes that have played in the Oceania Cup, World League
Finals and Hockey India League and we need to look after them with both
the World Cup and Commonwealth Games coming up. Some people, like Jamie
Dwyer, were rested for the World League Finals but now need to come back
and play with the group.”
Gunning for a
record eighth title as they defend their 2013 crown, the Kookaburras
will face Canada, China, Korea, South Africa and hosts Malaysia in the
23rd edition of the competition.
Charlesworth
added that despite the recent withdrawal of Pakistan, the now six team
tournament has the quality to test Australia.
“It’s
unfortunate that a couple of teams [Pakistan and France] had to pull out
but the likes of Korea, Malaysia and South Africa in particular are
quality teams that will be at the World Cup. The tournament format means
that we’ll also have a few two-day rest periods, which is unusual in
hockey but which we will experience in The Hague and at the Commonwealth
Games so that too will be good preparation.”
Kookaburras squad for Sultan Azlan Shah
13-23 March 2014 - Ipoh, Malaysia
Athlete (Hometown, State) Caps/Goals
Daniel Beale (Brisbane, QLD) 20/5
Nick Budgeon (Hobart, TAS) 14/3
Andrew Charter (GK) (Canberra, ACT) 54/0
Chris Ciriello (Melbourne, VIC) 125/69
Liam De Young (Brisbane, QLD) 296/34
Jamie Dwyer (Rockhampton, QLD) 308/200
Russell Ford (Melbourne, VIC) 143/69
Matt Gohdes (Rockhampton, QLD) 80/22
Rob Hammond (Townsville, QLD) 239/28
Jeremy Hayward (Darwin, NT) 0/0
Mark Knowles (Rockhampton, QLD) 224/18
Tyler Lovell (GK) (Perth, WA) 14/0
Trent Mitton (Perth, WA) 48/14
Eddie Ockenden (Hobart, TAS) 199/51
Andrew Philpott (Melbourne, VIC) 9/1
Glenn Simpson (Melbourne, VIC) 99/19
Jake Whetton (Brisbane, QLD) 46/18
Tristan White (Wollongong, NSW) 21/1
Kookaburras fixtures at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup
Date - Fixture - Result - Local time - AEDT – AWST
Thurs. 13 March - Kookaburras v China - 18:05 - 21:05 - 18:05
Sun. 16 March - Kookaburras v Canada - 18:05 - 21:05 - 18:05
Mon. 17 March - South Africa v Kookaburras - 16:05 - 19:05 - 16:05
Thurs. 20 March - Korea v Kookaburras - 20:05 - 23:05 - 20:05
Sat. 22 March - Kookaburras v Malaysia - 18:05 - 21:05 - 18:05
Sun. 23 March - Finals Day & Classification - 15:35 - 18:35 - 15:35
Upcoming Kookaburras matches and tournaments
13-23 March – Sultan Azlan Shah Cup (Ipoh, Malaysia)
17-19 April – Kookaburras v New Zealand (Two Tests) (Perth, Australia)
24-25 May – Kookaburras v England (Two Tests) (England)
31 May – 15 June – Men’s World Cup (The Hague, Netherlands)
23 July – 3 Aug – Commonwealth Games (Glasgow, Scotland)
13-21 December – Men’s Champions Trophy (Bhubaneswar, India)
