The Kookaburras have kept one eye on the Tokyo Olympics after selecting a youthful squad for next year, including Illawarra trio Blake Govers, Flynn Ogilvie and Tristan White.
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With the Commonwealth Games looming, the announcement comes at the end of a long recovery program for Ogilvie, who tore his hamstring off the bone during the Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia in May.
Govers starred in Australia’s World League triumph earlier this month, scoring the winning goal in the final against Argentina from a penalty corner. White missed out on the International Festival of Hockey tournament, before returning to play in the World League title success.
Kookaburras coach Colin Batch backed the young squad, after Australia reclaimed the world No.1 ranking.
There are four players included who recently made their international debuts, Jake Harvie, Tim Howard, Lachlan Sharp and Corey Weyer, as well as two uncapped players Matthew Bird and Tim Brand.
“We’ve selected a group that we want to see reach its potential for Tokyo,” Batch said. “We want to give them an opportunity to grow over the 12-month period and see where they are at the end of the year.
“We know the Commonwealth Games is very important as is the World Cup at the end of the year.
“We’ve taken some steps this year but we know we need to improve a lot if we’re going to have success in those major tournaments next year.”
The Commonwealth Games begin in April, with the final Australian squad of 18 to be finalised by March.