By: Hockey Australia

The Kookaburras and Hockeyroos will compete against New Zealand and Samoa for their spots in the next Hockey World Cups. Below is a preview of the both teams and a tournament information kit available for download.

World Cup Qualifier Information Kit 

KOOKABURRAS

The Kookaburras preparation for this event has been strong, having played recent matches on home soil against Malaysia, Canada and Australia A.

Not only did this give the Kookaburras more international experience, it gave coach Ric Charlesworth an opportunity to experiment with his players in both the Kookaburras and Australia A sides.

This resulted in players Luke Doerner, Kiel Brown and Glenn Turner, all originally selected in the Australia A squad, to be named in the World Cup Qualifier squad. Brown and Doerner’s inclusion will further strengthen the Kookaburras defence, with Brown returning from injury to reclaim his place in the team.

Turner will add further firepower to the Kookaburras around goal, an area which his already full of talent thanks to the likes of Des Abbott and Grant Schubert.

This tournament will also see Eddie Ockenden return to the Kookaburras line up after suffering a collarbone injury during a tour of Europe in June. He proved himself during recent matches against Canada, but with so much on the line he can expect much more attention.

Although they have recorded some spectacular wins recently, consistency has been the issue for the Kookaburras. After defeating Malaysia 8-1, they lost to Malaysia 1-0 the following evening. With so much on the line, they won’t be able to afford those kind of mistakes in this tournament.

HOCKEYROOS

Following their recent silver medal at the Samsung Hockey Champions Trophy tournament in Sydney, the Hockeyroos have turned their attention to qualifying for next year’s World Cup.

A travelling squad of 19 athletes has been selected, with the final team of 18 players to be announced on August 24. This decision has been made to ascertain the impact that the Women’s Junior World Cup campaign
had on players Casey Eastham, Emily Hurtz and Georgia Nanscawen who are currently competing at this tournament.

The travelling squad is extremely similar to the squad that competed at the Samsung Hockey Champions Trophy in July, with defender Heather Langham the only omission.

Veteran defender Kim Walker, who missed the Champions Trophy due to injury, returns to the Hockeyroos team while Victorian striker Claire Messent has also been named in the travelling squad.

Should the Hockeyroos be victorious at the World Cup Qualifier event, in which the Kookaburras will also be competing against New Zealand and Samoa at the same time, they will advance directly to the 2010 Women’s World Cup in Argentina from 30 August – 12 September.

The Hockeyroos squad remains quite young, with nine of the 19 players having only played 20 or less international matches.