Hockey Australia has announced the Hockeyroos squad to take on Japan in a five match Test series in Kalgoorlie and Perth, Western Australia, later this month.
In all, 18 athletes will to travel to Kalgoorlie to play in the opening two Tests before a larger squad of 22 will be called upon for the remaining three fixtures in Perth. Head coach Adam Commens will use the matches to continue his assessment of the group ahead of selection for the World Cup, which takes place at the end of April.
Speaking as the squad was announced, Commens said, “Japan will be one of our opponents at the World Cup so the five Tests are a great opportunity to learn more about a team that we haven’t played against competitively since 2010 when we met them at the last World Cup.
“The games provide a chance for us to use all of our players from the national squad and we’ll endeavour to give everyone a chance to push their case for selection as we head towards the World Cup.”
Two athletes – goalkeeper Rachael Lynch and forward Georgie Parker – are in line for milestone appearances in the series. South Australian Parker is in line to make her 50th appearance for the Hockeyroos in the second match of the series in Kalgoorlie while Victorian Rachael Lynch may reach a century of matches for Australia. That will depend on her playing some part in four of the five matches.
Influential captain Madonna Blyth will return to action having recovered from the hand injury that prevented her from playing against South Africa in Cape Town in January. Of the 22 athletes named for the series, Victorian Claire Messent is the only member of the senior national squad unavailable through injury. National Junior Squad athlete Mariah Williams will step up to take her place having toured with the squad to South Africa.
Looking ahead to the opening two matches in Kalgoorlie, the home of the team’s major partner Ausdrill, Commens added, “We were fortunate to visit Kalgoorlie last year and had a very successful few days there. Almost immediately afterwards we began organising another visit. The support we received from the people of Kalgoorlie was excellent and we’re very much looking forward to being back in front of a large crowd there again.”
Ninth in the FIH world rankings, opponents Japan sit just five places behind fourth placed Australia. The two sides will meet in their respective second matches at the World Cup in The Hague on 2 June.
Hockeyroos squad for Test series v Japan
Athlete (Hometown, State) Caps/Goals
Tests 1 and 2. 21 & 22 March
Kalgoorlie, WA
Teneal Attard (Mackay, QLD) 186/10
Madonna Blyth (Brisbane, QLD) 267/64
Edwina Bone (Evatt, ACT) 25/1
Jane Claxton (Adelaide, SA) 26/2
Kirstin Dwyer (née Johnson) (Mackay, QLD) 33/2
Casey Eastham (South Coast, NSW) 188/44
Anna Flanagan (Canberra, ACT) 109/18
Kate Jenner (Tamworth, NSW) 81/1
Jodie Kenny (née Schulz) (Wamuran, QLD) 92/46
Rachael Lynch (Warrandyte, VIC) 96/0
Karri McMahon (Berri, SA) 25/3
Georgia Nanscawen (Melbourne, VIC) 109/19
Ashleigh Nelson (Wagin, WA) 133/60
Georgie Parker (Berri, SA) 48/10
Brooke Peris (Darwin, NT) 19/5
Emily Smith (Crookwell, NSW) 72/26
Ashlee Wells (Morwell, VIC) 24/0
Kellie White (Crookwell, NSW) 61/21
Tests 3, 4 and 5. 25-28 March
Perth, WA
Teneal Attard (Mackay, QLD) 186/10
Madonna Blyth (Brisbane, QLD) 267/64
Edwina Bone (Evatt, ACT) 25/1
Mathilda Carmichael (Willoughby, NSW) 7/0
Jane Claxton (Adelaide, SA) 26/2
Kirstin Dwyer (née Johnson) (Mackay, QLD) 33/2
Casey Eastham (South Coast, NSW) 188/44
Anna Flanagan (Canberra, ACT) 109/18
Jordyn Holzberger (Ipswich, QLD) 31/3
Kate Jenner (Tamworth, NSW) 81/1
Jodie Kenny (née Schulz) (Wamuran, QLD) 92/46
Rachael Lynch (Warrandyte, VIC) 96/0
Karri McMahon (Berri, SA) 25/3
Georgia Nanscawen (Melbourne, VIC) 109/19
Ashleigh Nelson (Wagin, WA) 133/60
Georgie Parker (Berri, SA) 48/10
Brooke Peris (Darwin, NT) 19/5
Emily Smith (Crookwell, NSW) 72/26
Jayde Taylor (Bunbury, WA) 81/1
Ashlee Wells (Morwell, VIC) 24/0
Kellie White (Crookwell, NSW) 61/21
Mariah Williams (Newcastle, NSW) 5/1
Hockeyroos v Japan Fixtures
21 March – 6:30pm AWST / 9:30pm AEDT – Kalgoorlie, WA
22 March – 6:30pm AWST / 9:30pm AEDT – Kalgoorlie, WA
25 March – 7:30pm AWST / 10:30pm AEDT – Perth Hockey Stadium, Perth, WA
27 March – 5:30pm AWST / 8:30pm AEDT – Perth Hockey Stadium, Perth, WA
28 March – 7:30pm AWST / 10:30pm AEDT – Perth Hockey Stadium, Perth, WA
2014 Key Dates – Hockeyroos
21-28 March: Hockeyroos v Japan, five match series (Kalgoorlie & Perth, WA)
5-13 April: Six nations tournament in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand
(Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Korea, China, Japan)
31 May – 15 June: World Cup, The Hague, Netherlands
23 July – 3 August: Commonwealth Games, Glasgow, Scotland
29 November – 7 December: Champions Trophy, Argentina
