The Australian men’s and women’s hockey teams are celebrating after fantastic wins in Germany and South Africa on the weekend.

The signs are very promising from these youthful teams at the start of the four year Olympic cycle.

The Kookaburras outplayed Olympic champions Germany 6-2 to win the prestigious Hamburg Masters. This victory followed the Hockeyroos' stunning 3-1 victory over world No.2 Argentina to claim the SPAR Cup in South Africa.

Legendary coach Ric Charlesworth declared his Australian men's squad ``on the right path'' after they thrashed the hosts to wrap up the four-nation event after earlier victories over the Netherlands (3-2) and England (5-2).

The results indicated the rebuilding Kookaburras squad has a bright future under Charlesworth, who took over after the Beijing Olympics and previously took the Hockeyroos to Olympic gold in Atlanta and Sydney.

In Hamburg, the Australians had a squad including eight players with less than 20 international games under their belts blending with the experience of veteran stars like Jamie Dwyer, Brent Livermore and Liam De Young.

Young players to impress included striker Mark Paterson, who scored two goals against Germany, defender Graeme Begbie, midfielders Simon Orchard and Eddie Ockenden and George Bazeley, who was named goalkeeper of the tournament.

Their next major test under Charlesworth will be the elite Champions Trophy tournament in Melbourne from November 28 to December 6.

"We are beginning to come together as a team. We appear to be on the right path,'' Charlesworth said.

The new-look Hockeyroos showed they were building some cohesion quickly by claiming the SPAR Cup in South Africa.

Down 1-0 at halftime in the final the young Australians showed tremendous poise to over-run the heavily favoured South Americans in the final.

"Argentina have more speed and flair,'' Hockeyroos coach Frank Murray said. ``But it is more than just speed and technical skill that wins matches. Our players continue to develop their hockey knowledge.''

The world No.5 Hockeyroos arrived at their first tournament since Beijing with modest expectations after a spate of retirements, including the legendary Nikki Hudson.

Murray included six debutants in a Hockeyroos squad that considered 20-year-old Beijing Olympian Casey Eastham a veteran. To put their young roster in perspective, among the six rookies was 16-year-old Melbourne schoolgirl Georgia Nanscawen.

While a poker-faced Murray tried to keep a lid on their tournament win, the Hockeyroos have made many sit up and take notice ahead of the biggest tournament of 2009 -- the Champions Trophy in Sydney from July 11-19.

The Hockeyroos only lost one game at the Olympics - to eventual champions Holland - but still missed out on a semi-final berth on goal difference. In the end they finished fifth for the second straight Olympics.

 The next assignment is a two-Test series against world No.3 and European champions Germany at Perth in July ahead of the Champions Trophy.

Hockey Australia