HOCKEY: Every member of the Hockeyroos squad will be given the chance to push their credentials for Olympic selection during Australia’s six-match series against Great Britain in WA, which begins next week.

Head Coach Adam Commens will be able to call upon a group of 29 athletes, including uncapped development squad players Jocelyn Bartram, Madi Ratcliffe and Kaitlin Nobbs for the matches, which run from 12-21 February in Bunbury and Perth and will be live streamed via Epicentre.tv.

The series forms an early component of the Australian women’s preparations for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. It follows on from four tests against the Netherlands and Germany at the TPG International Tri-Series in Singapore last month.

“Singapore was a great opportunity to expose our entire squad to top level competitive hockey. The games against GB give us another opportunity to use the full depth of the group against a high quality international opponent that is improving all the time,” said Hockeyroos coach Adam Commens.

While the series squad contains a number of newer faces, Commens doesn't necessarily expect them to play in the matches.

“It’s great to have access to our entire training squad. It’s unlikely we’ll use some of our younger players but to have them here training with us means we have some talented youngsters to draw on if need be.

“The matches against Great Britain will help shape our thoughts leading up to the Hawke’s Bay Cup, which is when we’ll begin to narrow our focus towards the team for the Champions Trophy and Olympic Games.”

The annual Hawke’s Bay Cup invitational event in New Zealand takes place in April. Australia’s women will then host New Zealand, India and Japan in a four nations event in Darwin in early June. The Champions Trophy in London later in June is the final event before Olympic selection.

It was announced overnight (AEDT) that Australia will face the Netherlands, Argentina, New Zealand, Great Britain and USA at the Champions Trophy. The Hockeyroos will open their campaign with back-to-back games against USA and New Zealand on 18 and 19 June.

Great Britain, ranked sixth in the world, are serious contenders for an Olympic medal and have named a strong 22-athlete group for the tour to Western Australia that includes 15 of the England team that became European champions last August.

Amongst them, 21 year-old Lily Owsley who was recently crowned International Rising Star by the sport’s international federation, the FIH, and captain Kate Richardson-Walsh, who is expected to become Great Britain’s most capped female player ever during the series when she surpasses Karen Brown’s record of 355 appearances for her country. Brown, an assistant coach with England and GB, was recently named International Women's Coach of the Year.

Hockeyroos v Great Britain Fixtures
Friday 12 February: 8:30pm AEDT / 5:30pm AWST, Bunbury & Districts Hockey Stadium
Sunday 14 February: 5:00pm AEDT / 2:00pm AWST, Bunbury & Districts Hockey Stadium
Tuesday 16 February: 9:00pm AEDT / 6:00pm AWST, Perth Hockey Stadium
Thursday 18 February: 9:00pm AEDT / 6:00pm AWST, Perth Hockey Stadium
Saturday 20 February: 6:00pm AEDT / 3:00pm AWST, Perth Hockey Stadium
Sunday 21 February: 6:00pm AEDT / 3:00pm AWST, Perth Hockey Stadium

Hockeyroos squad for matches against Great Britain
Teneal Attard (Mackay, QLD)
Laura Barden (Kew, VIC)
Jocelyn Bartram (Albury, NSW)
Madonna Blyth (Brisbane, QLD)
Edwina Bone (Evatt, ACT)
Jane Claxton (Adelaide, SA)
Kirstin Dwyer (Mackay, QLD)
Madison Fitzpatrick (Cabarita Beach, NSW) [QAS athlete]
Anna Flanagan (Canberra, ACT)
Kate Hanna (Constitution Hill, NSW)
Jodie Kenny (Wamuran, QLD)
Rachael Lynch (Melbourne, VIC)
Karri McMahon (Berri, SA)
Georgina Morgan (Armidale, NSW)
Gabrielle Nance (Kingscliff, NSW) [SASI athlete]
Georgia Nanscawen (Melbourne, VIC)
Ashleigh Nelson (Wagin, WA)
Kaitlin Nobbs (Newington, NSW)
Georgie Parker (Berri, SA)
Brooke Peris (Darwin, NT)
Madi Ratcliffe (Warrnambool, VIC)
Casey Sablowski (South Coast, NSW)
Kathryn Slattery (South Stirling, WA)
Grace Stewart (Gerringong, NSW)
Emily Smith (Crookwell, NSW)
Renee Taylor (Everton Park, QLD)
Ashlee Wells (Moe, VIC)
Kellie White (Crookwell, NSW)
Mariah Williams (Parkes, NSW)

Hockeyroos’ events for Olympic Games run-in
12-21 February: Hockeyroos v Great Britain (Bunbury and Perth, WA)
2-10 April: Hawke’s Bay Cup (Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand)
[Featuring Australia, Canada, China, Ireland, India, Japan, Korea, New Zealand]
30 May – 5 June: Four Nations Event (Darwin, NT)
[Featuring Australia, India, Japan, New Zealand]
18-26 June: Champions Trophy (London, Great Britain)
[Featuring Argentina, Australia, Great Britain, Netherlands, New Zealand and USA]

Hockey Australia