National coach, Frank Murray, has opted for experience in the Hockeyroos World Cup side, with Rachel Imison and Sarah Taylor both earning a recall, while co-captain Mel Twitt returns to the team after being rested from the US tour.

Imison and Taylor are back in the national side, bound for Madrid, after showing strong form for Australia A in their recent three-test series against China.

The trio replace a number of younger players, in Claire Messent, Casey Eastham, Rachel Lynch and Hayley Phipps, who took part in the recent four-nation series against the Netherlands, Argentina and the US, in Washington and Virginia Beach.

"There's a mixture of youth and experience in the team," said Murray.

"We've got the young ones like Blyth, McGurk and Attard but we've gone for the experience of people like Munro, who's slotted back in from the birth of her second child, and Beattie who's returning from injury. They both did well on the US tour, while Imison and Taylor have both forced their way back into the group from the series here."

"Eastham and Messent both did well in the US. They both showed enough to suggest that they'll be a chance for Beijing. They bring a breath of fresh air to the team, which is pleasing."

The Hockeyroos depart for Barcelona on 13 September where they'll acclimatise, with practise matches against South Africa before departing for Madrid on 21 September, to prepare for the tournament which begins on 27 September and runs through till 7 October.

With an incredibly even women's competition, Australia have drawn a tough pool, with both Argentina and Korea in their group, and will need to have a great tournament to take out the trophy, something Murray believes can happen.

"This group's continuing to progress but if we're going to win the World Cup we'll need to bring our A game to every match. I think that's possible but it's very even between the top nine teams. It's possible for anyone in the top nine, if they have a good tournament, to win but I think the Dutch are favourites, with Korea, Argentina and Germany all right up there also."

"The problem that you've got is that you have to finish in the top two of your pool. That means you can drop a maximum of three points, that's one game. But even if you drop a game, there's some risk that you won't get through. It's going to be a cut throat tournament."

All Hockeyroos matches can be seen on FoxSports throughout the World Cup.

Hockeyroos 2006 World Cup team: Nicole ARROLD (ACT), Teneal ATTARD (QLD), Wendy BEATTIE (QLD), Madonna BLYTH (QLD), Suzanne FAULKNER (QLD), De-Anne GILBERT (SA), Emily HALLIDAY (WA), Nikki HUDSON (QLD), Rachel IMISON (VIC), Kobie McGURK (WA), Hope MUNRO (WA), Donna Lee PATRICK (SA), Rebecca SANDERS (NSW), Angie SKIRVING (QLD), Karen SMITH (QLD), Sarah TAYLOR (ACT), Melanie TWITT (NSW), Kim WALKER (WA).

Schubert out of World Cup

Meanwhile, the Kookaburras World Cup campaign has hit a snag with striker, Grant Schubert, ruled out with a medial knee injury. In a crushing blow for the South Australian, the injury has ruined his World Cup hopes and will sideline him for 6-8 weeks.

Russell Ford will replace Schubert in the Kookaburras' line-up after travelling and training with the team to cover any injuries.

Hockey Australia