HOCKEY: If the Kookaburras had driven their team bus at Dutch goalkeeper Jaap Stockmann on Sunday, he'd have probably stopped it.

That was how impassable he was in Australia's 0-0 draw with The Netherlands at the Champions Trophy men's hockey tournament in Melbourne, making a string of breathtaking saves in a breathless match to deny the Kookaburras.

Stockmann's two diving stops - one in each half - were among the best in international memory to keep his side in a game Australia will feel they should have won.

The result doesn't do any immediate damage to Australia's hopes of winning a fifth successive Champions Trophy - the tournament for the world's top eight men's hockey nations.

The Kookaburras remain unbeaten after a sluggish 4-2 win over Belgium to open the tournament.

Victory over Pakistan in their final Pool B match on Tuesday night will be enough for a top two spot, and perhaps even to top the group and book the best possible quarter-final draw.

But the Kookaburras will need goals to ensure their goal difference is up to the mark should The Netherlands get a bag in Tuesday night's other group match against Belgium.

And assistant coach Graham Reid admits even allowing for Stockmann's heroics, the Kookaburras must start capitalising on the weight of chances, penalty corners and quality of play they produced for no scoreboard effect on Sunday.

"We've cast the cobwebs off from yesterday, but I think we can get better, and our corners need to improve," said Reid, taking the match-day reins from head coach Ric Charlesworth for the tournament.

Stockmann gave the Kookaburras a taste of the frustration he was to dish out with a remarkable 23rd minute stop, diving full length to his left and getting a full glove on Eddie Ockenden's thunderous shot.

Then he repelled a series of Chris Ciriello drag flicks, before stopping a Kieran Govers shot bound for goal before halftime.

Stockmann matched the quality of his first half save two minutes after the break, again diving high to his left to stop a Govers drag flick.

Australian goalkeeper George Bazeley also starred, making two important second half stops from rare Dutch chances.

The Kookaburras could have pinched a winner with less than 10 seconds remaining, but diving striker Jacob Whetton was unable to get a stick on a drive into the circle.

Pakistan beat Belgium 2-0 in the other Pool B match on Sunday, and sit on three points - a point adrift of the Australians and Dutch.

The shock of the tournament so far came in Pool A, with England stunning Olympic champions Germany 4-1.

England scored twice in the opening 10 minutes, and the Germans' task became impossible when Niklas Grell was sent off in the second half for a second yellow card.

England's win has thrown that group wide open, with teams' quarter-final match-ups based on their final standings in their pool.



MATCH 1 VS BELGIUM REVIEW

It was a win so ugly it needed a bag over its head.

But the Kookaburras' bid for a fifth successive Champions Trophy men's hockey title has got off to a winning start - though they were poked and prodded all the way by Belgium before a 4-2 victory at Melbourne's State Hockey Centre.

In their first major tournament since losing their world No.1 ranking and potential gold at the London Olympics, Australia squandered a 3-0 lead and first half chances galore on a Saturday afternoon where nothing came together easily.

Australia had the better chances of the first half.

But most found a Belgian stick, glove or goalpost in the way, and the Kookaburras struggled badly with their penalty corners.

Assistant coach Graham Reid - taking match-day control as head coach Ric Charlesworth oversees the tournament featuring the world's top eight nations from the stands - admitted it was a rusty performance.

"The first-game blues, I think. We got a result, let's put it that way," Reid said.

"There were five or six minutes where we were quite poor. We were a little rusty, but there were good signs there."

AAP