HOCKEY: The Australian women's hockey squad has been selected for the World League Final in Rosario, Argentina, 5-13 December.
The 18 athletes will have the chance to demonstrate their credentials for inclusion in Australia’s 2016 national squad, the group of players that will train for the Olympic Games in Rio.
Included in Adam Commens’ side are 19 year-old defender Renee Taylor and 21 year-old forward Gabrielle Nance. For Taylor, the call-up marks a first major tournament after making her debut against China in Sydney in April, while Nance first appeared for the Hockeyroos a year ago in tests against New Zealand before collecting a silver medal at the Champions Trophy.
The eight-team tournament will give Taylor, Nance and fellow youngsters Madison Fitzpatrick, Georgie Morgan and Mariah Williams valuable experience of playing against the best teams in the world under the pressure of the passionate South American crowd.
“We’re taking a team that can be competitive enough to be playing in finals,” said Hockeyroos’ Head Coach Adam Commens.
“As with the other top nations we’ve decided to use the tournament to give an opportunity to some of our younger up-and-coming players. We want to understand how they handle the crowd noise and the intensity of tournament hockey with six matches in nine days.
“As a result, we’ve left out some more experienced players. We know what the likes of Anna Flanagan and Teneal Attard are capable of under those conditions. But if we don’t expose the younger ones to it then we might not get many more opportunities to do so before having to make our decision on an Olympic team.”
The Hockeyroos will face China (ranked #5), Argentina (#3) and Great Britain (#6) in the opening pool phase with Netherlands (#1), New Zealand (#4), Korea (#8) and Germany (#9) making up the other side of the draw.
Australia’s opening match against China will see Jodie Kenny play her 150th game for the Hockeyroos. The 28 year-old Queenslander was recently named Australian women’s Player of the Year.
“We’re ranked number two in the world so we need to be expecting to reach the medal matches and that we can take gold in events like this,” added Commens.
“Argentina is a place we’ve enjoyed success in the past. We’ve reached the final in our last two visits (the 2013 World League Final and 2014 Champions Trophy) and we’ll be looking to do the same again.”
Fox Sports will show the Hockeyroos’ quest for World League Final glory in Australia.
Australia’s women qualified for the World League Final through their third-place finish at the World League Semi-Final tournament in Antwerp in July, the event that secured Olympic qualification.
The Hockeyroos reached the gold medal match of the inaugural Hockey World League Final two years ago where they came away with the silver medal after a 5-1 reversal at the hands of the Olympic Champions, the Netherlands.
Casey Sablowski (née Eastham) and Kellie White continue to recover from knee surgery and were not available for selection. Anna Flanagan – who has played in every major tournament since the London Olympics, Teneal Attard and Georgie Parker are the other experienced athletes to have missed out.
Hockeyroos’ squad for World League Final, Rosario
Athlete (Hometown, State) Caps/Goals
Madonna Blyth (Brisbane, QLD) 311/68
Edwina Bone (Evatt, ACT) 84/2
Jane Claxton (Adelaide, SA) 73/6
Kirstin Dwyer (Mackay, QLD) 84/8
Madison Fitzpatrick (Cabarita Beach, NSW) [QAS athlete] 6/3
Jodie Kenny (Wamuran, QLD) 149/92
Rachael Lynch (Warrandyte, VIC) 129/0
Karri McMahon (Berri, SA) 76/8
Georgina Morgan (Armidale, NSW) 17/1
Gabrielle Nance (Kingscliff, NSW) [SASI athlete] 11/1
Georgia Nanscawen (Melbourne, VIC) 163/32
Ashleigh Nelson (Wagin, WA) 185/66
Brooke Peris (Darwin, NT) 65/12
Kathryn Slattery (South Stirling, WA) 28/8
Emily Smith (Crookwell, NSW) 130/56
Renee Taylor (Everton Park, QLD) 5/0
Ashlee Wells (Moe, VIC) 57/0
Mariah Williams (Parkes, NSW) 24/4
Hockeyroos’ fixtures at World League Final, Rosario
All times AEDT
Sunday 6 December - 8:45am: Hockeyroos v China (Pool B)
Monday 7 December – 11:00am: Hockeyroos v Argentina (Pool B)
Wednesday 9 December – 4:15am: Hockeyroos v Great Britain (Pool B)
Friday 11 December – tbc: Quarter final
Sunday 13 December – tbc: Semi final / 5-8 playoffs
Monday 14 December – tbc: Medal matches
Broadcast Information
Fox Sports will broadcast Australian matches at the World League Final on Foxtel. More information regarding broadcast at the World League Final will be updated via our watch page once confirmed by the International Hockey Federation.
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