Four WAIS hockey athletes have made the cut for the 18-man Kookaburras squad which will head to the Champions Trophy next week.
Veterans Bevan George and Aaron Hopkins have been joined in line up by young guns Fergus Kavanagh and Kiel Brown after both impressed National Coach Barry Dancer with their performances in the Australian Hockey League and in the last block of national squad training.
The dynamic midfielders have played just 50 international matches between them (23 for Kavanagh and 27 for Brown) and the tournament in The Netherlands will be their first appearances at a Champions Trophy. Their selection could not have come at a better time with the tournament, which features the best six hockey nations in the world, shaping as the last opportunity for players to press their claims for Olympic selection.
“The performances of the players at the Champions Trophy tournament and the two games against Belgium won’t be the only factor when we sit down to select the Olympic squad in July. But in saying that, it presents a good opportunity for this group of players to step up and put their best foot forward against the world’s best opposition,” Dancer said at the announcement of the squad.
George is again expected to captain the Kookaburras in the June 21-29 tournament while Hopkins must pass a final fitness test on his injured calf this weekend to make the plane to Europe.
The Men’s Hockey Section of the 2008 Australian Olympic Team isn’t expected to be announced until early July, with only 16 players to be chosen for Beijing compared to the 18 which will represent Australia in The Netherlands.
