Kookaburras Shape for First 2011 Silverware
The Kookaburras are set to play their first match since their all conquering year of 2010 when they compete in the 2011 Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia from 5-15 May.
While the Kookaburras will be looking to continue their good form from 2010 which saw them become the first team in history to win the World Cup, Champions Trophy and Commonwealth Games in the one year, injuries and player unavailabilities will ensure the Kookaburras will need to be at their very best in order to win the Azlan Shah, the only tournament they failed to win last year.
Long term injuries to key players including four time world player of the year Jamie Dwyer, dominant striker Des Abbott, AIS-WAIS athlete Graeme Begbie (voted Kookaburras player of the year in 2010) Kieran Govers (2010 World Cup gold medalist) and Joel Carroll (2010 Commonwealth Games gold medalist) sees them ruled out for the Azlan Shah.
Senior players Eddie Ockenden, Rob Hammond, Mark Knowles and Luke Doerner are also unavailable due to club commitments in the Netherlands.
Despite these players not competing the Kookaburras still have a very strong side lead by co-captain Liam De Young and the likes of Jason Wilson, George Bazeley, AIS-WAIS athlete Brent Dancer, Glenn Simpson and Mark Paterson, all of whom have recently been based in Europe, returning to the team to provide some experience and be given a further opportunity to impress Charlesworth.
“Depth in your squad is important for any team that wants to be successful because there will always be situations where players are unavailable for various reasons, as has happened at this tournament. It’s important that players can step in and not feel out of place and know all of the team structures and game plan, and I’m extremely confident that we have the depth to cover the players who won’t compete at the Azlan Shah Cup. We showed last year that we have great depth by the fact that we were able to player several different players across the many tournaments we played last year and it didn’t affect the strength of our team,” said Charlesworth.
In other selection news, AIS-WAIS athlete Jonathon Charlesworth will make his way back into the Kookaburras after some good form in recent practice matches while Matthew Butturini will return after an injury set back which was saw him miss the 2010 Champions Trophy and Commonwealth Games.
Charlesworth said it was important to give the players an appropriate amount of time off however admitted that it could take the team some time to reestablish their rhythm.
“We have approached our schedule a bit differently this year compared to last. After such a busy year, the team needed some time off, and we are balancing this year to have more matches in the later part of the year so we are peaking at the 2011 Champions Trophy in December and carry that momentum through to the Olympics,” said Charlesworth.
“The Azlan Shah will provide us with a good platform as we head towards the London Olympics, but I think it is unrealistic to expect the team to be at their very best at the moment or make any comparisons to last year. Last year is done now, and we are only looking at how we can improve because there is no doubt the other teams have been studying us to try and figure out how to beat us. We need to make sure we stay one step ahead,” said Charlesworth.
– Hockey Australia
