Hockeyroos and Kookaburras raring to go for Trans-Tasman Series

The Kookaburras and Hockeyroos will end their international hockey drought tomorrow night when they take on the Blacksticks (New Zealand’s Men’s and Women’s Teams) in the Sentinel Trans-Tasman Series.

446 days have passed since Australia’s flagship national hockey teams played an international match due to COVID.

Now the opportunity to represent Australia has finally come around again when the teams run out against the Black Sticks in Palmerston North for the first of the 4-match series.

“It has been such a long time. Everyone is so excited and also grateful for the opportunity to play international hockey again,” said Hockeyroos midfielder Steph Kershaw on the eve of the series.

“When you haven’t been able to do something you love for so long it makes you realise how much you love it and miss it.”

The Hockeyroos and the Black Sticks have a history of titanic matches and fierce contests. Kershaw does not see this series between the Trans-Tasman rivals being any different.

“It’s always a massive battle against New Zealand and it always seems to ebb and flow in terms of results so we have to ready for anything,” said Kershaw.

“They are a good side and we have been preparing well so it will be good to see where both teams are at.”

Significantly, the series will also act as an audition for every player in the Hockeyroos squad to put themselves in contention for Olympic selection.

With 27 players in the squad and only 16 named in the team for Tokyo, there is everything to play for both individually and collectively.

“You have pressure on yourself whenever you play international hockey but the Olympic selection obviously adds a bit of extra pressure,” said Kershaw.

“But I don’t think it’s anything we’re not prepared for so we’ll be ready to put our best foot forward both individually and as a group.”

For the Kookaburras, who were heading into Tokyo 2020 as one of the favourites before the 12 month postponement of the Games, this series is invaluable according to co-captain Aran Zalewski.

“We were preparing for a situation where we might not have any international matches before the Olympics, but to be able to come to New Zealand and then have them come to Australia next month is going to make a world of difference to our preparation,” said Zalewski.

“To say there is some excitement and anticipation would be an understatement. There is a lot of excitement bubbling among the boys so coming out here tomorrow, there are going to be some nerves because we haven’t done it for so long but there is a great energy.”

Used to spending large portions of the year travelling the globe to play hockey, Zalewski said it was a thrill heading overseas for a match again after so long without international competition.

“This is abnormal for us. Going on a plane was very exciting…we’re back on tour, we’re together and we’re trying to get better at playing hockey at a high level,” Zalewski said.

“We really enjoy being on tour as a group.”

Less than two months out from the Olympics, Zalewski admitted there were a lot of unknowns heading into this series.

However, the focus for the Kookaburras across the next four games was reinforcing everything the squad has been working on over the past 14 months.

“We’re quite familiar with the New Zealand players but there has been that 14 month period where we have both been training in our home bases,” said Zalewski.

That is a lot of time to develop strategies so we’ll just have to wait and see what happens in these four games.”

“For us it is going to be a lot about the processes that we run throughout the tournament. We don’t have too many opportunities to play internationally before we go to Tokyo so we really need to solidify our game style and how we want to play at the Olympics.”

The Sentinel Homes Trans-Tasman Series will be broadcast LIVE on Sky Sport and the Sky Sport Next YouTube Channel.

Sentinel Homes Trans-Tasman Series
New Zealand v Australia
Massey University turf, Palmerston North

Thursday 27 May 2021
5.30pm (3.30pm AEST) Kookaburras v Vantage Black Sticks Men
7.30pm (5.30pm AEST) Hockeyroos v Vantage Black Sticks Women

Friday 28 May 2021
5.30pm (3.30pm AEST) Kookaburras v Vantage Black Sticks Men
7.30pm (5.30pm AEST) Hockeyroos v Vantage Black Sticks Women

Sunday 30 May 2021
1.00pm (11.00am AEST) Hockeyroos v Vantage Black Sticks Women
3.00pm (1.00pm AEST) Kookaburras v Vantage Black Sticks Men

Tuesday 1 June 2021
5.30pm (3.30pm AEST) Hockeyroos v Vantage Black Sticks Women
7.30pm (5.30pm AEST) Kookaburras v Vantage Black Sticks Men

Broadcast: LIVE on Sky Sport and the Sky Sport Next YouTube Channel.