Australia to blood three rookies in South African five-nation meet

Australia have included three debutants with a view to next year’s Beijing Olympics in their squad for next month’s five-nation hockey tournament in South Africa.

National coach Barry Dancer has omitted senior players Jamie Dwyer, Brent Livermore, Bevan George and Matthew Wells from the team who finished second to Germany in the Champions Trophy in Malaysia earlier this month.

This will give an opportunity to newcomers Chris Ciriello, Daniel Hotchkis and Simon Orchard, with Dancer saying the trio have chances to be selected in the Olympic squad.

“Each of our three debutants have emerged through various AIS (Sports Institute) tours and through the AHL (Australian Hockey League) over the last few years and they all thoroughly deserve this opportunity,” said Dancer.

“They are all long-term prospects but a good performance at this tournament followed by more good hockey at the AHL will make them just as likely to be selected in the Olympic squad as anyone else.”

The team for the five-nation tournament from Jan 20-27 will have an average of 40 games played per player, compared to the 114 game average per player in the Champions Trophy squad.

“The focus of this team’s selection is to allow a broader group of players the opportunity to put their hands up for Olympic selection by performing at this tournament,” Dancer said. “At this stage we are not ruling out anyone for our Olympic squad regardless of age and experience.”



The Squad

Desmond Abbott, Kiel Brown, Nathan Burgers, Chris Ciriello, Luke Doerner, Russell Ford, David Guest, Rob Hammond, Josh Hawes, Daniel Hotchkis, Fergus Kavanagh, Mark Knowles, Daniel McPherson, Eli Matheson, Eddie Ockenden, Simon Orchard, Grant Schubert, Andrew Smith.