Sydney is hosting a FIH Pro League mini-tournament which will see Australia take on China and Germany twice in the next six days.

Hockeyroos head coach Katrina Powell said the players were eager to return to the international arena, particularly after spending the past week in a high intensity selection camp that included a host of intra-squad matches.

“It’s a challenge to step straight into a Pro League match after not having played for a considerable time,” Powell said.

“However, the excitement around it, firstly being back in the Pro League and secondly playing in Australia again, the athletes have been training really hard over the break to make sure they’re in great condition physically.”

“We have been playing intra-squad matches leading into this series…there is no substitute to playing international matches but we’re as ready as we can be.”

“I’m sure Germany are keen to play against us after we defeated them in the bronze medal match at the World Cup last year.

“China is more of an unknown because we haven’t played against them for a while but we’re certainly looking forward to that challenge of the different styles coming at us and how we adapt and problem solve on the pitch.”

Hockeyroos FIH Pro League matches at Sydney Olympic Park Hockey Centre

Friday 10 February 2023 - Hockeyroos v China (6:30pm AEDT)
Sunday 12 February 2023 - Hockeyroos v Germany (4:30pm AEDT)
Monday 13 February 2023 - Hockeyroos v China (6:30pm AEDT)
Wednesday 15 February 2023 - Hockeyroos v Germany (6:30pm AEDT)

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A New South Wales trio - defender Maddison Smith, goalkeeper Zoe Newman and striker Grace Young - will all make their Hockeyroos debut in this series.

Tokyo 2020 Olympian Kaitlin Nobbs, who reached her 100-game milestone at the Commonwealth Games and has been playing club hockey in the Netherlands, was thrilled to be back playing in the green and gold.

“The girls are really excited to play and particularly starting off in Australia with a home crowd will be fun,” said Nobbs.

“I hope there will be big crowds here. A number of our players are from regional areas as well so hopefully we can get a lot of people to get to Sydney Olympic Park to watch these games.”

In a special reunion, Powell will come up against her fellow Hockeyroos teammate Alyson Annan for the first time, who currently coaches China. The match-up comes at the venue where they won Olympic gold together in 2000.

“It will be a lot of fun to coach against Alyson, and of course Ric (Charlesworth) who she has as her assistant coach…it will be a fun reunion,” Powell said.

“Alyson’s level of experience…there is none greater than hers and her success rate as a player and a coach speaks for itself, so she is formidable and then you put Ric in her corner as well, they are quite the combination.”

“Having that understanding of the way they like to play maybe helps and I’m super excited about the challenge.”

When Annan was asked about how she would combat being up against Powell in the opposition coaches box, she acknowledged it was a special occasion but said the focus was on the respective teams.

“I’ll just think about how she used to be when she was my roommate on Hockeyroos tours,” Annan quipped.

“It’s not between Triny and I as coaches, it’s between two teams who are very good…we’re number 10 in the world, they’re number three so I think we have to be realistic about that.”

“This is not a battle between two roommates from 20 years ago, it’s about two teams who are growing, learning and playing some good hockey.”

“I thought it was amazing coming back onto this pitch, walking up into the stands…it brought back a lot of memories,” Annan said.

“It has been a while since I’ve been home…and to be able to share my experience with the Chinese players is special because 2000 was the first Olympics that China competed in women’s hockey.”

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