Aussies decides to exclude experienced players for European Tour
In a bid to avert the injuries of the major players, ahead of the 2012 London Olympics, the Aussies decided not to use their experienced players in the forthcoming month-long European Tour. It was a decision taken in light of the long-term planning
for the upcoming mega events, this year and next year.
After a detailed consultation, the selection committee decided to drop a few world-class players, which include Des Abbot, Graeme Begbie, Jami Dwyer, Luke Doerner and Grant Schubert. These players were dropped owing to injuries. Furthermore, Rob Hammond
and Liam De Young were also suffering from severe hamstring injuries.
Ric Charlesworth, the coach of the Australian national hockey team, was of the view that a vast range of players, which include Jamie Dwyer, Graeme Begbie and Des Abbot are not available to play owing to injuries. In his views, the injured players
would be back into the national squad within months. They were completing their selection process in a cautious way in order to protect the major players from injuries.
Charlesworth, who is one of the legendary hockey trainers in the world, addressed to the media and said that they had a large number of players including experienced and fresh talent. He stated, “We have a good blend of players, seven players have
been included from our recent Azlan Shah Cup tournament and we have some experienced players coming back in. This is an important tour for the team because it will give us a chance to measure ourselves against some of the best European teams.”
In his views, the European Tour will be a major tour for the Kookaburras, as the 2012 London Olympic Games are only twelve months away. The men’s hockey team of Australia is flying on a high note, which defeated Pakistan through a golden goal in the
second half of the overtime in the recently concluded 2011 Azlan Shah Cup’s finals in Malaysia and clinched the title of the seven-nation invitational. He also stated that the European Tour would assist them to train new youngsters.
It is vital to mention here that the Aussies spent the year of the 2010 in a stiff schedule. However, the busy schedule served them a lot and they lifted many titles in the international tournaments. It was the first squad in the history which clinched the
Champions Trophy, Commonwealth Games and the World Cup in one year.
During the forth-coming tour, the Aussies will play a couple of games against Spain and grace the colours in the Four-Nations tournament in Monchengladbach, Germany. Besides Kookaburras, Spain, Netherlands and the host Germany will be featured in the
Four-Nations. Following that the squad will contest a five-nation event in Paris.
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