Hockeyroos and Kookaburras confirmed for Pro League matches
Published Tue 11 May 2021
Australia’s flagship national hockey teams, the Hockeyroos and Kookaburras, will play matches against New Zealand on 26/27 June in Perth.
The matches are set to be the teams’ last on Australian soil before the Tokyo Olympics.
The International Hockey Federation (FIH) ratified the weekend of Pro League double headers following collaboration between Hockey Australia and Hockey New Zealand. The matches have been made possible because of the Trans-Tasman travel bubble.
“Together with Hockey New Zealand, we are delighted these FIH Pro League matches will go ahead before the Olympics,” said Hockey Australia CEO Matt Favier.
“Playing these matches within weeks of the Hockeyroos and Kookaburras heading to Tokyo will provide an opportunity for the people of Perth to come and support the players and give them a fitting farewell.
“Considering there will be no overseas spectators at the Games, it would be fantastic to see a big crowd creating an electric atmosphere at the Perth Hockey Stadium on both days.”
The matches in Perth will follow the four-match series between the two nations to be played in New Zealand at the end of this month.
Both the Hockeyroos and Kookaburras have been starved of international competition due to COVID. Their last matches were on 7 March 2020.
Being their final international hit outs before heading to Tokyo, the Pro League matches will be crucial in the Hockeyroos and Kookaburras’ final Olympic preparations.
“To have these matches locked in is great and will be an opportunity for us to replicate matches on back-to-back days which is what we will experience in Tokyo,” said Kookaburras Head Coach Colin Batch.
“The group has been training and working incredibly hard and shown outstanding dedication and resilience throughout this period without any international matches.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to play against New Zealand in Perth and look forward to putting into action what we have been doing in training and getting a gauge of where we are at.”
The situation is similar for the Hockeyroos, who continue their Olympic preparations under new Head Coach Katrina Powell.
“These matches will give us an indication of how we are tracking and help to identify areas of our game that are progressing well and those that need more attention,” said Powell.
“I have been impressed by the squad’s application, commitment and attitude over the past month and playing against the Black Sticks will give us some crucial match conditioning leading up to what is going to be a totally unique Olympics.”
“We are really looking forward to playing against an international opponent in front of a home crowd – it has been a long time coming.”
The FIH Pro League double headers between the Trans-Tasman rivals were originally scheduled to be played on the ANZAC Day weekend (24/25 April).
With the Kookaburras and Hockeyroos Olympic teams of 16 athletes set to be announced on 14 June, these Pro League matches will be valuable lead into Tokyo.
The FIH Hockey Pro League is the annual global home and away league involving the world’s best men’s and women’s international hockey nations.
The revised match schedule of the 2020-2021 FIH Hockey Pro League is available here.
Tickets will go on sale from 3pm AEST tomorrow.
FIH Pro League - Australia v New Zealand
26/27 June 2021
Perth Hockey Stadium at Curtin University
Saturday 26 June 2021
Kookaburras v New Zealand 12.30pm local time (2.30pm AEST)
Hockeyroos v New Zealand 3.00pm local time (5.00pm AEST)
Sunday 27 June 2021
Kookaburras v New Zealand 12.30pm local time (2.30pm AEST)
Hockeyroos v New Zealand 3.00pm local time (5.00pm AEST)
Ticketing details will be released tomorrow.
