Hockey: Aussie tests gauge players

By DAVID LEGGAT

Preparations for the Athens Olympics men's hockey programme take a big step forward tonight when New Zealand play Australia in the first of three tests in Cairns.

And coach Kevin Towns admitted that there must be elements of experimentation as he works his way towards having his squad ready for the August 15 start in Athens when the transtasman rivals meet again in the opening pool B Games match.

"We're at quite different stages of our preparations," Towns said last night. "Australia have had 31 tests since Christmas and these are their last three before they go into the Games village.

"There are our first tests since March in Madrid. So while Australia will be looking to finish on a good note, we'll have an eye on the results but will be looking at where we're at right now and what we have to do to complete our plans."

World No 3 Australia will be strongly favoured against the 11th-ranked New Zealanders. The games will be full internationals. If the scores are level at fulltime, extra time followed by penalty strokes will be played and if one team is ahead at fulltime, each game will have penalty strokes, as another aspect of the preparations for Athens.

The second and third tests are in Cairns on Thursday and Saturday before heading to Barcelona.

They have tests against Spain on July 20 and Britain on August 4, bookending an intensive fortnight of training before flying from Barcelona to Athens on August 6.

They have a further three leadup games, against pool A teams Korea, Pakistan and Germany before the Games tournament starts.

Towns said eight games were a satisfactory preparation.

"Could we have done with a few more? Always, but I'm happy we've got what we need and we can't say we'll be underdone," he added.

The only player who is unlikely to figure in the series is Auckland defender Dean Couzins, whose broken ankle is out of plaster but who will avoid combative drills until the squad reach Spain next week.

Series squad

Goalkeepers: Paul Woolford (Auckland), Kyle Pontifex (Wellington).

Defenders: Dion Gosling (Auckland), Dean Couzins (Auckland), Hayden Shaw (Canterbury).

Midfield: Simon Towns (capt, Auckland), Mitesh Patel (Wellington), Darren Smith (North Harbour), Wayne McIndoe (Auckland), Blair Hopping (North Harbour), Casey Henwood (Auckland), James Nation (Wellington).

Forwards: Gareth Brooks (Canterbury), Phillip Burrows (Wellington), David Kosoof (North Harbour), Umesh Parag (Wellington), Bevan Hari (Auckland).