Tough calls punctuate Aussie hockey's Paris squads
Australia's ruthless pursuit of Olympic hockey gold has been laid bare by three high-profile omissions from the Kookaburras and Hockeyroos teams to play in Paris.
Sixteen-strong squads were confirmed in Perth on Monday, men's coach Colin Batch relegating Tokyo Olympian Tim Howard and luckless forward Nathan Ephraums.
Defender Howard has played 137 times for Australia while Ephraums (71 caps) was also cut ahead of the Tokyo Games.
That pair will at least travel to France as two of three reserves to be called upon in case of injury or withdrawal, unlike Hockeyroos striker Rosie Malone who has missed out altogether.
The Gold Coast talent was shortlisted as one of five for the world's player of the year gong last year and scored twice in the Hockeyroos' run to the quarter-finals in Tokyo.
But the 26-year-old has paid the price in a team searching for more regular avenues to goal after she scored just once in 15 Pro League fixtures this season.
Malone (33 goals in 114 games) appealed her non-selection to the independent, government-backed National Sports Tribunal but had her case dismissed on Friday.
Rosie Malone's appeal was unsuccessful as she missed out. (John Cowpland/AAP PHOTOS)
Coach and two-time gold medal winner Katrina Powell and independent chair Rechelle Hawkes, who was part of all three Hockeyroos gold medal teams, make up part of the selection panel.
Jane Claxton, Brooke Peris, Kaitlin Nobbs and Grace Stewart will share the captaincy in a Hockeyroos squad with four triple-Olympians and seven debutants.
The Hockeyroos won gold in 1988, 1996 and 2000 but have missed the podium since, crashing out in a quarter-final loss to India after an unbeaten pool stage in Tokyo three years ago.
They finished mid-table with an 8-7 record in the latest Pro League season that was dominated by the Dutch.
Brooke Peris will be one of four Hockeyroos co-captains. (Richard Wainwright/AAP PHOTOS)
"This is our best 16 players who we believe will give us the best chance of being successful in Paris," Powell, who took over on the eve of the Tokyo Games, said.
"There's good versatility in there, they provide flexibility and the versatility that's required for the structure of an Olympic Games."
"We certainly like to play with speed, skill and variety and this group provides it.
"We've got world-class players spread throughout our whole group, in all of the lines surrounded by talent and then we have some dogged determination in there as well, so it's a really great mix."
The Kookaburras will enter Paris as Pro League champions, having cast the net wide since a shootout loss to Belgium in the Tokyo Games final denied the side a second Olympic gold.
But coach Batch will blood just three Olympic debutants, Jake Harvie, Ky Willott and Corey Weyer, named alongside evergreen Eddie Ockenden, who at 37 will become the first Australian hockey player to feature in five Olympics.
"We haven't selected some quality players and we have acknowledged that within the group and the immense work that they've put in," Batch said.
"He's (Ockenden) like a good bottle of red wine, isn't he?
"And I know he wants a bigger goal and that's not just being in the team, he wants success in Paris."
The Hockeyroos have drawn Argentina, Great Britain, Spain, USA and South Africa in their pool, while the Kookaburras will take on Belgium, India, Argentina, New Zealand and Ireland.
Hockey competition will begin on July 27 at Yves-du-Manoir Stadium, the only venue used for the 1924 Paris Olympics to remain in use 100 years later.
In 1924 it hosted the opening ceremony, athletics, cycling, equestrian, gymnastics, tennis, football, rugby and modern pentathlon.
KOOKABURRAS: Joshua Beltz, Tim Brand, Andrew Charter, Tom Craig, Matthew Dawson, Blake Govers, Jake Harvie, Jeremy Hayward, Eddie Ockenden, Flynn Ogilvie, Lachlan Sharp, Corey Weyer, Jake Whetton, Tom Wickham, Ky Willott, Aran Zalewski.
HOCKEYROOS: Alic Arnott, Jocelyn Bartram, Jane Claxton, Claire Colwill, Rebecca Greiner, Stephanie Kershaw, Amy Lawton, Kaitlin Nobbs, Brooke Peris, Karri Somerville, Penny Squibb, Grace Stewart, Tatum Stewart, Renee Taylor, Mariah Williams, Grace Young.