As Australia and New Zealand prepare for their final FIH Hockey Pro League matches this weekend, be sure neither side will be giving much away ahead of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. That said, if the recent Tasman Cup matches between the two sides are anything to go by, this Oceania derby will be as highly compettive as ever.
'We are very excited to be playing international games against New Zealand,' says Australia goalkeeper Rachael Lynch as she relaxed between training sessions. 'This is the first time the Olympic team has played togther so it is chance to make some things around our style of play concrete.
'We will be putting a lot of our game plan into practice but we will also be keeping some things back,' said Lynch, who has 225 caps for Australia and was the 2019 FIH Goalkeeper of the Year. 'The 'beauty' of technology is that people can see everything [through match videos] and these matches will be televised so we will be keeping some things under wraps – penalty corners and more technical things.'
The Australian is heading to her second Olympic Games this summer on the back of a competitive Tasman Cup – also against New Zealand – just a few weeks ago and an intensive training regime under new Head Coach and Hockeyroos legend Katrina Powell.
Once the matches in Perth are completed, Lynch and her teammmates will be heading to Darwin to acclimatise to the heat they will encounter in Tokyo, before heading to Asia for their assault on the Olympic title.
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