Norths defender Matt Dawson will be one of 10 national men’s hockey players making their World Cup debut for the Kookaburras in India.
Despite having notched up 107 Test caps, including Commonwealth Games, World League and Champions Trophy gold medals as well as the 2016 Rio Olympics, Dawson wasn’t part of Australia’s successful World Cup campaigns in either 2010 or 2014.
The Kookaburras start the 2018 tournament against Ireland in Bhubaneswar on Friday (10:30pm AEDT) following warm-up matches with Germany (1-all) and South Africa (2-1) this week.
"It's great that Australia has such a proud history in World Cups,” Kookaburras co-captain Aran Zalewski said.
“We have taken experiences from the past but this is completely different group. We have now got 10 guys making their debut at World Cup.
"For us as a team this is our first real chance of winning a World Cup as a group. We are not taking it as pressure but as a challenge."
Australia also face England (Wednesday) and China (December 7) in the group stages of the tournament, which wraps up on December 16.
