Australia's diminishing aura of invincibility

There was a period in world hockey not too long ago when Australia would be the team to beat in every international tournament they stepped foot in. Be it in World Cups, World League Finals or Champions Trophys, the Kookaburras would be primed for gold, while other teams battled for the remaining honours.

Not anymore, though. Ever since the 2016 Rio Olympics, in which the Aussies had a disastrous 6th-place finish, world hockey's order is fast changing.

Thus, even though the Australians enter the FIH World League Finals starting in Bhubaneshwar on Friday as defending champions, they know that a lot of water has flown under the bridge since they won the title in 2015.

"A lot of the teams are closer than what they were before," Australia coach Colin Batch told DNA. "We've seen it shrink down the last four years or so. Any of the top eight teams can beat anyone on any given day.

"It's good for international hockey. Every team brings different qualities to the game, and we can all learn off each other to pump up the competition levels and produce very exciting hockey," he added.

Batch, who played for the Kookaburras from 1979 to 1990, felt that world hockey has become a more level playing field now than ever before.

"Hockey is a very tough international sport now. We have many teams that can be very successful. It has become tougher to progress in tournaments like the World League Finals.

"Whereas in the past, it was always the top two going through, while many teams would be finished after one or two matches. So, yes, hockey is getting more competitive, and at the right time," he said.

A major reason for that change is the tremendous rise of some of the hockey-playing nations like Argentina and Belgium -- Rio Games gold and silver medallists, respectively – coupled with the slight downward slide of the traditional hockey powerhouses like Australia and The Netherlands over the last couple of years.

The 59-year-old Batch, who replaced Graham Reid last December after Australia's disappointing show at the Rio Games, admitted it will be a challenge for the second-ranked Australians to regain their aura of invincibility that they had around them a couple of years ago.

"It's a challenge. There are other frontrunners at the moment, teams like Belgium and Argentina. They're playing very well. So, it's a big challenge to keep turning up and playing well consistently against these teams," he said.

However, the Kookaburras are starting afresh after their Rio flop show, and are hoping to set the tone for next year's FIH World Cup as well as the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in what will be the first big test for the new group.

"This tournament is important because we get to play countries like Argentina, Belgium, Netherlands and Germany. We haven't quite played those teams this year. It'll be nice to play and perform against those teams, and just get a sense of where we're at in world hockey.

"We're ranked No. 2 in the world. So, we'd like to try and win this tournament. But there are other goals that we have. This will give us a glimpse of what we can produce next year – in the Commonwealth Games and World Cup – as well as looking ahead to Tokyo," Batch said.

'INDIA WILL DO VERY WELL IN THIS TOURNAMENT'

Australia coach Colin Batch believes India, against whom they will play their first match of the tournament on Friday, will be a tough team to beat in their backyard. "They'll be very tough to play. They enjoy playing in front of their home crowd. There comes expectations and pressure with that, of course. But we're expecting a very tough game. I think India will do very well in this tournament," Batch said.