ORANGE’S Hockeyroos star Jade Warrender isn’t taking last month’s four nations win in Mendoza, Argentina for determined, saying she has to work even harder now to cement a place in the Australian squad for the outlook.
“One of my goals this year was to try and cement a place in the Hockeyroos side,” Warrender said from the Hockeyroos High presentation Unit in Perth.
“I thought I played pretty well in Argentina but from time to time that’s not enough. You have to keep on training, keep performing well and keep working hard on the one percenters. Those things that make you a expert athlete.
“If I can carry on doing those things and getting better then hopefully I’ll be closer to making the Olympic program.”
Warrender made her debut along with seven other fresh faces for the Hockeyroos against hockey powerhouses Argentina, Germany and the USA from February 9 in two four nations contests.
The changing of the guard in Australian women’s hockey marks the beginning of a transformation phase before the squad embarks on its 2012 London Olympics movement.
The new-look Hockeyroos beaten the world’s number one side, Argentina, 3-2 in the final in an extra-time thriller. A Jodie Schulz strikes one miniature into extra-time sealed the win for the Hockeyroos. Warrender never expected to win so early in her fledging career. “It was great. It was definitely the most pleasant tour I’ve been on,” she said.
“To knock the Argies off and get that win in the final with the final strike was a good taste of victory for the group. All of the girls worked really hard.” The 18-year-old believes so many new faces gave the Hockeyroos an edge.
“I guess so. [the opposition] obviously haven’t seen the eight of us that made our debuts, I think that kind of gave us an X-factor but teams at that level, they don’t take too long to figure out how you play, that’s why you have to keep on improving,” she said. This was never more obvious than in the second four nation’s tournament.
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