Tom Craig has retained his place in the 2025 Kookaburras squad following his Paris arrest and suspension, but there's no place for two of his veteran Olympic teammates.
New Australian men's coach Mark Hager has announced a 17-man squad for 2025 as well a wider Kookaburras squad of 21 who will train within the high performance program.
While three players from the Paris line-up announced their retirement, in Eddie Ockenden, Aran Zalewski and Andrew Charter, there was no room for three-time Olympian Jake Whetton, 33, or dual Games representative Tom Wickham, 34.
There's only one player over the age of 30 among the 17, with former Australian captain Hager, who replaced coach Colin Batch, making generational change.
"It's exciting, it's a new beginning for this group and we've picked 17 players that we feel very comfortable with, having seen how they've performed recently in 2024," Hager said in a statement.
"The next four years to the LA 2028 Olympic Games, and also further to Brisbane in 2032, was a big factor in our decision to name an initial squad and a wider squad with a range of experience and ages so we can bring them along in the journey."
Canberra defender Anand Gupte has earned a full-time Kookaburras call-up almost two years after playing his first Test.
Three players are set to make their debut in HC Melbourne duo Cooper Burns and Liam Henderson and Adelaide Fire's Jed Snowden, who will fill the shoes of Charter, Australia's most-capped goalkeeper.
Players in the wider group will get some game time at the FIH Pro League in Sydney and Argentina, with Hager looking to add a further seven players to his top squad.
After a disappointing Paris campaign, where they made a quarter-final exit, Craig was banned for 12 months for attempting to buy cocaine, with six months suspended.
The 29-year-old won't be available until early March, ruling him out the Kookaburras' Tests in February against Spain and the Netherlands.
"Tom's learned a lot of lessons over the last six months, he's very remorseful and I believe he's grown as a person," Hager said.
"Tom's a very talented hockey player, and I know he's now working on the other side of being a high performance athlete, which is really crucial.
"We can learn from his experiences and I know he'll bring the lessons he's learned back to the group."
The squad will travel to Argentina in late February before touring Europe in June as they prepare for the 2026 World Cup Qualifier at the Oceania Cup in Darwin in September.
Kookaburras: Josh Beltz, Hayden Beltz, Tim Brand, Cooper Burns, Tom Craig, Nathan Ephraums, Blake Govers, Anand Gupte, Jake Harvie, Liam Henderson, Jeremy Hayward, Tim Howard, Craig Marais, Lachlan Sharp, Jed Snowden (GK), Corey Weyer, Ky Willott.
