The Kookaburras' Commonwealth Games preparations will go up a notch this week when they take on New Zealand in a four-match series in Auckland from Tuesday.
The series was originally scheduled to be played earlier this month, but a COVID-19 outbreak among the Black Sticks' squad forced it to be postponed for several weeks.
The Kookaburras piled on 18 goals and didn't concede a single one in their 4-0 series whitewash against world No.11 Malaysia in April.
The ninth-ranked Black Sticks will represent a tougher challenge, especially on home soil.
More importantly, the series will give the world No.1 Kookaburras a good look at NZ ahead of their group stage meeting at the Commonwealth Games on August 1.
The Kookaburras are aiming to snare a remarkable seventh consecutive Commonwealth Games gold.
NZ will be their toughest opponent in their group, which also features South Africa (world No.14), Pakistan (17), and Scotland (19).
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the first Test match between the Australian and New Zealand men's teams.
That game took place on September 27, 1922, and there have been 152 trans-Tasman clashes since.
MATCH SCHEDULE
Tuesday, May 31 - 19.05pm NZT (17.05pm AEST)
Thursday, June 2 - 19.05pm NZT (17.05pm AEST)
Saturday, June 4 - 13.35pm NZT (11.35am AEST)
Sunday, June 5 - 13.35pm NZT (11.35am AEST)
