Dardanup’s Tom Harvie to pull on green and gold of Australia A as part of squad to travel to Japan in August

Dardanup’s Tom Harvie will have another chance to pull on the green and gold of Australia after a more than three-year absence from international hockey. Harvie, who is the younger brother of Commonwealth Games gold medallist Jake, was selected on Tuesday in the Australia A hockey squad that will travel to Japan next month. The 22-year-old last represented Australia in June 2019, in Madrid as part of the Burras — Australia’s under-21 men’s hockey team. The Boyanup Hockey Club product said while the tour was in the second-string Australian team, it was still something he was thrilled to be a part of. “It is always an honour to pull on the green and gold, obviously I am not quite there yet but it is certainly a step in the right direction,” he said. “To represent your country at any level is very special, so I am very much looking forward to putting the Australia shirt back on. “It has been three years since I last represented the country, so I am very excited.” Harvie is a member of the 20-man national development squad which sees him train with the Kookaburras on a weekly basis. Seven Kookaburras squad members who missed out on selection for the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games will be a part of the Japan tour. Harvie said having the Kookaburras there will mean the selectors will be paying close attention to the tour, but he was determined to take it game by game. “I train with them full-time at the moment, but any opportunity to put your best foot forward you have to seize at the moment with such limited opportunity,” he said. “Personally, I am just really excited to play. “Hopefully, I won’t be thinking about any sort of selection, and just enjoy playing international hockey again at such a high level. “Selection can definitely play on your mind, and I think I play my best hockey when I am not even think about that sort of thing.”