The No1 ranked Kookaburras are looking to win the week-long competition, which features the top six teams in the world, for a third successive year.

Charlesworth's side won the World Cup for the first time since 1986 in March but faces a huge test in Monchengladbach where it takes on Olympic champion Germany, England, the Netherlands, Spain and New Zealand.

Australia beat the Germans 2-1 in the World Cup final in India but Charlesworth warned players complacency would not be tolerated.

Kiel Brown, Liam De Young, Rob Hammond, Mark Knowles and Grant Schubert, who all played key roles in the Delhi success, have been left out of the squad with the focus very much on building for the London Olympics.

''This is a different group of players, there are seven or eight new faces from last year's Champions Trophy and a number of changes from the World Cup, it is about building depth and experimenting further,'' Charlesworth said. ''The team has to constantly evolve and change and we have to have more depth, the Olympics in London are only two years away and if we don't look ahead we will be making a mistake.

''The message has to be that players cannot rest on our laurels and we have to be keep looking to improve to stay ahead because the world game is so strong.''

The Kookaburras warmed up for their opening game against New Zealand last Saturday with a 10-3 thumping of Belgium and an 8-2 hammering of England. Despite those wins, Charlesworth was frustrated with the defensive performance against the Belgians.

''We showed some good penetration in attack but I didn't like the fact we let in three goals and we have to tighten up,'' he said.

! Tonight: Australia v New Zealand in Germany, 11pm.