With the Hockeyroos losing to New Zealand in the Oceania Cup by just a single goal, the result meant Australia didn't automatically qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.

Edwina Bone, Kalindi Commerford and Brooke Peris will join the Chill late on Friday as they fly in from national duties before the season's first round kicks off on Sunday.

They will then be jetting off to Perth to face Russia across a two-game series held on October 25-26.

It leaves the Chill relying a lot on the experience of their imports from Japan and the United Kingdom.

Beckie Middleton arrived late Thursday night from the UK with a suitcase packed full of jet-lag as she returns to the nation's capital after a successful first stint last year.

Japanese imports Sakiyo Asano, Yui Ishibashi and Shihori Oikawa arrived on Wednesday and met their teammates for the first time at training on Thursday.

Head coach for the women's team Ian Rutledge said that although the Hockeyroos can't be in Canberra for the whole season, the timing for the tournament fits in well with the hockey schedule.

"The timing of the league is ideal because we're coming off the back of club season which only finished last week and the players are fit," Rutledge said.

"We've set up a bit of a mini camp to maximise their time together with everyone having arrived over the last few days so we will spend the next four days getting to know each other and laying down a bit of a foundation."

Canberra Chill player Sophie Gaughan said that she isn't too worried about the last-minute crash-course introduction for the squad.

"A lot of the girls who live here play club hockey together and we've played for quite a while so it should be pretty quick and easy to gel and have those set-plays ready," Gaughan said.

Apart from the Japanese imports the Chill have recruited, there are only two women who weren't in the side last year. This will give what the Chill hopes is an advantage in their upcoming match against Brisbane.

"It's unknown for all of us for us heading into the match as the Brisbane team is newly formed and I think they will be having their first training together soon as well because of the Hockeyroos coming in late," said Rutledge.

Hockey One features both a men's and women's side from each team which play back-to-back every round.

Aaron Knight from the men's side said that taking on a team like Brisbane which is predominantly made up of Kookaburras is what he thrives on.

"It's a good way to develop as a player because as a young kid you always would think you would love to get to that level," Knight said.

"Once you get too that level and you start to play against some of those players you grew up admiring which makes it exciting."

The men's side might not feature any Kookaburra players however they also feature three Japanese imports.

Kentaro Fukuda, Kazuma Murata and Manabu Yamashita return to Canberra and are expected to be strong performers after a successful 2018 season.