The Kookaburras had to wait 258 days to get another taste of the international stage after Tokyo.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But for Canberra's Andrew Charter, it is turning into an even longer wait.
The 35-year-old has been biding his time during Australia's series against Malaysia in Perth, as the next generation of goalkeepers earn their stripes.
He is not phased though, as he himself debuted against the Asian side back in 2011 some 193 games ago, and he is enjoying his new role in the squad.
"I've been having a few chats to debutant Ben Rennie, he replaced Tyler Lovell who retired, to get him up to speed as to how we do things," Charter said.
"He's only been in the squad now for, what must be, two months. So I'm showing him the ropes, how we organise our penalty corner defence, how we run our meetings and spot opposition.
"That's sort of been my role. It's a good one, I haven't done it for quite a few years, as we've had a stable goalkeeping group. So it's something that I'm really enjoying."
MORE IN CANBERRA SPORT:
Newcomer Johan Durst was given the reigns in their 3-0 win in game one, keeping a clean sheet in just his fourth international match.
Charter's got his name on the team sheet for game two behind Rennie, who made his debut, in the Kookaburras' 7-0 triumph.
Game three of the series on Tuesday may be where he gets another national cap to his name.
Whenever it is, he is ready.
"I've played Malaysia quite a bit, but we haven't played them in the last maybe three to four years due to COVID," he said.
"Their trademark is they are fast, extremely skilful, and they usually pose a fair bit of a challenge to us because that's not a style we're super common to play against these days."
The long break between international matches for the Australian side gave them time to refresh and regroup before the three-year Olympic cycle kicks into gear.
The new look squad will look to go one better in Paris 2024, and their first test will be the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham later this year. The Kookaburras are hunting their seventh gold medal at the event, after finishing top in every Games since 1998.
This month's four-game Malaysia series is a marker on how they will fair in July, and will be backed up with more international minutes against the Black Sticks in Auckland in May.
Charter's wants to impress across the two series to book his ticket to England, and eventually his ticket to Paris in three years time.
"As always with a new cycle, we bring new players in and we usually try new things," he said.
"So this is definitely the new pathway going forward. We normally have a bit more time before the Commonwealth Games, but this is where we will be making sure we have the right guys to give ourselves the best shot.
"It's a really exciting period because we had been going through a bit of training fatigue from a mental perspective.
"So everyone is just excited to get back to what used to be normal for us, getting out there, travelling and playing against these nations more than once a year."
Isobel Cootes
Sports reporter at The Canberra Times. A Novocastrian with a passion for football (or soccer as they call it in the capital) via The Examiner and The Port Lincoln Times.
Sports reporter at The Canberra Times. A Novocastrian with a passion for football (or soccer as they call it in the capital) via The Examiner and The Port Lincoln Times.
