From a home Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast to packed houses in the Netherlands, the goalkeeper has played in some incredible environments.

None, however, compare to playing in India.

"It's pretty crazy," Charter said. "It's a really unique experience. You don't get crowds like you do there in many other places in the world.

"The fans pack out the stadium, it's always over capacity, they're crazy, very loud, very vocal and playing drums. It's a good experience and it's one the guys who haven't played in India before will be surprised by."

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They're conditions the Canberra hockey player is preparing to experience in January when the Kookaburras contest the World Cup in India.

Australia will play France, Argentina and South Africa in the group stage.

The Kookaburras have been building towards the tournament for the past four years after they were eliminated from the 2018 edition in the semi-final by the Netherlands in a penalty shootout.

Australia's shootout anguish continued at the Tokyo Olympics, with Belgium securing the gold medal after the two teams were tied at the end of regulation.

Belgium also claimed the 2018 World Cup in a shootout and enter this year's tournament as the team to beat.

Charter played a key role in the Kookaburras' run to the 2014 title and he is confident the side is primed to repeat that success.

"Winning World Cups is about defence and consistency," he said. "There's the age-old adage that defence wins championships.

"In 2014 we let four goals in over the entire tournament, that put us in a good position to make a play for the title. We have to be defensively strong and that will let the guys up front go to work."

Given the role shootouts have played at major international tournaments throughout the past five years, the Kookaburras have spent plenty of time practising the skill.

Charter's role as a goalkeeper is particularly challenging and he knows the spotlight will be on him if the scores are tied after four quarters in the sudden death rounds.

"Shootouts are ultra-important to us," Charter said. "We do a fair bit of work on it each week. We saw at the Olympics we had a win to get us through then unfortunately lost in the gold-medal match.

"There's no denying how important it is. It is nerve-wracking as a goalkeeper but I have processes to manage that. I'm no more nervous than facing penalty corners. I'll have strategies and tactics for each person and I'll have to manage the nerves so I can execute in that moment."

Australian coach Colin Batch picked an experienced team for the upcoming tournament, with Eddie Ockenden set for his fourth World Cup. Charter is one of four players contesting their third, with five making their debut.

At 35 years old, the Canberra talent recognises this could be his last World Cup but it's not something he's thinking about as the event approaches.

Instead, he's focused on leading Australia to victory in his first tournament as a married man.

"A last portion of the team from 2018 is still playing, we want to do better than that tournament," Charter said. "We always expect to be there at the end.

"We'll play one game at a time, look to get through the group stage on top and give ourselves the best chance of a deep run."

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