Wagin striker gets Hockeyroos nod

Wagin-bred striker Ashleigh Nelson will fly the local flag in The Hague next month after being the only West Australian selected in the Hockeyroos World Cup squad announced last week.

Set to compete in her second World Cup, Nelson will enter the tournament with a new role as one of the most experienced members of the squad, which she admits has made her feel “old”.

Having been a relative newcomer in her first World Cup squad in 2010, a changing of the guard has left the 27-year-old as the fourth most experienced of the 18-woman squad.

Nelson said that while her immediate focus was the World Cup and the following Commonwealth Games, she has set her sights on another Olympic appearance.

She brushed off suggestions this World Cup could be her last.

“Looking long-term, I’ve been certainly re-energised with the group that we have got and I would certainly like to be a part of the Rio Olympic team,” she said.

“With the way we are progressing, we are a real threat come Rio and I just love being a part of that and I would love to be a part of that group going forward.

“I had kind of only been in the team a year at my last World Cup, so I’m definitely a little older and hopefully a bit wiser now, so I’m looking forward to getting out there and putting in a good performance on the park.”

Nelson said the Hockeyroos, ranked fourth in the world, had built to a position to challenge for the gold medal and she was happy to take on a leadership role within the group.

“I think we are going into the World Cup expecting to make the semifinals, but our ultimate goal is to make that final to put us into the position to win that gold medal,” she said.

“So going in with that experience of being at a World Cup, an Olympic Games and a Commonwealth Games, I can kind of go in relaxed, knowing what we are capable and what I am capable of and just help some of the younger girls.”