Just a couple of weeks after donning the black and white jersey of his home town Maitland, Simon Orchard has been called up for national duty.
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The 28-year-old was one of 40 players named in the Australian hockey squad during the weekend for
the Hobart International Challenge early next month.
Australia and Australia A will play a series of matches against New Zealand, Korea and Pakistan from May 2 to May 10.
Orchard will be one of 11 senior players returning to the Kookaburras squad after being rested for the recent Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia, where the boys in green and gold finished with a silver medal following a shootout loss to New Zealand in the decider.
The upcoming series, 16 months out from the Rio Olympics, will act as preparation for the World League finals being held in Belgium in June.
Orchard and his India Premier League teammate Sandeep Singh played against one another in a Hunter Coast Premier Hockey League fixture earlier this month with a crowd of more than 1000 people at Newcastle International Hockey Centre.