When Orchard and his Kookaburras teammates, including Norths product Matt Dawson, will do that was up in the air on Monday as they prepared to fly from Perth to Sydney, where they will depart for Rio on Tuesday morning.

Australian team members are not yet staying at the village because of plumbing and electrical problems. Australian chef de mission Kitty Chiller deemed the quarters uninhabitable and team members were staying at hotels while repairs and cleaning were carried out.

Orchard, who helped Australia to bronze at London 2012, was unsure when the village would be ready but said “we’re just looking forward to getting there”.

“It’s one of the best parts of the Olympics, arriving at the village,” Orchard said. “I’ve got the utmost confidence they’ll fix any problems in the next couple of days and we’ll enter in 48 hours hopefully in a really positive and well-run village. 

“Obviously the village is really important. We spend most of our time there, preparing for games and just hanging out. I think it was John Coates who said the three most important things at any Olympics are the village, the food and the transport. I pretty much agree with that. As long as the food’s OK, the beds are sleepable and you can get to the ground, we’re well prepared to look after the rest.”

The village drama has failed to dampen the Muswellbrook-born, Maitland product’s excitement ahead of Rio. The 30-year-old narrowly missed selection for the 2008 Games but has since been a regular member of the national squad. He believed Rio would be an even better experience than London 2012.

“In London it was about wanting to get in the side and there was anxiousness about it,” Orchard said. “I was fighting for my spot while still trying to get established. Now I’ve got a more grounded approach to it all. I’m more confident and comfortable in my own skin and how I fit into the team.

“This Olympics is more about representing myself, my family and friends, Maitland and Muswellbrook and all the coaches who have helped me get here. It’s more of a holistic approach and I think this one will be more rewarding.”

Newcastle’s Mariah Williams arrived with the Hockeyroos in Chile on Monday for practices games against China. The men’s side play Germany and Ireland in Rio ahead of the Games. 

Orchard said the Kookaburras had played high-quality practice games against those who missed selection, development team players and Perth club talent and were well prepared for Rio.

He said the squad had also benefited from a two-day beach retreat which included four-wheel driving, team-building exercises, sand dunes running and fishing “just to get away and build on our connections and develop a real camaraderie in the group”.

The Kookaburras will start favourites in Rio after winning the last Champions Trophy, World Cup and Commonwealth Games, but Orchard said the team knew success would not come easy after bronze Olympic medals in 2012 and 2008.

“I guess this time we go in as more overwhelming favourites than last time, but I think at the end of the day, we try to block out all that excess noise,” he said.

“It’s just opinions of people from the media. The trotted-out line from people like Kitty Chiller who have to give out their messages to the media, they bank us as a gold medal, which is comical to think of sometimes because we know how hard it is to win a gold medal, especially in a team sport which has so many moving parts that can go right or wrong.

“The team is in a really good spot. I think the Champions Trophy showed that the future of the squad is really healthy and we’ve added in two four-time Olympians, one dual and a triple Olympian to that squad.

“I think we’re really confident in our ability and our best being good enough. It's just a question of us producing that when it counts.”

Australia face New Zealand, Britain, Belgium, Spain and Brazil in the preliminary round.