Govers, who was returning to the team for the first time since the Rio Olympics last year, made a blazing return, scoring five goals in the 30-0 win over Papua New Guinea.

But the anticipated battle with Tasman rivals New Zealand in the next game and the finals turned into an anti-climax as the Kookaburras beat them 5-1 and 6-0 in the final last Sunday.

“Coming back was great and we stuck to our game plan as in the first game,” Govers said in Sydney.

“This is now a new team under a new coach and the Kiwis seemed to have lost some pace,” he said.

Govers was moved to a new position in attack under new coach Colin Batch who wanted to trial him from his customary defending position.

The New Zealand Black Sticks were missing a couple of players who are playing in Europe.

Missing from the Kookaburras were Illawarra's Tristan White who opted not to play due to his work commitments and Flynn Ogilvie who is still recovering from a hamstring injury in Perth.

Both will also miss the International tournament in Melbourne next month of which a new squad will be picked.

We will wait to see if Govers has retained his place.

The Kookaburras are now a new developing team picked after last year's Olympics where the team failed at the quarter final stage.

Several senior players were dropped to make way for younger players leading into the next Olympics.

The 2020 Games will be held in Tokyo. The new hockey stadium is one of eight permanent venues to be built across the city. 

The venue will host two competition pitches.