Hogan was left stunned when she was named in the Australian Country under 21s side last year, but few were shocked this time round after the Dubbo star played a key role in NSW’s run to the silver medal at the recent Australian Country Championship at Berri.

Hogan, who plays her club hockey in Orange due to there being no Premier League Hockey (PLH) sides in Dubbo, is part of the national side which will compete at the Oceania Pacific Cup in Fiji in December.

“[Hogan and Allcorn both] performed really well, it’s great to see how strong Orange hockey is, we had five in the team which is far more than any other town,” said Rach Hoey, who was named in the Australian Country senior side.

Hoey, Hogan and Allcorn were joined in the NSW side by fellow Orange-based players Madie Smith and Confederates’ Rachel Pengilly, both of whom Hoey said were superb.

The NSW side, which also included a host of other central west players, lost just one game on its way to the gold medal game last week, going down 1-nil to the Australian Defence Force in the group stage.

The sky blues held their nerve the next time they faced the ADF though, in the semi-finals, winning a tense shootout 3-1 to face Queensland in the decider.

The Maroons had been the standout side all week and proved it in the grand final with a 1-nil win, Holly Gilbar’s 10th minute field goal proving the difference.

“We were aiming for gold so it was disappointing to fall short,” Hoey admitted.

“The game was close, it could have gone either way and we all gave 100 per cent, it just didn’t go our way.”