The campaign came to an end last week with the Australians picking up eight wins from their 10 games.

They were staged over a gruelling 11-day period that included the Affiliates Tournament staged in Napier.

In that event, the Australian team were the dominant side through the preliminary rounds.

They set up a clash in the final with the New Zealand Maori side they had defeated 4-2 earlier in the competition.

For long periods of the decider it looked like they may be able to get the better of their opposition once more, but the home team scored a goal late in the second half to claim a 2-1 victory.

It was a rare blemish on an otherwise successful trip, though one that still rankles with Fieldus. She showed plenty of heart just to be on the field after dislocating her jaw in an earlier match.

“We grew so much as a team throughout the tournament and we were improving with every match,” she said.

“Unfortunately in the final there was a bit of a psychological factor at work there somewhere and we didn’t quite produce our best.

“The tournament had been staged in Napier but the final was played in Hastings on a blue turf surface, something none of us had really played on before, and we didn’t handle it as well as the opposition.

“They led us 1-0 at half-time, we equalised after the break, but late in the game there was a controversial call to award the Maori side a short corner and they converted it to take the win.

“We had a couple more one-off matches after that, we lost to North Harbour and by that stage we were a very tired bunch, but we finished with a win which was nice.”

Wearing her nation’s colours for the second time after touring Singapore and Hong Kong last year was another honour in Fieldus’ growing list of achievements. There was one major added bonus in the journey as well.

“The Six Nations tournament was also being played in Napier, and we actually got to play in front of the Hockeyroos which was huge for us,” she explained.

“The day we played New Zealand Maori in the pool games, they actually played before us so they were almost like a curtain-raiser for our game and they stuck around and watched. It was a huge thrill.

“The standard went up a lot from what we experienced last year. We played a lot of local teams in Singapore after our match against their national team got cancelled and the physicality and intensity in this tournament was a lot higher.”

In terms of her own performance, Fieldus was reasonably pleased. She also had plenty of praise for Ekert, who missed last year’s tour for the birth of her first child.

“Kristy just doesn’t surprise me anymore, she can just switch it on whenever she plays no matter what her preparation is like,” Fieldus said.

“She was third in our players’ player award, she scored some goals and was always dangerous in the circle whenever she had the ball.

“From my point of view, I got injured early on trying to make a one-on-one save, the helmet came off and I got a kick in the jaw, so I was a bit nervous in the few games after that.

“We lost the final but I felt like I made some good saves in that game and wasn’t too unhappy overall. They awarded a trophy for the best team overall at the tournament based on wins, losses and goal difference.

“We were awarded that one, so we still came away with something.”