Enjoying the unique opportunity of playing in the International Hockey Federation-backed World League One tournament that doubled as the 2014 Oceania Cup in Suva, Fiji, the Australian Country men’s under 21 outfit finished third with just three hours’ training together in the lead-up to the tournament.

“It’s a challenge,” Laffin said looking at his side’s limited preparation.

“We fly in and virtually only get three hours’ training time together, so it’s tough. In respect to the time frame we have, we punch well above our weight. We really do.”

He added there were a number of teething issues in Suva, run between December 6 and December 13.

“We were still trying to figure our blokes’ names,” he said.

“To get them all together to be competitive ... these [Pacific nation} teams, even though they’re not major players, they’ve been training the entire year.

“The New Zealand side this year, they picked their president’s side at the Hawkes Bay Festival before Easter. Then they trot out a bloke like Hayden Shaw who’s played 140 games for the Black Sticks. They’re not bringing out a side full of gumbies.”

And yet, Laffin’s side was able to compete and compete hard.

After a round one bye, Laffin’s men lost their opening clash to the New Zealand President’s side 5-3 - a result that could have easily gone the other way after Australian Country missed several opportunities in front of goal only to concede two soft chances themselves to their trans-Tasman rivals.

The Australians then bounced back to defeat Papua New Guinea (PNG) (12-nil) and Samoa (14-nil), losing 4-2 in between against Fiji.