Ballarat hockey's Lachlan Hansford, Molly Klix and Kahlua Smart in Indonesia with Australian Country Under 21 team

Hansford, on his third international tour, having previously represented Australia in Fiji and Malaysia, was named captain of the team which played eight games across the two week period, four against provincial and club sides and four against Indonesia.

While the Kookaburras are ranked the world number one, the country team is unranked, but matched up with world 77 Indonesia in a high quality series of matches.

"It was a great experience and I was fortunate enough to be named captain, not many get an opportunity to captain, so it was a great opportunity," Hansford said.

"It was a great bunch of boys and we really gelled well off the field as well as on the field. We went three wins, three draws and two losses, so we were competitive with them all the way."

Traditionally a midfielder or striker for Premier Club Geelong, Hansford played just one game in his customary position, slotting into the defensive midfield position.

"The main idea of the trip was to learn, so a lot of us didn't necessarily get put into the positions we are used to playing," he said.

"The coaching staff were big on making us all better hockey players and I believe we all came back better for the experience.

"I spent much of my time as defensive mid, which I really enjoyed because it gave me an opportunity to set-up the passes, use my voice more which as a leader was a great experience."

Hansford, Smart and Klix are all form Ballarat High School students and all began their hockey career at Eureka & Golden City Hockey Club.

Smart played as a specialist defender while Klix was one of two specialist goalkeepers who helped the Australian team keep a clean sheet across the two weeks as they dominated all opponents.

Also on the trip was Hockey Ballarat's Jeff Sly who was acting as the team manager for the men's team.

"It was a wonderful experience for all of the squads," Sly said.

"It was so hot and oppressive, they'd start doing the warm up and one minute later, the players would be looking to wipe their hands, but their clothes were already so wet, they had nowhere to wipe.

"The girls were dominant, it's clearly one of the strongest girls team by far that we've sent away and it showed.

"The standard of the men was off the charts and the competition was so good. The men's games were really tight, we had the physicality, but Indonesia were so fast and so skilled, it helped them a lot across the matches."

Hansford said he was excited about the upcoming year with the Premier season to get underway in April, saying he was keen to make sure Geelong stayed up in the top competition in the state.

He will also co-coach the Eureka & Golden City men's team alongside Sly throughout the year.

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