But after making his debut with the Kookaburras in the current series in New Zealand, the Wagga hockey product is looking to use that confidence to become a regular in the green and gold.

Martin was named in the initial expanded Australia squad for the Tokyo Games, which will be trimmed at a later date.

The 23-year-old used five months in camp at the Kookaburra's Perth base to take his chance, and wants to seize the opportunity in front of him.

Asked if he at first felt like an outsider looking in, Martin said: "Definitely. When I first went over I obviously had a lot to learn. But I've only got a small window and there's no point me waiting until next year or any future years.

"I want to take it on now and give myself the best opportunity and see what I can do. There's a lot to work on and so much I can improve.

"I've got some mentors outside the program, I've had some good chats to the coaches and all the regular players made it clear that they'd back me and I'm here for a reason.

"You don't get selected easily in this arena, the opportunity was there and I took that confidence and five months of training at Perth into it as well.

"I had the mentality to back myself a bit and give myself as much confidence as possible, not everyone gets an opportunity like this.

"Pre game I wasn't actually that nervous, I played the game and thought I went alright for a first performance. Afterwards I was back in the hotel room thinking 'I've actually played a game. It's very real isn't it, it's pretty big.'"

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Martin said he relished the chance to play a game with the player he's effectively been battling against for Kookaburras and Olympic spots for months.

"There's a bit more on the line than just playing each other. The thing I most enjoyed was being able to play with the group, us versus them. That competitive edge was the most enjoyable thing," he said.

"This is probably the last selection (audition) for the Olympics Everyone's here putting their best foot forward, but we want to play well here as a group.

"I haven't been thinking about it (Olympics) too much, just focusing on what's happening now.

"The Olympic committee is doing their best with precautions around the (COVID) situation. Japan will do a pretty good job and hopefully everyone will be fully vaccinated by then. I'll definitely take the opportunity to get over there if I get it."

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