The Hockeyroos have suffered a major blow ahead of next year's Commonwealth Games with two-time Olympian Kobie McGurk announcing her shock retirement.
McGurk, with 185 games for the Hockeyroos since making her international debut in 2005, said her inability to commit fully to the national program forced her hand.
The 28-year-old was named the Hockeyroos' player of the year in 2012, and coach Adam Commens said she would be hard to replace ahead of the team's World Cup and Commonwealth Games campaigns.
"It is disappointing to lose a player of Kobie's experience," Commens said.
"It is always going to be difficult to replace someone of this calibre.
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"However, there comes a time in everyone's career where they have to make a decision about their life moving forward and this decision has been weighing on her mind for some time now."
The Hockeyroos have slid to sixth in the world rankings, and face an uphill battle to win gold at the Commonwealth Games ahead of world No.3 New Zealand and No.4 England.
McGurk's playing career was plagued by injuries, with the talented defender tearing her anterior cruciate ligament in 2009 and 2012.
She also missed the 2010 Commonwealth Games in India after suffering a stress fracture in her foot, which required a metal plate to be inserted.
"Kobie was someone who showed an amazing degree of resilience to come back from two knee reconstructions," Commens said of McGurk, who won gold with the Hockeyroos at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
"Over time, these sorts of physical stresses and mental battles take their toll."
Hockeyroos skipper Madonna Blyth said McGurk was one of the toughest players she'd played with.
"I remember coming off the pitch mid-game at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games and seeing a staple gun and nearly fainting," Blyth recalled.
"Kobes had received a blow to the head so the doctors stapled the cut closed and she got straight back out there.
"She always put the team first and has a huge heart."
