Hockey Australia introduced the annual International Marquee Tournament inviting the best Commonwealth nations including Pakistan, India, New Zealand and host Australia, in the tournament to be played under the new rules which will make hockey more exciting.

Several changes have been made in hockey rules for this newly-introduced format with teams reduced from 11 players to nine. The goals have been widened by one-metre, or 50 percent. The sessions have been shortened from 35 minutes to 15 minutes to make matches more action-packed.