Slattery was the big-name casualty when the Australian men and women's 18-player squads were revealed for the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.

New captain Emily Smith has the chance to lead the fifth-ranked Hockeyroos to a fourth-straight Commonwealth Games gold medal.

And the top-ranked Kookaburras, led by retiring veteran Knowles, are aiming for an unprecedented sixth-straight gold.

Slattery has been a regular in the Hockeyroos' side since making her debut at the end of 2014, scoring 36 goals in 85 appearances.

But the one-time Olympian was left out by coach Paul Gaudoin.

"It's a very strong striking group at the moment. We've got five or six in. We could have taken any of the eight really," Gaudoin said.

"She was disappointed. I expect that. I want her to be disappointed.

"She's got some things to work on - her basic skills, cutting back through the field a bit more.

"She's a very good goalscorer, we know that. But we want her to add more to her game.

"We want a versatile, flexible group going forward, not just for the World Cup and the Commonwealth Games this year, but also Tokyo (Olympics) as well. She's aware of that."

Knowles has already won three Commonwealth Games gold medals, and announced last month that the upcoming event on the Gold Coast would be his swan song.

"Fairytales - we would love it to happen that way," coach Colin Batch said.

"Mark is low key about it. He's been an outstanding player for the Kookaburras for the past 15 years.

"It would be terrific for him to win a gold medal in front of family and friends. It's almost like playing in his own backyard, so it'd be great for us to do that for him."

The Kookaburras won the Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia last week, and they reclaimed their No.1 world ranking after winning December's World League Final

But while the Kookaburras enter the Commonwealth Games as hot favourites, the Hockeyroos face an uphill battle against England (ranked second) and New Zealand (fourth).

Since hockey was introduced into the Commonwealth Games in 1998, Australia have won nine of the 10 gold medals on offer.

KOOKABURRAS (*Commonwealth Games debutants)

Daniel Beale

Andrew Charter

*Tom Craig

*Matthew Dawson

*Jeremy Edwards

*Blake Govers

*Jeremy Hayward

*Jake Harvie

*Aaron Kleinschmidt

Mark Knowles (c)

*Tyler Lovell

Trent Mitton

Eddie Ockenden

*Flynn Ogilvie

*Lachlan Sharp

Jacob Whetton

*Dylan Wotherspoon

Aran Zalewski

HOCKEYROOS

*Jocelyn Bartram

Edwina Bone

Jane Claxton

*Ashlea Fey

*Savannah Fitzpatrick

*Jordyn Holzberger

Emily Hurtz

Jodie Kenny

*Stephanie Kershaw

Rachael Lynch

Karri McMahon

*Gabrielle Nance

*Kaitlin Nobbs

Brooke Peris

*Madi Ratcliffe

Emily Smith (c)

*Grace Stewart

*Renee Taylor

Australian Associated Press