Headlined by four-time player of the tournament and former world player of the year nominee Eddie Ockenden, the list of 40 athletes marks the first time in seven years that the squads will be made up exclusively of Tasmanians.

In addition to the Kookaburras co-captain, fellow Commonwealth Games gold medallist Jeremy Edwards and senior international Josh Beltz, the Tassie Tigers team will feature two-time Olympian Tim Deavin whose Australian career ended after the Rio Games.

Head coach Glenn Freeman, who masterminded the Tigers’ historic maiden national title in 2014, is full of confidence about a squad which also features national development squad members Kurt Mackey, Kieron Arthur and Jack Welch.

“It is a great result that all squad members are Tasmanian,” said Freeman, who is also chairman of the Hockey Tasmania high-performance committee.

“We have shown over the years that Tasmania continues to produce talented athletes across all age groups and the number of nominations for these teams continues to increase.

“An example of our recent success is highlighted by our under-21 team winning its first national championship earlier this month.”

That under-21 team saw Welch named player of the tournament and has produced a number of other emerging Tigers stars including Sam McCulloch, Linden McCarthy, and Hayden Beltz.

Ilene Carr’s Van Demons team will also feature Futuroos Philida Bridley and Julia Gunn and Freeman said the emergence of such young players is a credit to Tasmania's development pathways.

He also welcomed the teams playing home games for the first time since 2011.

“It is still very much the early stages of the 2018 campaign and we do acknowledge that we have a bit of work to put in, which is a message that has been pushed to all of our nominated athletes.”

The AHL's new format features a home-and-away league model and modified rules aimed at making the game more compelling.

The tournament sees games played weekly at various venues across Australia. The finals will played on October 25 and 28 at a location yet to be decided.

Tasmania will host two games of this year's tournament, with the men and women playing ACT on Saturday, October 6, and NSW on Sunday, October 14.