Australia's most-capped international hockey player is showing no signs of retirement as he shifts his focus from Tokyo to Birmingham.

Having helped the Kookaburras claim an Olympic silver medal following shootout heartache against Belgium, the 34-year-old Tasmanian hockey ambassador has enjoyed some overdue time with his young family before resuming training with the national team in Perth.

"Tokyo was great, a lot of good things and then a little bit of heartbreak, but I think if you draw the final then you've done a lot right and a lot went well for us," Ockenden said.

"I think we played well and I'm proud of the way we prepared over the last 18 months so a lot of positives, but it's still really heart-breaking."

Ockenden, who had also won two bronze medals from his three previous Olympic campaigns, said his fellow Kookaburras had dispersed across the world since Tokyo, some playing in Europe, others returning to their home states and some contesting club finals in Western Australia.

"It's a little bit different for everybody where they're at in their careers and what they want to do but we'll start training pretty soon which is really important for next year. But the downtime has been really good just to get some rest and recharge."

Speaking to Hockey Australia, Ockenden said the country's inability to take part in the FIH Pro League due to COVID-19 only serves to make next year's Commonwealth Games in Birmingham more inviting.

"I think it makes it really difficult for us being so far away," he said.

"Earlier this year and at the back end of last year we were watching all the European teams playing against each other and we were just training away in Perth which we used to our benefit.

"I think we improved a lot from our training together, which was awesome, but it does make it really difficult for preparations and we don't know how much prep we'll have before the Com Games coming up. But we can train here and improve and now we have that belief that we can have a good team."

The Kookaburras have won every Commonwealth Games gold medal so far with Ockenden part of the triumphs in Delhi, Glasgow and Gold Coast and keen to add another on English soil.

"There's obviously a rivalry there and they'll be keen to do well in their home country. We certainly felt that in the Gold Coast - it was awesome having that for our home games, that was really cool, I really loved that, and I'm sure they'll be feeling something similar."