It's a tag that comes with the weight of all the sand on the Gold Coast but Kookaburras coach Colin Batch says his players are embracing the pressure of attempting to keep their perfect record intact.

The Australian men - who are vying for their sixth straight gold medal since the sport's inclusion at the 1998 Games in Malaysia - begin their campaign against South Africa on Saturday.

And Batch is well aware of the expectation that awaits them.

"We addressed that before we arrived here on the Gold Coast. That's part of being the number one team in the world," Batch said on Friday.

"We're up for it. We're thorough with our preparation. We've trained well. I think we're quite astute at developing during the tournament and improving and that's important."

Batch told his group to isolate their opportunity at creating history.

"India had that in the Olympics Games for a long time. I've forgotten the number they won in a row but people still talk about the Indian domination in the 30s and earlier," he said.

"Look, it's a lovely record to have but this group wants to set its own history and that's what we're aiming for - winning this tournament."

The world No.1 ranked nation has copped a pre-tournament blow, with Batch revealing promising forward Blake Govers has been ruled out with a broken finger suffered at training this week.

Replacement Tom Wickham only received an exemption to join the team late on Thursday night.

"He's known since Tuesday that he's got a broken finger and it does need surgery but we were seeing what was possible with him," Batch said.

"Nothing's ever smooth in a tournament. It's not ideal but I'm really pleased for Tom who was close to selection in the first place. He'll come in late so he's got some catch-up to do."

THE KOOKABURRAS' COMMONWEALTH GAMES SCHEDULE

Saturday April 7 - South Africa

Sunday April 8 - Scotland

Tuesday April 10 - Canada

Wednesday April 11 - New Zealand

Friday April 13 - semi-finals

Saturday April 14 - medal matches

Australian Associated Press