Team to walk the talk at national tourney

The Northland women's team are, on paper, one of the most impressive at this year's National Hockey League and coach Alan Lints is ensuring his side will walk the talk.
The squad have started training ahead of the tournament at various venues on July 30-31, followed by a week of competition from August 6-14.They aim to improve on last year's fifth place.
"We have already had three weeks of intense training, running a squad of 22 which will be reduced to 18 by July 2," Lints said.
Under a new Hockey New Zealand ruling, national squad members have to play for their region of origin this year unless they are exempt by HNZ to play for the region in which they are domicile. Non-national squad members can choose who they want to represent.
Northland has a high number of players in the Women's Black Sticks so should be as good as any team in the competition, Lints said.
An initial team of 12 will be submitted this week, containing Black Sticks Ella Gunson, Laura Douglas, Alana Millington, Anna Thorpe, Charlotte Harrison and Stacey Michelsen.
Development players Carli Michelsen and Jasmin McQuinn also decided to play for their region of origin. Northland have secured New South Wales Institute of Sport striker Emma Cobbin who played for Northland last year, and fellow NSW player Jess Esslemont.
Black Sticks Samantha Harrison and Jan Burrows decided to play for Auckland, where they reside, which was disappointing for Lints and the Northland management team.
"But we're feeling very positive about the players who had a choice but made the commitment to play for Northland, such as the Michelsen sisters and Jasmin.
"The commitment is large, the girls are residing in Auckland and they will do a lot of travelling - they've shown true Northland spirit," Lints said.
The rest are a mix of stalwarts and talented youngsters.
Black Sticks players will be in Europe for their Champions Trophy campaign and will join Northland three weeks before the tournament.
"Our initial focus will be on technique and fitness - which those players already have - and the final three weeks will be about building on and off-field camaraderie."
Both Australian imports are strikers, as improving goal scoring was an area of focus.
"Nationally it's a concern ... Mark Hager [Black Sticks coach] spends a lot of time on goal scoring - Northland is renowned for its resilient defence but our emphasis this year is to score goals if we want to improve, and take the pressure off the defenders."
Now into his second year as head coach, Lints said the biggest challenge was getting the group to gel into a formidable team.
Another HNZ change, is all players have to participate in the NHL to be eligible for national duties. It means players in Europe have to return for the tournament.
The NHL is being held in July and August rather than September, so it does not affect players in the European club competition.
HNZ's changes are positive, Lints said, as it means New Zealand's marquee players will play in the national competition.