Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Hockey: Mitai-Wells gets shock call-up

Rotorua Daily Post
15 Oct, 2015 08:21 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

NEW FACE: Rotorua's Leo Mitai-Wells, 20, has been called up to the Black Sticks to help his country try and qualify for the Rio Olympics. Photo / Stephen Parker

NEW FACE: Rotorua's Leo Mitai-Wells, 20, has been called up to the Black Sticks to help his country try and qualify for the Rio Olympics. Photo / Stephen Parker

Kiwis must win Oceania Cup to secure Rio spot

Rotorua's Leo Mitai-Wells is the surprise pick in the New Zealand men's team for the vital Oceania Cup series beginning in Taranaki next week.

Mitai-Wells is the only new face in the squad of 18, who must beat world No1 Australia and win the cup if they are to advance to the Rio Olympics.

"Leo is a physically strong and very hard-working player who will give us a point of difference in the attacking half," coach Colin Batch said about the forward.

The 20-year-old impressed during the recent Ford National Hockey League, playing for Midlands, and has been training with the Black Sticks squad this year.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"He has been training with us all year and while it's his first opportunity to play for New Zealand, he certainly understands every part of our game plan and won't be fazed by the occasion."

Capital striker Stephen Jenness has also earned a recall after missing out during the recent South Island Tour against India, and will add another scoring threat for the Kiwis.

The squad will be led by world-class striker Simon Child.

Among those missing from the enlarged squad who lost a series against India 2-1 this month are Auckland attackers Marcus Child and Jared Panchia, who has been troubled by a hamstring injury.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The other teams in the Oceania Cup are Fiji and Samoa but they are essentially making up the numbers in terms of winning the cup.

Batch knows the stakes could not be higher but believes his team are ready.

"We're not fearing the importance of this event. We need to embrace it and aim to achieve our best performance of the year. We are confident we have what it takes as a group to pull this off," he said.

The Oceania Cup includes a round robin before the final on Sunday, October 25.

Discover more

Hockey: Event reaches half century

04 Nov 07:30 PM

Hockey: Tourney chance to celebrate

08 Nov 07:39 PM

The Australian men's team have already qualified for the Rio Olympics but due to qualification rules the New Zealand men's team will miss out if they don't win the tournament.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Sport

Rotorua Daily Post

Pene bags season-best performance at mountain biking World Cup

13 Jul 04:37 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

Home-schooled students ride 755km to Parliament for equal sports access

10 Jul 11:07 PM
Sport

Rugby showdown: Local teams gear up for Baywide semis

09 Jul 06:00 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Sport

Pene bags season-best performance at mountain biking World Cup

Pene bags season-best performance at mountain biking World Cup

13 Jul 04:37 AM

A Rotorua downhill rider clocks the fastest speed of the round-six final for an 8th place.

Home-schooled students ride 755km to Parliament for equal sports access

Home-schooled students ride 755km to Parliament for equal sports access

10 Jul 11:07 PM
Rugby showdown: Local teams gear up for Baywide semis

Rugby showdown: Local teams gear up for Baywide semis

09 Jul 06:00 AM
Five Steamers players making waves in the Māori All Blacks

Five Steamers players making waves in the Māori All Blacks

03 Jul 10:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP