Prodigious Child says spot in Games squad 'cool'

Simon Child is following in his hockey-playing parents' footsteps. Picture / Dean Purcell

Simon Child gave a typical 17-year-old, just-out-of-high-school reaction to his naming in the New Zealand team for next month's Melbourne Commonwealth Games yesterday.

"It's cool," the talented young striker said after the 16-strong squad was named for the Games tournament, in which they will be out to better the silver medal won at Manchester four years ago.

"It's what I was striving for when I was put in the national development squad at the start of 2005.

"Now I've progressed into the national squad, so I always figured I was in with a chance. I just trained as hard as I could and it's paid off."

His mother, Cheryl Law, represented New Zealand in the 1980s and his father Rick was an under-21 international.

Child has played hockey "since I can remember" and jokes that given his parentage "I don't think I had a choice" in sporting selection.

He left King's College last year and is down for a bachelor of commerce degree at Auckland University. His rapid hockey development means he'll have to put a start on hold until the second term.

Child made the national side against Malaysia last March. With five caps he is the baby in the squad which will be led by 143-cap midfielder Ryan Archibald, who takes over from long-time captain Simon Towns, who has retired.

Archibald has already led New Zealand when Towns was absent. At 25, the son of 1976 Olympic gold medal winner Jeff Archibald, who also captained his country, is coming into his prime.

But he doesn't expect to be a one-man band when it comes to making the important decisions.

"We do have a strong leadership group," he said. "There were several people [coach] Kevin [Towns] could have picked from.

"It's quite a privilege but there's going to be a lot of input from other senior players."

Prolific striker Phil Burrows has been given a clean bill of health after suffering a blood clot in an arm, while vice-captain Darren Smith should play his 200th international during the leadup series against Canada next month.

The two unlucky players when names were inked in were North Harbour striker Lloyd Stephenson and Waikato defender Richard Petherick, according to coach Towns.

The New Zealand squad has an average of 70 caps and includes eight survivors of the silver medal winners at Manchester in 2002.

They have two warm-up internationals in Auckland against Canada on March 4 and 5 and fly to Melbourne three days later.

After the Games, the players have a few days' break before heading to Guangzhou, China, for the crucial World Cup qualifying tournament which starts on April 12.

The team

Goalkeepers: Paul Woolford (Auckland, 86 caps), Kyle Pontifex (Wellington, 24).

Defenders: Dean Couzins (Auckland/Breda (Netherlands), 83), Brad Shaw (Canterbury, 10), Hayden Shaw (Canterbury, 68), James Nation (Wellington/Teddington, Britain, 34), Shea McAleese (Canterbury, 14).

Midfielders: Darren Smith (vc, North Harbour, 198), Blair Hopping (North Harbour, 109), Ryan Archibald (c, Auckland, 143), Bryce Collins (North Harbour, 19), Ben Collier (North Harbour, 7).

Strikers: Bevan Hari (Auckland/Cardiff, 152), Phil Burrows (Wellington/Rotterdam, 127), Gareth Brooks (Auckland, 53), Simon Child (Auckland, 5).