Hockey: Black Sticks' skipper should be known next week

National men's coach Kevin Towns is not rushing into the naming of his new Black Sticks captain but will come up with a name by the end of next week.

The naming of a replacement for his son Simon, who has retired after a long spell at the helm, will come after an exhaustive process involving a number of senior players and some external input.

"Life has changed a little following Simon's decision to retire," said Towns yesterday. "We are now working through things with seven of our senior players who, ultimately, will, with some input from me, make the decision."

They are working with former international Trevor Lawrence and his company. Ryan Archibald, long touted as Towns' likely successor, Darren Smith, Blair Hopping, Phil Burrows, Kyle Pontifex, Wayne McIndoe and Hayden Shaw are involved in the leadership discussions.

"Being captain goes much deeper than just the on-field role. Too often captains are just thrown into the job without the necessary support. To be effective, the captain has to know how the coach is thinking. It was a lot easier in the past given the strong family connection but now I need to understand where the new captain is coming from."

The 35-strong national squad - with only Bevan Hari (playing in India), Scott Falconer, Mitesh Patel and McIndoe (all in England) missing - is in Auckland for a two-week camp.

Burrows, who spent time in hospital in Fiji with blood-clotting problems during and after last November's Oceania Cup, is part of the camp but is not allowed to be involved in any contact play as he is still on blood-thinning drugs. Towns will discuss with McIndoe about his long-term availability on his return next week.

The emphasis for the first week of the training camp is on the whiteboard and associated off-field issues such as fitness testing, nutrition and tactical understanding. The physical work will step up next week at North Harbour's Crown Relocations Stadium.

Towns is planning to play two matches against visiting Australian NHL side the Tassie Tigers in mid-February after which he will name his Games and qualifiers' teams.

It is hoped to play a tri-nations here in early March but India have yet to confirm. If not they will play at least one match against Canada before heading to Melbourne on March 8.

The squad will remain for a few days in Australia after the Games before flying to India on April 3.