Hockey: Double treat for National League

It was not planned that way, but tomorrow is finals repeat day in the National League at North Harbour.

Defending champions Canterbury square off against the K Cup beaten finalists of 12 months ago, Auckland; about an hour later, Auckland will play Southern in the men's third round - replaying last year's Challenge Shield final, which Auckland won 2-1.

A neat piece of timing will therefore give spectators a double treat.

Auckland's men have suffered a blow, with the loss for the remainder of the NHL of Black Sticks striker Simon Child. A bad foot injury has ruled him out, however Auckland coach James Strong has brought Australian attacking midfielder Tom Wickham back as second import, alongside English international Simon Egerton.

Wickham flew in early on Thursday morning from his base in Perth but he's no stranger to the setup, having scored the winning goal in last year's final for Auckland.

"Obviously Simon [Child] is one of the alltime best New Zealand forwards and any side is going to miss him," Grant said. "But we had contingency plans in place and bringing Tom over was one of them. We toyed with bringing other players in but Tom knows our style."

Wickham, who made his international debut for the Kookaburras against Korea in May, is looking forward to reuniting with the Auckland squad, who got their defence off to a flier last weekend, scoring 12 goals, conceding one in their first two games. Throw in a shared title in 2011 against Central, when the final was snowed off - Egerton was in the Central team that year - and Auckland are chasing a third straight crown.

"The hunger is still there for the boys. You've got to have a little bit of the mentality of having that pressure and wanting to back it up again," Wickham said.

Attacker Egerton, Manchester-born and a City fan in the soccer stronghold of England's north - "Mum was a City fan and I was brought up to be ABU, Anyone But United" he laughed - scored four goals on opening weekend andrates the NHL standard highly.

"This year there's a lot more imports coming in and the standard is a lot higher than two years ago. I knew the standard was going to be good and that's why I jumped at the chance to do it again," Egerton said.

North Harbour women, having lost their first two games, will chase wins against two other sides still seeking their first points, Southern and Central; North Harbour men play Central, then a grudge clash with Auckland. All teams have seven matches in the next nine days.

Opening weekend results hinted the competition will throw up some surprises. Fitness is likely to be a telling factor.

The top four in each competition will make the semifinals next Saturday.

NHL weekend schedule (all games at North Harbour):
Men:
Third round, Saturday: Midlands v Capital, 11am; Northland v Canterbury, 1pm; Central v North Harbour, 3pm; Auckland v Southern, 5pm
Fourth round, Sunday: Central v Northland, 10.30am; Auckland v North Harbour, 12.30pm; Capital v Canterbury, 2.30pm; Midlands v Southern, 4.30pm

Women:
Third round, Saturday: Central v Northland, 10.30am; Midlands v Capital, 12.30pm; Auckland v Canterbury, 2.30pm; Southern v North Harbour, 4.30pm
Fourth round, Sunday: Auckland v Capital, 11am; Canterbury v Northland, 1pm; Midlands v Southern, 3pm; Central v North Harbour, 5pm.
Points after two rounds:
Men: Auckland and Southern 8, Capital, Canterbury, North Harbour, Midlands all 4, Central and Northland 0.
Women: Capital and Canterbury 8, Midlands 6, Auckland 5, Northland 4, Central, North Harbour and Southern 0.