A hugely experienced Black Sticks squad has been named to compete at the Owen G Glenn FIH Champions Trophy at North Harbour this December - with the team having 2,125 caps between them.
Phil Burrows (262), Ryan Archibald (251), Blair Hopping (240) and Dean Couzins (237) will bring the most experience to the team when they compete against the best teams in the world, in what will be the last major event prior to the 2012 London Olympics.
Black Sticks Men's coach Shane McLeod says that although this tournament will be a real challenge, the team is confident leading into it and recent results, including a win and a draw with world number one Australia at the Oceania Cup in Hobart last month, have helped with preparations.
"A number of the younger athletes really stepped up to the challenge at Oceania Cup and had an impact on the games which was very pleasing," says McLeod.
"We are currently ranked seventh and our aim at the moment is to be consistently ranked within the top six teams. Having the support of a local crowd and the benefit of playing on our home pitch will really help - that is something we have never had at this level," says McLeod.
