Hockey: Hectic time ahead for Black Sticks

Batch was thrown a slight curve ball yesterday with the withdrawal of James Coughlan with a foot injury. Photo / Brett Phibbs

This week's Oceania Cup marks the start of nine hectic months for the Black Sticks.

After navigating their way through the four-team tournament in Stratford, which starts today, Colin Batch's side have a heavy diet of hockey ahead of them.

They will travel to the World League final in India in January, the Champions Challenge in Malaysia in April, the World Cup in the Netherlands shortly after, all before the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in July.

"It's a busy calendar for us and I see this [week] as the start of the preparation for that," Batch said.

New Zealand, ranked fifth in the world, will meet world No3 Australia and Pacific Island nations Papua New Guinea and Samoa in Taranaki this week.

The Black Sticks open their Oceania Cup campaign against world No69 PNG this afternoon before meeting Australia tomorrow followed by a rest day on Friday and they round out pool play against world No72 Samoa on Saturday.

Batch was thrown a slight curve ball yesterday with the withdrawal of James Coughlan with a foot injury.

Wellington's Blair Hilton will replace Coughlan in the squad and the 24-year-old is poised to claim his 100th cap during the series.

The women's tournament runs concurrently in Taranaki this week.