Hockey: Journey pays off with NZ recall

By TERRY MADDAFORD

An England-based forward who made the trip back for last weekend's trials has been rewarded with a recall to the New Zealand men's team.

Ken Robinson, who has played 39 internationals but none since the 1998 Commonwealth Games, is joined by two new caps, Hayden Shaw and Peter Stafford, in the squad for January's five-nation tournament in Malaysia.

Wayne McIndoe (unavailable), Dean Couzins and Alpesh Puna, who played in the World Cup qualifying tournament in Edinburgh this year, have been omitted.

Couzins and Puna have been named, along with Dharmesh Puna, Casey Henwood, Gareth Brooks, Lloyd Stephenson and a yet-to-be-named goalkeeper, in the high-performance squad, which consists of the Kuala Lumpur selection and seven others. The high-performance goalkeeper will be named after a goalkeeping clinic at Rosedale Park, Albany, on December 8 and 9.

New Zealand will play Australia, India, Malaysia and Pakistan in the January 21-27 tournament.

On their return, coach Kevin Towns will name the 17 players who will go back to Kuala Lumpur for the World Cup from February 24-March 9. Players in the high-performance squad will come into consideration.

The goalkeeper to join that squad will be named after next month's goalkeeping clinic.

The team for the Manchester Commonwealth Games will be named after the World Cup.

A four-test series against Argentina in June is planned as preparation for Manchester.

New Zealand team.- Goalkeepers: Paul Woolford (Auckland), Michael Bevin (Canterbury). Defenders: Dion Gosling (Auckland), Brett Leaver (Auckland), Hayden Shaw (Canterbury). Midfield: Ryan Archibald (Auckland), Simon Towns (Auckland), Peter Stafford (Canterbury), Hymie Gill (North Harbour), Darren Smith (North Harbour), Blair Hopping (Waikato), Mitesh Patel (Wellington).

Forwards: Bevan Hari (Auckland), Ken Robinson (Auckland), David Kosoof (North Harbour), Phillip Burrows (Wellington), Umesh Parag (Wellington).

High-performance squad: The above 17 players plus Dean Couzins (Otago), Alpesh Puna (Auckland), Dharmesh Puna (Auckland), Casey Henwood (Waikato), Gareth Brooks (Canterbury), Lloyd Stephenson (North Harbour) and a goalkeeper.