Hockey: Mass change of coaches in hockey league sides

By TERRY MADDAFORD

While the goal-grabbing attackers hogged the limelight in the New Zealand women's hockey team's Olympic qualifying triumph in England, centre-half Robyn Matthews quietly took her tally of international caps beyond 150.

On Sunday, 36-year-old Matthews, who shared the centre-half duties at the Milton Keynes tournament with Tina Bell-Kake, will turn her back on the glamour of international play to join her Manawatu team-mates in the first round of the Lion Foundation national league.

The Skippy McGregor-led Manawatu side meet Wellington in a replay of last season's third-fourth playoff, won 4-3 by Manawatu, in what promises to be one of the closest games of the opening weekend.

Matthews, the first woman player in New Zealand hockey to reach the 150-game milestone - and only the second altogether - will play a key role in the Manawatu midfield in joining her Kiwi team-mates McGregor and Moira Senior in the third-seeded side.

While there have been minimal changes in playing staffs for the six men's and six women's team, the coaches have been on an off-season merry-go-round. Not one coach who took a team into the inaugural league in 1999, is at the helm again.

The highly rated Canterbury teams will open their seasons with away games against North Harbour at Rosedale Park, in Albany.

The top-seeded Canterbury women, with New Zealand captain Anna Lawrence to lead the charge and joined by fellow internationals Kate Trolove, now just one game short of 150 internationals, goalkeeper Anne-Marie Irving and Rachel Petrie, will start as favourites in their bid for a record-breaking seventh successive national title.

They have lost Emily Gillam, Rachel Sutherland, Diana Weavers and Janeen Playle to Wellington and Karen Mee to Japan, but should still be too strong, especially against the Ian Bartholomew-coached North Harbour side, who will place their faith in a young, largely inexperienced line-up.

The women clash in tomorrow's season opener, while the respective men's teams meet in one of the five remaining first-round games on Sunday.

Auckland, seeded second behind Canterbury in the race for the women's crown, will look to international stars Mandy Smith, Bell-Kake, Kylie Foy and Lisa Walton to grab the goals which should again ensure them of a place in the final. They meet Otago in Dunedin on Sunday in their season opener.

The North Harbour men, coached this time by Bill Webb, pulled off the major upset of the 1999 season when they beat Canterbury 3-2 in the playoff for third after Canterbury had thumped them 5-0 in round-robin play.

North Harbour have attracted Richard Tattershaw, Brett Leaver, Hymie Gill and Darren Smith to Rosedale Park but have lost Greg and Craig Russ and last season's captain, Shane McLeod, who is now in Belgium.

Auckland, seeded second behind last season's surprise winners, Wellington, are now coached by former England international Keith Rowley, who has a team who, on paper at least, should not be beaten.

Flush with internationals including Ryan Archibald, Simon Towns, Dion Gosling, the Russ brothers, Paul Woolford and Bevan Hari, Auckland appear unbeatable but will have to get past a strong Canterbury side, who have Andrew Hastie, Michael Bevin, Bryce Collins, Andrew Timlin and Dean Munt to lead the charge for their first title since 1995.

Wellington have rising international star Phillip Burrows, Umesh Parag, Mitesh Patel and Wayne McIndoe as the foundation of a solid line-up, who also include Andrew Buckley and promising goalkeeper High Biss.

In an interesting start to the men's race, Auckland should be too strong for Midland Express in Hamilton, Wellington should take the points from Northland in Whangarei and Canterbury and North Harbour should play out the closest game at Albany.

Again, there will be three points for a win and drawn games will be decided in a penalty-stroke tiebreaker, with the winners taking two points and the losers one.