Hockey: Hayward still working the day job

Black Sticks defender Andy Hayward, in action for Midlands against Auckland in the National Hockey League.

Those who wax lyrical about the good old days of All Blacks rugby when amateur players held down fulltime jobs would do well to take an interest in hockey.

While the players are professional and able to supplement their income by playing overseas, they also generally hold down day jobs while not on duty with the national side.

So, a call to Andy Hayward found the Black Sticks stalwart on duty at Fonterra a month out from the Oceania Championships in Stratford, Taranaki.

"I work at Fonterra which is pretty good," Hayward said.

"They look after me which is really nice."

Hayward was called over to play in the Hockey India League at a moment's notice at the beginning of the year and within a matter of days was playing for the Delhi Wave Riders in front of crowds of up to 20,000 people.

"I got pulled in about halfway through because some Pakistan players, for political reasons, were sent home.

"There was maybe eight or nine of them that were sent home so they grabbed a few extra of us to go over.

"Some games there would be a full house at some of the smaller hockey stadiums and I guess in your hockey career you don't get that very often.

"It was pretty cool and the best thing about it was the Indian fans. They were pretty loud and cheer hard so that was good."

The team finished second in the tournament after fellow Kiwi Simon Child's solitary strike in the final against the Ranchi Rhinos proved not to be enough.

Still, the trip proved invaluable as part of the build-up for a packed 2014 campaign, which includes the Glasgow Commonwealth Games and World Cup.

The New Zealand team has already qualified for both, meaning next month's Oceania Championships will be used to better establish combinations as the team continues to rebuild.

Australia, Papa New Guinea and Samoa will provide decent opposition, before Hayward heads back to India in January.

He believes there is plenty of improvement left in the men's group in the next six months and said the national league had been particularly strong this season due to the inclusion of the top national representatives.

Those players will likely skip most of next season's competition because of international duty.