Anything can happen in playoffs: Gaddum

Emily Gaddum is a hockey ambassador of Rio Olympics in Hawke's Bay.

To steal a cricket slogan, the Black Sticks women's most-capped player, Emily Gaddum, says "anything can happen" at the playoffs phase for both the New Zealand teams at the Rio Olympics.

Gaddum, who made herself unavailable for Olympic selection due to pregnancy, said last night that playing Australia in tomorrow's (1am NZ time) quarter-finals would be tough.

"It's a good thing we know each other. I'm hoping it'll come down to a win and not a shootout because I'm too nervous," said the 30-year-old from Havelock North who, with husband Harry, is expecting her first child in January.

Gaddum (nee Naylor) said she was rising early in the wee hours of the morning, after going to bed early, to watch the games.

The Black Sticks women pipped the Aussies 3-2 in the semifinals in April before going on to lift the Hawke's Bay Cup at the Festival of Hockey in Hastings for the first time.

But three-time Olympian Gaddum felt their Transtasman rivals would be smarting from the 1-0 loss to the Black Sticks in the pool game at the 2012 London Olympics.

The Aussies missed out on the playoffs. The Kiwis held the Dutch to a 2-2 draw but lost on a penalty shootout.

The Black Sticks didn't recover from the loss, going down 3-1 to Britain in the playoff for bronze.

In Rio, the Kiwi women have beaten South Korea 4-1 first up, lost 2-1 to Germany, pipped Spain 2-1 and drew 1-1 with world No1 the Netherlands before crushing China 3-0 yesterday.

"We've had a good start but didn't go so well against Germany," she said.

Gaddum said the Kiwi men, who got to Rio as "the golden goose" after South Africa withdrew, also faced a similar task in their quarter-final clash against powerhouses Germany at 11.30am today.

"They haven't had the same hype as the women so reaching the quarterfinals was their first big hurdle. After that anything can happen," she said of the men, who include Bay's Shea McAleese.