Shea McAleese is putting the game of life ahead of hockey these days. PHOTO/PHOTOSPORT
HE has always put his hockey career before a lot of things but now Shea McAleese is changing tack in the relatively uncharted waterways of life.
Not even the lure of $10,000 in a six-week stint of the impending Hockey India League is enough to change McAleese's mind.
"I had a contract with the Mumbai club but I pulled out because my brother's getting married," said the 32-year-old from Napier soon after his flight from Melbourne landed at Auckland airport yesterday.
McAleese, who based in Auckland but plies his trade professionally in Belgium, will arrive in Napier on December 10 to help Greg Nicol coach in an elite hockey programme.
Jonathan McAleese, 36, of Melbourne is marrying Ash, a Melbournite, in Napier on January 27.
"It's an important thing to do. I've probably missed 25 weddings of family and friends in my hockey career so I'm not prepared to miss my brother's one," said the interim captain of the Black Sticks men's team who lost in the final of the Melbourne hockey festival on Sunday.
"As much as 10 grand in the back pocket would be nice but I just decided my brother's wedding is much more important.
"Sometimes you just have to shift your priorities. I've always put hockey first so it's about time I started putting other things first as well."
He was able to request time off to attend sister Aimee's wedding several years ago but is mindful it was often easier to prearrange dates with immediate family members at such times.
No doubt, McAleese will make the most of that break to give his weary body time to recover.
For the record, he played a game two Sundays ago and on the same night boarded a 20-hour flight to Melbourne, arriving there on Tuesday to go straight into training.
"We had a test match on Wednesday, test match Thursday, day off Friday then test match Saturday, Sunday so it's pretty heavy and the body is quite tired.
"It'll be good to have a rest up and then sort of get to the gym and enjoy the sun and go for a run and things like that."
Late next year McAleese will be jetting back to Belgium but also juggling New Zealand commitments.
"It's been a huge year with Rio and all that kind of stuff as well."
He took the opportunity again to thank the Hawke's Bay community for their support.
"Without the backing of those people I probably wouldn't have got to the heights I've got to in my hockey career so it's pretty cool."
The Sticks showed resilience in Melbourne's final qualifying match against India last week, trailing 1-0 into the fourth quarter when they smacked in two quick goals to nudge ahead before adding another.
India came back to reduce the deficit but the Kiwis held on for a 3-2 victory.
"Obviously like any team, especially of the quality of India, they came fighting back and pushed us pretty hard all the way for a penalty corner into fulltime to snatch a draw but, thankfully, we held on to a draw and make the final."
He revealed making the final of the series was the first goal of the Colin Batch-coached team who made headlines after a mental meltdown in "choking" against powerhouses Germany and, consequently, failing to make the playoffs even though they were a wildcard entry after South Africa withdrew.
"Winning [in Melbourne] would have been nice as well but we knew we were always coming up against a tough team like the Aussies."
McAleese said the team were confident going into the final, especially after beating the Ockers in Auckland, but couldn't pull it off on the day.
Although the hosts are world No 1 they also had the advantage of playing in their backyard.
"They are among the best teams in the world in putting pressure on you but they are also going through a rebuilding phase, just like we are, so all their big guns were missing as well," he said of the final.
McAleese felt the 3-1 lost was pretty tight as they conceded the final goal in the dying minutes.
"We didn't get that tying goal, unfortunately, to put more pressure on them."
The Black Sticks have a had a changing of guards through retirements, including Phil Burrows this week, while others had been rested or had opted out of the last trip.
"We had 11 or 12 guys missing and we have a whole new raft of other guys coming through so it's a really positive change as well," he said, chuffed so many had put their hands up.
If anything, he felt the renaissance reflected the depth in the New Zealand squad.
McAleese was captain but didn't change anything in the way he approached games.
"It's more of an interim role as Simon Childs is our captain."
McAleese said he had worked with aplomb with Batch for the past four years so that helped in assuming the mantle of captaincy although it was something he had fulfilled a few times in his career.
"I was definitely the oldest player there by a few years so I might have got it by age default.
"You know, it's just the player I am and I try to lead by example rather than needing an armband to do it so I was just trying to help the young guys as much as I could, that's all, which I hope I did well.
"For me, captaincy is a flick of the coin and wearing an armband."
Just walking out to represent the country is special for the former William Colenso pupil for the first or umpteenth test, regardless of whether there's an armband on.
"It's just a little bit extra so I just try to play my normal game," he said, preferring to make the performance a priority.