Hockey: Neal finds spot with old hands

Northland's Shay Neal is relishing his time back in the experienced Black Sticks Men team as they prepare for the FIH Champions Trophy at North Harbour Stadium.

The 21-year-old striker will line up with the seventh ranked team in the world who are looking to knock over Pool B heavyweights Germany, Korea and Netherlands to progress through to the finals of the biggest tournament outside of the World Cup and the Olympics.

"It is one of the most experienced teams ever - there's four players in the squad with over 200 caps, and the average of caps is 50 - I guess I bring that average down a little with 16 caps, but it's a really experienced team ... we have had a good preparation heading into this tournament," Neal said.

The Shane McLeod-coached Black Sticks kicked off their preparations for the Champions Trophy, which starts tomorrow, by beating Great Britain 3-1 at North Harbour on Monday, and on Wednesday night, went down 4-3 to the No4 ranked Spanish team, with a high turnover of possession letting the Kiwis down.

These warm-up games came on the back of three weeks of intensive conditioning, with the team going into camp last week and undergoing fitness testing and tough training sessions.

"I was pretty sore last week, but I'm feeling pretty good now ... the coaching staff are using this tournament as a model for how they would prepare the side for next year's Olympics," Neal added.

Neal was in Perth during October with the Black Sticks for the Lanco Super Nines where New Zealand finished second, and in Malaysia in early November with the Under-21 Black Sticks playing at the First Sultan of Johor Cup, where the Kiwis placed sixth.

It was Neal's last campaign for the junior team and as an "old head" he tried to step up and control more of the game.

"Grant Edwards is the coach and he is one of the selectors for the senior side ... it was a good chance to get to know him better and for him to see how I was progressing," he said.

The selectors obviously liked what they saw, and Neal found himself back in the national men's side after making his debut for them in 2009.

Neal put a lot of his inclusion in the men's side down to his decision to play for his province at this year's National Hockey League.

The AUT University Bachelor of Law student left Northland in his teens and attended Auckland Grammar and while living in Auckland, played for North Harbour.

"But Hockey NZ brought in the player of province ruling and I made the decision to play for Northland which turned out to be a good one. The challenge of playing for Northland convinced me to go back there ... there has not been the highest turnout of male players in the region as most leave to go to uni and school and don't come back, so it was good to come back and do my bit ... I like what Northland Hockey are trying to do with developing players. Depending what happens next year with the Olympics, I would be keen to come play for Northland again," Neal said.

Selection for the 2012 Olympic Games in London will be on players' minds this weekend. From now until mid-way through next year, the Black Sticks selectors will be looking at player's efforts at training and tournaments ahead of naming the side for the Olympics, and Neal has high ambitions of making the cut, he said.

But firstly, the Black Sticks focus is firmly on their first Champions Trophy clash tomorrow at 4.05pm, against the No2 ranked Germany side.