Anita Punt's speed on the turf and expertise with penalty corners make her a valuable player. Photo / Getty Images
Anita Punt's speed on the turf and expertise with penalty corners make her a valuable player. Photo / Getty Images
Influential midfielder eager for squad to go one better than silver in Delhi four years ago.
When Mark Hager writes down his team list for the big occasions, Anita Punt's name will be among the first.
The Wellington midfielder is in prime form, was arguably New Zealand's best player at the recent World Cup at The Hague, and her expertise at the crucial penalty corner set piece provides the Black Sticks with a serious attacking threat.
Indeed only two players, Dutch captain Maartje Paumen (seven) and Australia's Anna Flanagan (six), scored more goals at the cup than Punt's five; four came from direct shots from penalty corners.
In addition, two other Black Sticks goals came directly from Punt's drives being deflected home. Not a bad contribution to a haul of 12 goals.
Image 1 of 15: Stephanie Foster wins the gold back in 1986. Photo / Getty Images
She's among the more visible of the New Zealand players. Blessed with considerable speed, her runs down the right-hand flank give New Zealand's offensive game plenty of punch.
With 161 games behind her since her international debut five years ago, Punt, 26, looms as an influential figure if the Black Sticks are to go one better in Glasgow than their silver medal at Delhi in 2010.
The hurt of that occasion - when Australia won on penalty strokes - still remains.
"We were so excited to get the silver, to be in the final that you forgot 'I want to win this'," Punt recalled. "We were quite complacent in the first half in that final and it took us the second half to catch up."
At the London Olympics two years ago, the Black Sticks had the chance to play for gold, only to lose their semifinal to world No 1 and eventual champions the Netherlands. They drew 2-2 but lost on a penalty shootout. They then had a 'mare in the bronze playoff and were well beaten by Britain.
"Coming fourth you learn it's such an empty feeling. Hopefully we've learned it sucks," Punt said.
New Zealand finished fifth at the World Cup, paying heavily for a 1-0 loss to Korea. Punt hopes the big lesson to come out of the World Cup was avoiding complacency.
"We never should have lost that. It was really disappointing. We do talk about it. In all our pre-game talks, Mark's always on about consistency and building from our last performance ... It's something we're working really hard on, being consistent."
In Glasgow, the Black Sticks will be seeded second, behind Australia, who rank second globally, two places ahead of New Zealand. There are others who will throw out a challenge. Hager expects India to be difficult, and cited South Africa as a team on the rise.
And while all that is perfectly reasonable, anything less than a medal will be seen as a big disappointment - not least by government funding arm High Performance Sport New Zealand.
The women have a four-nations tournament in Dublin, against the hosts, Chile and Canada, before heading to Glasgow on July 18.
