They are presently ranked seventh in the world but believe they are the equals of Spain (fourth), Great Britain (fifth) and Korea (sixth). Their recent defeat of the world's No 1 side Australia has instilled a high level of belief in the squad.
They also toppled the Netherlands at last year's Champions Trophy and drew with Spain but inconsistency has been an all-too-frequent bedfellow - defeats to Australia, Germany, England and Spain saw them finish last of the six teams in 2010.
New Zealand begin their campaign tomorrow against Olympic and European champions Germany before meeting Korea on Sunday and third-ranked Netherlands on Tuesday. Korea is a must-win and they probably need to win one more match to progress to the semifinals.
"It's like a mini-Olympic tournament but in some ways it's harder than the Olympics because this is for the world's top-eight sides," McLeod said. "At the Olympics sometimes there are a couple of teams who aren't quite as good.
"The format of this tournament and the teams you come up against means you can't afford to be too conservative. The first match sets the tone for the tournament and if you get off to a flier you can carry your momentum."
New Zealand will hope influential midfielder Steve Edwards recovers in time from a knee injury to play Germany.
He hyper-extended it in a warmup match against Great Britain earlier in the week and hasn't trained with the side since. Forward Nick Wilson also has a knee injury and is being monitored but they have plenty of firepower up front in an 18-man squad that boats 2125 caps.
The return of Ryan Archibald from a 15-month absence adds considerable skill and creativity to the side but, encouragingly, they were starting to achieve results without one of the world's best players.
New Zealand warmed up for the tournament with a 3-1 defeat of Great Britain and 4-3 loss to Spain but little can be read into those results.
Germany are missing three players from their regular squad, which gives New Zealand some hope, but the world's second-ranked side will still be among the favourites.
"If they had loaded up their side, it was really a big ask even if we played at our best," McLeod said. "We haven't beaten Germany for a few years. We are making ground on them but until we beat them we can't stake many claims.
"But usually we have to travel halfway around the world and try to get acclimatised to the opposite season so for the first time we are the team not disadvantaged. Teams like Germany are in that position now."
Black Sticks squad:
Goalkeepers: Kyle Pontifex, Stephen Graham; Defenders: Andy Hayward, Blair Hopping, Dean Couzins, Brad Shaw, Blair Tarrant, Matt L'Huillier; Midfielders: Ryan Archibald, Phil Burrows, Shea McAleese, Steve Edwards; Strikers: Simon Child, Blair Hilton, Stephen Jenness, Shay Neal, Hugo Inglis, Nick Wilson.
