Gareth Brooks. Photo / Bradley Ambrose
Gareth Brooks has answered the call and come out of retirement to join the Black Sticks for May's Azlan Shah tournament in Malaysia.
Brooks, 32, and a veteran of 109 internationals, retired after the 2008 Beijing Olympics but following discussions with coach Shane McLeod has re-entered the fold.
"I
have been talking with Gareth over the last four months with an eye to him coming back in," said McLeod. "He has been doing the strengthening and conditioning work. Getting him back complements the talent we have."
With Nick Wilson under an injury cloud and Simon Child likely to miss the tournament in Kuala Lumpur through his club commitments in Europe, Brooks will add much-needed attacking experience alongside captain Phil Burrows and younger players including James Coughlan, Stephen Jenness and Hugo Inglis.
"Gareth's selfless running and high work rate gives us the balance we are looking for," said McLeod. "He approached me [about a comeback] and I assured him the door was always open."
Even without the unavailable Ryan Archibald, Brad Shaw and Blair Hopping there is a good balance to the New Zealand team for the May 5-15 tournament.
Burrows, with 255 caps, is New Zealand's most experienced international. He is joined by Dean Couzins (223) while goalkeeper Kyle Pontifex (120), Shea McAleese (133), Ben Collier (119), Steve Edwards (118) and Brooks have all topped the 100. They will be joined by Andy Hayward who has 98 caps.
McLeod said that it was good to have Burrows, Pontifex and Couzins back after they missed the series against Korea and Belgium but is also mindful of resting some of the older players at some stage to ensure they remain on course for the ultimate goal - a place at next year's Olympics.
While McLeod has to trim three players from his initial squad, he said "they more or less will pick themselves" with Child and the injured Wilson and Richard Petherick likely to miss the trip.
