Hockey: Parties close to settling on review head in Black Sticks row

Black Sticks coach Mark Hager. Photo / Photosport

Expect the two parties in the Mark Hager hockey issue to follow a familiar pattern when appointing a reviewer to look into complaints around the Black Sticks women's team culture.

Both Hockey New Zealand and the sports' players association are expected to name a person early next week to look into claims of a negative environment in the Black Sticks.

That comes in the wake of Hager's ill-starred e-mail to his players during the World Cup in London last month.

In it, he was critical of several players and unimpressed with the general attitude towards training. The email mistakenly reached all his players in London.

Other prominent sports who have had to hold reviews processes recently include cycling, football and rowing.

It is believed the two hockey parties are considering options for a person of similar standing and background, and not a person embedded in sports administration.

Cycling's review related to allegations of a bullying, boozing culture and had head sprint coach Anthony Peden resign over his part in that.

Football's was over the coaching of the departed Andreas Heraf of the women's Football Ferns and his management style of his players.

Rowing's was to do with the culture within the national organisation and whether results were too far outweighing athlete welfare and led to the resignation of long term high performance boss Alan Cotter.

Prominent lawyer Philippa Muir is handling the football review; former solicitor genereal Mike Heron is doing the report into cycling's culture.

Hager, the former Australian star player who has been in charge of the women's Black Sticks for 10 years, received solid backing from seven of his former New Zealand players this week.

In a two-page letter they went in to bat for him, vigorously supporting his coaching style and trying to balance what they felt was an unfairly negative tone towards him in the coverage of the story to that point.