Hockey: Stars in club v country row

Phil Burrows (left) says he has not signed a contract putting his club before New Zealand. Picture / Chris Callinan

Former player of the year Phil Burrows and Dean Couzins are due to join the Black Sticks in Kuala Lumpur for the Sultan Azlan Shah tournament in just over a week.

But their club team, Breda, which plays in the Dutch premier league, want them to remain in the Netherlands to help in a fight against relegation.

National coach Kevin Towns said he wanted his best side in Malaysia.

"As far as I know, there is no formal contract between the players and the club. There is talk about a piece of paper but Phil and Dean assure me they haven't signed it.

"The club has suggested they would be happy to let Dean go but want to hold Phil for their last three games. We are not entertaining that. We want our best in Malaysia. It is an important tournament."

The Australians have been caught in the same situation.

They had three players in the Netherlands. Two have, or will, return for the Azlan Shah but Troy Elder opted out and has been dropped from the Australian squad for 12 months.

"In future we would not like to see any of our players go offshore without a contract," said Towns.

"We don't want this to happen again. It is something we have not had to deal with before but it highlights the changes to our game."

Hockey NZ chief executive Ramesh Patel is adamant that both Couzins and Burrows will play in Kuala Lumpur.

"Obviously, the club would like them to stay on," he said, "but our position is that they have been selected and should make themselves available.

"Once they have been named in the national squad and are entitled to a Performance Enhancement Grant from Sparc, it is a given that they are available to play.

"To be fair, the Azlan Shah invitation came late but that does not change anything.

"We are now looking at the contract we will draw up," said Patel. "We will take advice from other countries and other sports. We are new at this but realise we have to protect ourselves and our players."

Unlike professional sports where big money is involved, Kiwi hockey players survive on a shoestring. They normally get about $25 a day or about $200 a tournament.

Patel concedes that is not great but says that not too long ago players had to contribute to go on tour.