NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Sport

Hockey: Siblings have two shots at Rio

By David Leggat
Reporter·NZ Herald·
1 Apr, 2016 04:00 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Brooke Neal, Black Sticks hockey. Photo / Christine Cornege

Brooke Neal, Black Sticks hockey. Photo / Christine Cornege

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Apart from the obvious, Shay and Brooke Neal have a couple of things in common.

The Northland brother and sister play hockey for New Zealand, have had their share of battles with injury, and are eyeing trips to the Rio Olympics.

They also have the habit of finishing each other's sentences.

And they have set aside work for the all-consuming target of making Rio. Attacker Shay is a lawyer; defender Brooke has a communications degree and works at a marketing agency.

They have the dream, you suspect nurtured on the sports fields of Whangarei where they grew up five minutes from Kensington Park, hockey HQ for the region - "world class, one of the best in the world", says Brooke, who is in New Zealand's squad for the eight-nation Hawkes Bay Cup starting in Hastings today.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Parents Peter and Leone were heavily involved in sport, which filled their young lives.

Shay made it to the national team first, in 2009 against India at the Punjab Gold Cup in India and he's up to 66 caps.

In a sport where it seems ridiculously easy to quickly rack up a pile of caps, he would surely have had more but for his injury breaks. Brooke made it two internationals in the family four years later against Australia in the Oceania Cup and has 71 caps.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Shay had a knee operation in 2006, a hip operation in 2013 and got back in time for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow two years ago, where he popped his AC joint and played five games with injections before each match.

Then last May, his knee went again. Now, fingers crossed, he's good to go if selected for Rio. Shay is in the New Zealand squad which flew to Malaysia yesterday for the Black Sticks' defence of the Azlan Shah trophy.

He calls his career "a bit of a roller coaster" because of the injuries.

"You come back (from injury) and you're not quite where you were. Those bad performances play on your mind."

Discover more

Sport

Hawke's Bay Cup Live Streaming Day 2

02 Apr 09:00 PM
Sport

Gold-winning Kiwi hockey team

01 Apr 04:00 PM

He is hoping to stay clear of injuries until Rio - assuming coach Colin Batch picks him - and his sights are on medalling.

That's a big call considering New Zealand just made it into the Games field through a back door, having twice missed chances to qualify on their own merit, and needing the withdrawal of South Africa to get the 12th and final spot.

Brooke has had ongoing battles with a wonky knee - chronic patella tendonopathy. Her attitude towards her injury has changed with time.

"For a start I was trying to look for cures, or fixes," she said.

"When that was not working I had a mental switch where I accepted it was just going to be something that's always going to be painful.

"But if I managed it right, did all the rehab right then I can play through it. It's pretty messy in there, but the good thing is it's not doing long term damage," she said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The pair bounce thoughts off each other - "more in general life, coping with the high performance environment. We do talk a lot," Brooke said.

"He's a striker, I'm a defender, so we do give advice but it's more about making sure you're in the right frame of mind. All about the top two inches."

The men, ranked eighth, will be long shots for a medal, but opponents their higher ranked rivals would view as dangerous.

The women are ranked fourth and very much podium contenders.

A series win against world No 2 Argentina in Mar del Plata a few weeks ago, with a below full strength squad, certainly didn't hurt.

Brooke Neal is adamant the women's squad are a big chance in Rio. "It's our time."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Sport

All Blacks

France overhaul squad for second All Blacks test

10 Jul 08:13 AM
Sport

Former All White pleads guilty over A-League betting scandal

10 Jul 05:55 AM
Premium
All Blacks

Why All Blacks changed selection tactics for French rematch

10 Jul 05:08 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Sport

France overhaul squad for second All Blacks test

France overhaul squad for second All Blacks test

10 Jul 08:13 AM

Gaetan Barlot will captain the side, with Gael Fickou rested for the clash in Wellington.

Former All White pleads guilty over A-League betting scandal

Former All White pleads guilty over A-League betting scandal

10 Jul 05:55 AM
Premium
Why All Blacks changed selection tactics for French rematch

Why All Blacks changed selection tactics for French rematch

10 Jul 05:08 AM
Premium
Alex Powell: What does Christian Horner's sacking mean for Liam Lawson?

Alex Powell: What does Christian Horner's sacking mean for Liam Lawson?

10 Jul 03:00 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP