Hockey: Breaking a leg to be there

By DAVID LEGGAT

Time is not on Ryan Archibald's side in his battle to be fit for the Olympic hockey tournament next month.

The classy Auckland midfielder suffered a broken right leg last month during a training mishap with the New Zealand squad as they prepared for Athens.

And while the squad is now in Barcelona getting through an intensive period of training for the Games, Archibald is hoping to be able to make a late dash to join the squad in Athens.

New Zealand coach Kevin Towns named 15 players for Athens last month, leaving a spot open for Archibald, which tells you all that's needed to be known about his importance to the team.

An ultrasound scan Archibald had on the break - about 7cm below the knee - this week did not give a clear indication of progress.

A lot of new bone has not yet formed.

Archibald, who has played a remarkable 127 internationals at the age of 23, is down to one crutch to support him while he's walking. He is doing plenty of cross-training, cycling, rowing and swimming, but he admitted running seems some way off.

"The goal is to be walking without crutches in the next day or two. I have to put up with a certain amount of pain, but that's necessary to see how much I can progress," said Archibald, son of 1976 Olympic gold medal-winning midfielder Jeff Archibald.

"I'm trying to do more on the leg each day, two or three cross-training sessions each day plus more and more walking and slowly building it up."

On August 4, Archibald will play a game in Auckland, organised specifically to see if he has recovered sufficiently to board a plane for Athens two days later.

If he comes through satisfactorily, he will head for Greece and will arrive in time to play at least one of New Zealand's last two warm-up games, against Australia on August 9 and Korea two days later.

So what is Archibald's gut feeling? Let's say he's not exactly swinging from the chandeliers just yet.

"At this stage I'd say I've got a small chance of going. But I'm going to give it everything I can to realise that small chance.

"I'm not extremely confident. At the moment being able to run seems a long way off. I'm struggling to walk at the moment, so whether I can make that progression quickly enough in the time I've got is the big question."

Towns confirmed that providing Archibald comes through his August 4 game satisfactorily he's on his way to Greece.

"It will be right down to the wire, but we're taking it day by day," he added.

And spare a thought for North Harbour striker David Kosoof. He is player No 16, with a question mark alongside his name.

If Archibald does not beat the clock, Kosoof stays in the squad. If he recovers, Kosoof heads home.

Ryan Archibald

Age: 23

Height: 1.84m

Weight: 75kg

Position: Midfielder

Tests: 127

Olympics: First

Commonwealth Games: 2002 finished 2nd; 1998 DNQ semifinals

New Zealand teams for Olympics Games

MEN

Simon Towns (capt, Auckland)

Gareth Brooks (Canterbury)

Phil Burrows (Wellington)

Dean Couzins (Auckland)

Dion Gosling (Auckland)

Bevan Hari (Auckland)

Blair Hopping (North Harbour)

Wayne McIndoe (Auckland)

James Nation (Wellington)

Umesh Parag (Wellington)

Mitesh Patel (Wellington)

Kyle Pontifex (Wellington)

Hayden Shaw (Canterbury)

Darren Smith (North Harbour)

Paul Woolford (Auckland)

David Kosoof (North Harbour) or Ryan Archibald (Auckland).

WOMEN

Suzie Muirhead (capt, Wellington)

Stacey Carr (Canterbury)

Helen Clarke (Auckland)

Tara Drysdale (Manawatu)

Lizzy Igasan (North Harbour)

Leisen Jobe (North Harbour)

Beth Jurgeleit (Wellington)

Emily Naylor (Manawatu)

Meredith Orr (Auckland)

Jaimee Provan (North Harbour)

Niniwa Roberts-Lang (Wellington)

Rachel Robertson (Canterbury)

Kayla Sharland (Manawatu)

Rachel Sutherland (Manawatu)

Lisa Walton (Auckland)

Diana Weavers (Canterbury)