🇳🇿 New Zealand Hockey : Coach Greg Nico named 2022 New Zealand Men's Hockey squad
thedragflick.com/Credits : Vantage Black Sticks

Dragflick Newsdesk : Nine new caps and the first selection by men's head coach Greg Nicol are the main features of the 2022 Vantage Black Sticks (VBS) Men's being named today.

After a disrupted 2021 season Nicol is looking forward to an exciting year with World Cup ( in January 2023) the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in August, and Trans-Tasman competition on the horizon.

Nicol was able to assess players at the recent selection camps which saw the country's brightest talent come together over several days. 25 players from the men's team have been awarded contracts based on their performances at the camp and at international and club level.

Five new caps and the return of Hayden Phillips headline Nicol's first VBS Men's selection. The uncapped players are Charl Ulrich, Simon Yorston, Tim Neild, Joe Morrison, and Jordan Cohen, who all impressed selectors at the camp and have been rewarded with a call-up to the national side.

Olympian Hayden Phillips also makes a return after several years out of the programme. Phillips, who has won 89 caps for the VBS, has been playing in England for the last two years and is now booking his flights back to New Zealand to join the squad.

Nicol is excited to get stuck in.

"Our 2022 squad has a nice balance of experience, blended with some fresh new talent. It's always great selecting players into the squad for the first time, so I'm really looking forward to seeing the range of skills and energy they will bring to our training environment. There were some difficult choices to make and the players who haven't made the team will no doubt have something to prove.

"The months ahead will be a challenge as we navigate our way back into some international hockey, and then look to build for the Commonwealth Games in August. But I'm confident we will meet that challenge head on."

After the Tokyo Olympics, several senior players retired or have withdrawn from the programme for 2022. Shea McAleese retired after outstanding international career. In the men's programme Nick Wilson, Nick Ross, Stephen Jenness, and Steve Edwards have made the decision to step away for a year so they can focus on their careers

Vantage Black Sticks Squad : 

  • David Brydon
  • Jordan Cohen
  • Dom Dixon
  • George Enersen
  • Sean Findlay
  • Leon Hayward
  • Sam Hiha
  • Hugo Inglis
  • Kim Kingstone
  • Sam Lane
  • Dane Lett
  • Oliver McIntyre
  • Harry Miskimmin
  • Joe Morrison
  • Tim Neild
  • Hayden Phillips
  • Brad Read
  • Kane Russell
  • Aidan Sarikaya
  • Jacob Smith
  • Blair Tarrant
  • Dylan Thomas
  • Charl Ulrich
  • Nick Woods
  • Simon Yorston