Tokyo Olympics loom

Experienced Black Sticks women’s side defender Liz Thompson agreed.

She said they were open to fact they were going to have to be ready to play it by ear as the Olympics loomed closer.

‘‘As players it’s a really challenging thing to go well this is sort of the plan but you’ve got to understand that it could shift and change and matches could be cancelled or not going ahead.

‘‘That’s the reality of it, unfortunately, and I think we’ve got to look at what we can do with our time and how we can utilise this window.’’

Part of that included the Premier Hockey League.

New Zealand’s top 80 men’s and women’s players had been split into eight teams for the competition which started next week and ran until early December.

Smith said they were excited to get the domestic league under way, even if it had been frustrating to watch their European rivals play actual international matches.

‘‘You watch and you see that these guys are really enjoying being back on the field and playing and you just want to be a part of it. That is hard to get your head around.

‘‘We are extremely lucky in New Zealand to have had a lot of freedom coming out of lockdown but at the same time we are very isolated and we don’t have the ability to connect with other team like that, and that’s why the Premier League is so important.’’ — RNZ