Michelsen, McLaren to lead Black Sticks
Stacey Michelsen and Anita McLaren will lead the women’s Black Sticks for a third successive Commonwealth Games.
The experienced duo were named in the 18-strong squad for the Gold Coast Games yesterday, with Northland striker Madison Doar at the other end of the spectrum as the youngest player in the team at just 18 years of age.
Michelsen was named as a finalist for World Player of the Year recently and will captain the side. Her 248 test caps are bettered only by McLaren in this squad, who has 252 to her name and is the team’s all-time leading scorer with 99.
Both players won silver at Delhi 2010 and bronze at Glasgow 2014. McLaren took time away from the game after the 2016 Rio Olympics, but returned to the Black Sticks setup for their February series
against Argentina.
Head coach Mark Hager said his team was confident of bringing back another medal to add to their collection, with a bronze also won at Kuala Lumpur 1998.
‘‘We know all teams will arrive well prepared at the Commonwealth Games and we certainly aren’t taking anything for granted, but our expectations on ourselves are very high,’’ Hager said.
‘‘We’ve put our faith in the majority of players who played and finished second at the World League Final in December, and are confident we have the necessary talent in this side.
‘‘Given our performances over recent years there will rightly be an expectation on us to win a medal and I think it’s healthy to have that pressure and it’s great to know we’ll have support on the Gold Coast and back home.’’
New Zealand will play in Pool B on the Gold Coast. They will meet trans-Tasman rivals Australia, Scotland, Canada and Ghana. Pool A includes England, India, South Africa, Malaysia and Wales. Monday’s team announcement also coincided with the release of the women’s team uniform for the Commonwealth Games, which is black, white and grey.