Another major tournament for Black Sticks Men and another rather disappointing campaign. In losing 1-4 to Argentina, the lads were unable to crack 4th spot in Pool A and thus unable to seal progression into the quarter-final stage. Finishing 5th, Aotearoa are joined by Japan, South Africa and Canada in being knocked out; the kiwis finished slightly ahead of South Africa (Pool B) via goal difference.

Rolling through Aotearoa's fixtures...

2-3 loss vs India.

4-3 win vs Spain.

2-2 draw vs Japan.

2-4 loss vs Australia.

1-4 loss vs Argentina.

The kiwis grabbed a win over Spain who finished a spot ahead of them, while also drawing with Japan who didn't win a game and their only draw was against Aotearoa. The opening loss to India was especially niggly as the kiwis converted 1/10 Penalty Corners and while India qualified 2nd in Pool A with a 4-1 record, India has not featured in the last two FIH Pro League campaigns while Aotearoa has.

Defence seemed to be the biggest issue for Aotearoa in Tokyo as they gave up 3+ goals in three games and then the 2 goals against Japan. Japan were able to slice through the Black Sticks defence with minima effort in perhaps the most concerning lapses, while opposition players constantly found space in the kiwis defensive area with the most glaring lapses coming against Argentina.

The issue here is that while everyone was trippin' over Black Sticks Women's coaching dramas, the men have steadily been worse and heading in the wrong direction. Here is the Black Sticks Men's record in recent tournaments and the first two FIH Pro Leagues to be held...

2016 Rio Olympics -7th

2018 Commonwealth Games - 2nd.

2018 World Cup - 9th.

2019 FIH Pro League - 8th (of 8)

2020 FIH Pro League - 8th (of 9).

That is almost NZ Warriors levels of being okay-ish. Of course the highlight there is the Commonwealth Games where there were four legit top-tier teams and Aotearoa finished ahead of England and India, losing the final to Australia. Later that year at the World Cup, those three teams all made the quarter-finals while the kiwis didn't. The strangest thing is that the 2019 FIH Pro League came just as the Mark Hager drama was hitting a peak on the women's side and the men did not win any of their 14 games played during the 2019 Pro League (4 draws, 10 losses).

We'll wait and see how the Mark Hager vs Graham Shaw battle plays out on the women's side during the Tokyo Olympics, I'm just fascinated as to how two different teams with vastly different fortunes suffered (women) and avoided (men) such dramas. If there is any hockey coach who should be under pressure for their role, it's Black Sticks Men's coach Darren Smith.

The men went a bit better in the pandemic Pro League where they had a record of 2-1-7 and with the number of teams moving from eight to nine, the kiwis finished 8th but not last. The Pro League has been a fun wrinkle for international hockey and the regular fixtures in Aotearoa has been fantastic, especially seeing the likes of Belgium, Netherlands and Germany playing in Aotearoa. Over the first two Pro Leagues, Aotearoa has played 24 games with 2 wins, 5 draws and 17 losses.

Having the best European nations playing games in Aotearoa and regular competition against the best in the world was meant to help the kiwis improve. The Pro League has forced teams to play home and away fixtures against the other seven/eight teams involved, otherwise there was little reason for Netherlands for example to travel to Aotearoa to us the favour of top-level competition. Based on the two Pro Leagues played thus far and the Tokyo Olympics, it's hard to see where those improvements have been made.

In the lead up to Tokyo, Aotearoa hosted Australia for four Tests and then traveled to Perth for two Pro League fixtures (re-scheduled for Tokyo prep due to pandemic). The kiwis lost all six of those games with an overall goal difference of 7-24.

The trickiest thing is the lack of a clear path towards change. Hockey New Zealand isn't producing world-class players after hockey fans got used to seeing Ryan Archibald, Simon Child, Phil Burrows, Dean Cousins etc compete with the world's best for a long time. Sean Findlay burst through as the sizzling youngster for this Olympics campaign, yet he's a long way off dragging Aotearoa towards international relevance. One could argue how effective HNZ's development pathways are on the men's side as a wider range of players used in the Pro League didn't foster any excitement about the future.

In Aotearoa, HNZ is in a rather major re-structuring phase with national tournaments being tinkered and perhaps this might provide a light at the end of the tunnel. HNZ also faces a battle for relevance as we are seeing vast expansion in football, basketball, cricket and rugby league for young men in Aotearoa sport here at the Niche Cache and if Aotearoa's not competing as they once did then all that momentum dips away. Low key important is the lack of a star player or a fun vibe for the next wave of players to tap into - the current crop would have all followed Archibald and Child while they were young.

In the pantheon of Aotearoa sporting excellence, Black Sticks Men's hockey is tucked away somewhere behind women's hockey first and foremost then all the other teams/athletes were are seeing excel. Take a moment to ponder the effort of Aotearoa's Oly Whites who are bolstered by a golden generation of young ballers who are consistently performing at high levels around the world.

Men's hockey in Aotearoa is now well behind that pocket of football. Perhaps there is something to gain from that as young kiwi hockey players may benefit more from getting gigs in Europe and around the world (pandemic permitting) rather than being stuck in Aotearoa. However this plays out, the status-quo ain't working.

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