Team short on experience without Manawatu pair

The New Zealand women's hockey team have left for Perth and – wait for it – there aren't any dedicated Manawatu women in the team.

Emily Naylor and Kayla Sharland are usually the first ones to be picked, but both have stayed home due to injuries.

New cap Cathryn Finlayson has made the side, but these days she flies the Midlands flag.

With Naylor and Sharland injured, that took out two of the Black Sticks' captains and most senior players. Both are aged 24.

Both have had MRI scans, Naylor for a bulge in a disc in her lower back, and Sharland for a hamstring strain she suffered during fitness testing in Auckland.

The Black Sticks are playing a trans-Tasman series against a full-strength Australian side, but it's not a bad series to miss.

Coach Mark Hager is trialling many new women, and the two Manawatu players have a ton of hockey ahead.

Sharland has been plagued by injury in recent years but not so Naylor. In six years in the national team, she had a calf strain in 2004 and injured a hamstring a year ago while water-skiing.

She felt a twinge in her lower back before the World Cup qualifying tournament in Invercargill in September, but recovered. Two weeks ago, she was practising at the Palmerston North turfs.

"I was having a hit, went for a lunge, a low hit, and it didn't feel quite right," she said.

"Hopefully it dies down."

"I've been biking and swimming to try to strengthen it up. It's already getting a lot better."

Both women want to get back to their Dutch club in a couple of weeks to again help it stay in the top division.

"If it's still causing trouble, Mark will hold me back for a few weeks."

Coming up are home series against Argentina and India, the Champions Trophy in Nottingham, England, the World Cup in Rosario, Argentina, and the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi in October.

Naylor has played 123 games for New Zealand since 2004, Sharland 106 since 2003.

- © Fairfax NZ News