Ahead of the 15th edition of the FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup taking place in Spain and the Netherlands (1-17 July), we’re conducting a series of exclusive interviews with the participating teams. Today: Megan Hull (NZL).
Megan, it will be the 4th consecutive participation of the Black Sticks in the FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup, with some really good results, and maybe a little less so in 2018. What are your ambitions for this year?
It’s really neat that you touch on our previous results. That's something we're really passionate about in terms of learning from the girls that have gone before us and drawing on their experience. Thankful for this group! Obviously, only a few weeks away now, it's just really exciting. We honestly just can't wait. We haven't had a whole lot of international test matches over the last few years because of COVID. Everyone is just so excited. We're really looking forward to putting up some good competition results and getting onto it.
Looking at your performance at the Tokyo Olympics last year, you started fantastically with a win over Argentina, then it went a little less your way. But still, is it an experience which you can capitalize upon for this World Cup?
Absolutely! We started really well and something to draw on is the fact that we know how well we can play and how well we can compete. So, yes, we'll draw on that. Then it was disappointing not to carry on that performance. We had a few games that we weren't really that happy with. We take a lot of learnings from those experiences and with this group we just want everyone to really have a go, play with confidence and go out there knowing that we can win these games.
Because of travel-related restrictions due to COVID, New Zealand was unfortunately unable to participate in the current FIH Hockey Pro League season, therefore missing the opportunity to play on a regular basis against top teams from different playing cultures. How do you look at this?
We're pretty gutted to miss out on the Pro League. That's a really special league and an ability for us to get international games and experience, particularly with a group where we’re a bit lower in caps. But equally we have trained so hard here over the last few months and as a group we're really intent on pushing each other. We've had a lot of great local domestic competitions. It's been such a showcase of talent throughout the country and a real showcase of character of people being able to tune up and train day and day out. Obviously disappointing to miss out on those but great to be able to play Australia just recently. It's a fantastic competition for us we've had over the last couple of years. So we take what we can get and train hard when we can.
Since we haven't seen the Black Sticks much on the international scene in the last couple of months, can you tell us how your team is doing? We've missed you!
We've missed it too! I just feel really, really excited about this group. We've just been chipping away down here in our little New Zealand and training really hard. Honestly, we've just got such a talented group that it makes me really excited. We haven't had the matches that we would have hoped but I think we're tracking in the right direction. Just can't wait for us to get out there and play at the World Cup!
You will play in a Pool with China, England and India. How do you look at each of these teams?
All fantastic quality sides! Fast paced tempo, counterattack hockey and some real solid defense. We'll be taking a game at a time and really focus on winning those important Pool games. Obviously quality sides but we're really focusing on what we can bring and what our strengths are. So, we'll be looking to bring what we can as a group and hopefully get the right result for us.
Which message would you like to give to your fans?
I feel like we are so blessed with wonderful supporters here in New Zealand. We're going to have everyone back home, whether it's our families, our family friends, our neighbors or anyone in the community, supporting us. Everyone is so passionate about hockey here when they're involved, so we know we're going to have so much support and we're so grateful for that! We really couldn't do it without everyone behind us. We look forward to hearing that from back home and we really hope we can do everyone proud.
#HWC2022
