Martin cracks the Black Sticks
NEWEST BLACK STICK: Former WHS student Martin Atkinson has been named in the New Zealand hockey team for the coming test series with Australia next month.
In the proud footsteps of Alan McIntyre and Les Wilson, Whanganui hockey export Martin Atkinson is set to become a fully fledged Black Stick with Olympic dreams after being chosen amongst eight new caps in the squad of 20 to face Australia next month.
Now post the Rio Olympic games and with several senior players either injured, retiring or competing overseas, coach Colin Batch has chosen a youthful side with only veterans Nick Haig and Stephen Jenness having more the 100 games experience.
After a standout 2016 Ford National Hockey League campaign with the third-placed Central Mavericks, where he finished as the tournament's top scorer with 10 field goals, Atkinson headed over to join the Adelaide team playing in the AHL tournament in Perth from September 29 to October 9.
While he did not experience similar success, as the squad came ninth in the 12-team competition, the 22-year-old received the phone call of a lifetime shortly before returning home.
"I got the call while I was in Perth, Colin Batch rang up and explained, said he was going to put me in the team.
"I couldn't really believe it at the start, until the emails started coming through...that it was all real.
"It's giving the new guys a look, especially building up for the next set of Olympics and Commonwealth Games.
"Giving everyone a chance to prove they can play."
Atkinson joins fellow Central player Rob Creffier as a new cap, along with team regular Hayden Phillips.
He will be calling on his recent AHL experience as the bulk of the players from that tournament will make up the Australian squad for the test series, being held November 17-20 at the Lloyd Elsmore Hockey Stadium in Auckland.
"Most of the [Aussie] players would have played in the league.
"It was an eye opener to play against a different kind of play. Faster, more aggressive."
"It's a bit of practice."
Atkinson will also be comfortable at Lloyd Elsmore - he moved to Auckland to develop his game two seasons ago, while still turning out for the Central Mavericks as an origin player.
"It will just be like playing in the back yard."
After leaving the Manawatu club competition, having accomplished all he could as a Whanganui player, Atkinson knew his time in the Auckland scene was beginning to pay off when he was included in the NZ Futures squad which toured Australia last December.
But having finally got his shot as a Black Stick, he had to wait a couple of days to let the news "sink in" before phoning his family, in particular his stalwart hockey father Langley.
"They were all excited, there's been heaps of messages coming in.
"Being in Auckland, you don't hear much [from Whanganui] because you're always away and playing hockey, so to have that support is great."
Having now got a foot in the door, although realistic that the top Black Sticks will be back at some stage, Atkinson's goal will be to cement himself on the scene with an eye to making it to Tokyo 2020.
"The plan is to play as many games as I can at that level. Quite exciting."
Batch echoed those sentiments as the first step on the road to the next Olympics starts now.
"This is a very fresh team but every player selected deserves to be there from what they have shown us over the past 12 months," he said.
"Following on from Rio it's the right time to explore and give some opportunities to younger players to see if they can step up to the challenge of reaching the level we believe they are capable of."
By Jared Smith
Wanganui Chronicle