P1 MEN
Written by: Grant Hunt
Coach
SELECTION AND TRIAL PROCESS
The trials were effective and organised so all prospective players looking for either P1 or P2 selection could attend and show off their skills. The difficulty year in and year out with the trials is that not everyone attends. This applies to the trials as well as the pre-season games. Again this year skills and drills were used to assess potential P1 players.
Unfortunately the 6 a-side competition that has traditionally been played pre-season was replaced with an indoor competition. It was the feeling of the senior players and I that indoor hockey was not a suitable programme to get prepared for the outdoor competition. Practices and preseason games held prior to the season commencement contributed to the selection process.
Preseason games were organised between ourselves, High School Hockey Club from Palmerston North and Dalefield. These games took place on the weekends of the 7/8 and 14/15 of March in Kapiti and Masterton.
This year there were just under 40 players that trialled. There were around 10 interested players that came from outside of the NUHC club. A number elected to stay as the others elected to play either for another club at P1 level or in a lower grade for another club. The players that stayed were of a high calibre some of which have been involved in Capital age group and open squads. 3 were school leavers, 1 came from playing overseas and 2 senior players returned to Northern.
P1 ROSTER
There were only 8 players from the 2014 team that returned to play the 2015 P1 season. I was pleased with the calibre of players able to be called upon from the P2 team. The following P2 players helped out during this season:
Luke Gaskin, Jason Neilson, Matt Croxford, Mitchell Scott, Olly Wright, James Libeau, Scott Leggett and Craig Turner.
We were also lucky to have 2 students (Tim Matthews and Campbell Paton) return during their study break and play a few games for their old club.
PRACTICE VENUES, DAYS, TIMES ETC
Tuesday evening’s practices were held at Indians Gym. Good facility for having debriefs and reduced likelihood of cancellation due too being indoors. It was again available from 7.00 – 8.00pm and this fitted in with the majority of players. There was a good attendance at Tuesday trainings. A number of P2 players also took the opportunity to train with the P1s on Tuesdays. Thursday evening’s practices were held at NHS 8.00 – 9.00pm. This was an okay time to train and attendance was consistently high. Again with player injuries and absences some P2 players would train with the P1’s.
COMPETITION RESULTS
We started the season very poorly and in Round 1 saw us have, 4 losses and 1 draw. Round 2 was only slightly better with 3 losses and 2 wins. Round 3 was again only slight improvement on Rd 2 and we managed 2 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses.
The last games of the round robin were the deciding games to determine the top 4 teams from the bottom 2. We put ourselves in the best position by beating Victoria in our last RR games but unfortunately the result of another match did not go in our favour.
We finished the round robin in 5th place and therefore did not make the semi-finals. Definitely not the position we set our sights on at the beginning of the season. This is the second consecutive year NUHC has not competed in the play-offs. We played Victoria for the wooden spoon.
Unlike game 15 in Rd3, when we were victorious over Victoria 2-1 we lost by the score line of 1-2. This game was marred with one very serious injury to a younger member of our team and a game ending injury to another. This resulted in us playing the promotion relegation game vs challengers Naenae. We were victorious with a score line of 5–0.The season run relatively smoothly with minor interruptions when the U18 campaign was underway as this meant some players missed some trainings.
It was very disappointing and frustrating given the way we had played and the attitude and approach everyone brought this year. Missed opportunities were again our downfall throughout the season. A lack of quality strikers is one of the root causes for our below par performances. We just didn’t score enough goals. Although this year was definitely not one to remember, there is no doubt that Northern United remains a force within in the Men's premier one competition. There is still a strong belief and an expectation that NUHC P1 team can repeat the successes of past years teams.
P2 MEN
Written by: Julian O’Sullivan
Coach
SELECTION AND TRIALS
Unfortunately these clashed with the Wellington Masters Tournament, the comment from many of the P2 players was the P1 team had already been preselected. I know as coaches that we have a team of players in mind but it is important as a club that we have all available players trial together so they get the opportunity to vie for the top spot. The final P2 selection was a good balance of very experienced senior players and some very talented young men.
TRAININGS
Thursday NHS 1 -Very high and consistent turnout all season from players other than the occasional work, holiday or representative commitment. Unfortunately the Tuesday training in Indians Gym wasn’t able to be fully utilised by all due to other commitments before the Semi-final. Matt Croxford trained and played regularly with P1s, Luke, Mitchell and several others got some game time as well. I believe that it is important that P1 and P2s regularly play each other at practices during the season, it’s important for P2s to measure themselves against their fellow peers. This should not only help players that have aspirations to play higher but keep senior players on their toes. A win/win. Wouldn’t need to be more than 30mins every couple of weeks.
SUMMERY/VIEW
The team should be very proud of the hockey they played this season. Their commitment to support each other and to play as a team was rewarded in their performance on the field. There was a real sense of mutual respect for each other’s abilities and contribution to games and practises. It was pleasing to watch players grow in confidence, advance their skills and take personal responsibility to the task through the season. I had P1 players and coaches comment on some of our games and have shown an interest in 4-5 of our players. It’s important that we don’t lose these guys to other clubs. A special thanks to David McNaughton for his help as manager, l sought his views and valued his contribution in team talks. David has developed some very good hockey players for Northern out of Onslow and deserves plenty of support from the club. It was disappointing losing semi-final, definitely not one of our better games. I was very proud to coach these guys, watching them play some of the best hockey I’ve seen for a long time. The biggest frustration I have at P2 is clubs continued flouting of the player eligibility rules and Wellington Hockey seemingly able to rule at their discretion. I’d like to thank the players and the Northern United Club for all their support this season. Finished 6 points clear on top after final round. Second highest goals for and least goals against. Lost semi-final to Hutt.
P3 WOMEN
Written by: Sarah Neilson
Coach
We had a fabulous season on and off the pitch - the girls really enjoying playing with each other and socialising together, which makes for a close knit team. Results flowed in the grading round with all our goal scoring practice paying off! We got a ‘hat-full’ of goals off set pieces, scored some fantastic (almost impossible) individual goals and tapped in a lot of ‘team effort’ goals. We took out the promotion/relegation game easily and found ourselves back in P3. Our great results continued and we got better all season. Practice definitely pays off and it was great to see we had the majority of the team at most trainings. I had many people come up to me, unsolicited, and tell me what a great team we had - on a good day - the team trust each other and our passing, right from the back to the front, and some superb finishing is nice to watch! Our defense is always consistently strong, it’s worth a special mention to Hannah our goalie - we will miss you next year, good luck Hannah! We finished the season on the top of the table with an impressive goal difference. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t win the final – it wasn’t our day, we can play much better hockey than we did, it was disappointing. However, the girls were stoked to finish on top after pool play given we came from R1 at the beginning of the season. I suspect we will keep the core team next year and gain a few newbies so it should be an exciting year – our sights are set on P2. Bring it.
P3 MEN
Written by: Ryan Loader
Player
2015 was a reasonably good year for the Northern premier three men. We were a depleted force for most of the season, but nearly made the playoffs, finishing fifth place in the competition. There were many familiar faces in the side again this year and I personally enjoyed the opportunity to build upon friendships from years past.
As always we had a good mix of players, students and masters alike and I think that this contributed significantly to the sides competitiveness. A few guest appearances also helped our goal tally with Steven Mackey quickly shooting his way to top goal scorer despite not playing most of the season due to injury. Trainings were certainly a low point for the season and something to improve upon next year. Separating the P2 and P3 men worked well to give the P2 guys the focus they needed, helping ensure a very strong season for them, but left the P3 trainings feeling depleted and unchallenging. One positive we saw during training were some fresh faces from the R2 men’s side in attendance, it was good to see the enthusiasm there and certainly helped improve their skills.
As always, we were shy in front of goal this year but the team’s structure and commitment held strong. What we lacked in numbers we made up for with determination and ring-ins (haha!). It was great to see some of the men in attendance of the end of year event and it was great to chat to the guys in a more relaxed environment, I hope that the sense of community will continue to spread throughout the team.
Acknowledgements
1. Thank you to the committee. Our team didn’t quite get there with fundraising this year but despite that the club has run better than any other year I have been a Northern member. It would not be possible without your tireless efforts.
2. Thank you to the coaches and masters players who are always happy to pass on knowledge to the other members of the team. Whether it be a quick discussion after a game or taking a training, the contribution is much appreciated.
3. A massive thanks to the supporters and volunteers who give lifts, bbq, organise, coordinate and cheer us on. I personally would like to thank Bruce and Sandy Gallagher, they are always happy to help and their contribution this year, particularly during the end of year function, was much appreciated.
4. Finally, thanks to the players. Every year this club gets better and so much of that is down to the friends we have here and the good times we have together.
R2 MEN
Written by: Phil Henley
Coach
Once again we had a large number of new players this year and again our early season results were promising, winning our first few games and making the grading round semi-finals.
However, this year our results we not as promising as previous years. Injuries did not help us throughout the year and it took longer than hoped for, for those new combinations to start clicking. So, while we were always competitive against the higher placed teams, wins were hard to come by. We ended the season recording 2 wins and 2 draws, finishing the season in 7th place. We then went and lost the 7th/8th play off on strokes to Naenae, although we believe the rules state that we will remain in
Reserve 2.
The clubs aim should be to retain as many of this year’s team for the 2016 season and hopefully recruit a few of the “older” players to come and player R2 next year. I believe the club would really benefit from having a team in the R1 grade so we can offer the young secondary school players a competitive and supportive environment in which to improve their hockey skills and progress through the ranks to the higher teams. P1, P2, P3 and R1 teams would cater to all ages and abilities, which I believe is what we want to do.
Our MVP award went to Casey Norman our goalie. Casey is just 15 but showed great maturity and ability in goal this year. In many games this year we were kept in the game solely because of the saves he made for us. A very well deserved award.