Hockey: Countdown on for Black Sticks start 12 July 2002 The Wellington chapter in the New Zealand women's hockey team's build-up to the Manchester Commonwealth Games has closed and the countdown has begun. The women were beaten 3-0 by Indians in their final game in the men's club competition on Wednesday night and yesterday the players returned home. They have four days off before leaving for the Netherlands on Sunday and then on to Manchester. "I'm just going to have some quiet time with family and friends (in Auckland). That is the thing you miss the most being down here is those people you rely on for support," New Zealand captain Helen Clarke said. "They are different to your team-mates. You can not whinge to your team-mates, that is not fair on them. "It's going to be nice to go home." The two tests against the Netherlands can't come soon enough for the Black Sticks. "You get to the point where you are sick of training," Clarke said. The tests have an important part to play in the side's final preparation for Manchester. Those games will let the Black Sticks know if the six weeks spent training twice a day and playing in the Wellington premier men's competition were beneficial. "It will be nice to go and play the games against the Dutch and see where we are at," Clarke said. "You can not compare men's hockey to women's hockey. The men tend to rely on strength and speed and women tend to rely on technical skill and cunningness." The Black Sticks' first game at the Commonwealth Games will be against host England. "England in England is going to be awfully difficult," Clarke said. "They have probably been training on that turf since February." Though the importance of that game has been stressed to the players, it has been done carefully. "You can not over-stress it because that only gets people nervous and then they are not concentrating on what they should be (doing)," Clarke said. "You have to get the balance, especially for the youngsters."