MONDAY, 24 JUNE 2002
Midland Express cast net wider for players
22 June 2002

By BRUCE HOLLOWAY
The Midland Express hockey squad to contest this year's national league looks to be more representative of the wider franchise area than ever before.
Coach Sue McLeish has still to select her guest players (up to three), but two Tauranga players – Craig Bigham and Niven Aldridge – have been included in the 17-strong squad named this week.

And while players such as the Hopping brothers and the doughty David Burns are now Hamilton players, Counties have also maintained a worthy Midland presence with fiesty forward Jared Wrigley joining the experienced Yogesh Hari in the squad.

Having now established himself as a significant player at international level, Blair Hopping, will again join Casey Henwood as a key in Midland's engine room, while Sandeep Puna, who was just a fringe player last year, also looks set to establish himself as a real force. There is still a question mark over the health of Fraser Tech fullback Warren Phillips, who has been suffering from glandular fever, but he has been tentatively named in the squad anyway.
File Photo: Sandeep Puna
Midland Express: Dean Armstrong, Casey Henwood, Blair Hopping, David Burns, Tony Hopping, Brad Bellamy (Varsity), Warren Phillips (subject to health), Sandeep Puna, Leighton Hammond (Fraser Tech), Andre Le Claire (Old Boys), Carl Sanders, Steve Mundy, Ian Morgan (Suburbs), Craig Bigham, Niven Aldridge (Tauranga), Yogesh Hari, Jared Wrigley (Counties).