Less than 12 months after stepping down as head coach of the Black Sticks men, Darren Smith has been lured back as interim coach of the national women's side.
Smith will guide the team through the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, after the sudden resignation of former coach Graham Shaw, but his expectations are nothing short of repeating their 2018 Gold Coast gold medal.
Smith has stepped in to fill the void left by Shaw in a critical year of international hockey for the Black Sticks women.
"We just felt my experience at World Cups, Commonwealth Games and Olympics... that perhaps I could just help, as we run a full recruitment," he said.
Smith brings 15 years' experience to the role, wisdom not lost on the relatively young and inexperienced side, who've lost more than 1000 international caps since the Tokyo Olympics.
"I think it's going to be a pretty seamless transition," defender Megan Hull said. "We've had three pretty excellent assistant coaches and Darren's been around the group for a while.
"He's got a pretty excellent reputation and we're really looking forward to what lies ahead."
A busy few months lie ahead - a World Cup in July, followed by the Commonwealth Games less than two weeks later.
"It's a short run-in, but we've had a good build-up as well," said Smith.
The build-up continues this week against rivals Australia, with a four-game series at Auckland.
"We always meet them in a tough match - a semi or quarter-final at the big tournaments," said striker Olivia Merry. "It's fantastic to be able to challenge ourselves and they don't give you an inch."
There's no question they know exactly where they need to be.
"Always at the Comm Games and always, we want performance and medals. Last time, we did and we want exactly the same thing," said Smith.
This is a new era for the team, but there's certainly nothing new about their attitude.
