New Zealand Name Their Junior Black Sticks Men for a Home-Based Junior World Cup Push
New Zealand’s next generation already has medals. Now it gets its World Cup.
Hockey New Zealand has named the 18-man Junior Black Sticks squad for the Junior World Cup cycle, and the core of it is no mystery to anyone who watched Johor last year. This is the group that took silver at the 2025 Sultan of Johor Cup and then won the Oceania Junior World Cup Qualifier on the Gold Coast this month, beating Australia when it counted.
The squad
Goalkeepers: Hugh Nixon and Matthew Ruetsch.
Defenders: Aiden Bax, Javahn Jones, Jordan Whittleston, Dean Clarkson, Jakarta Klebert and Rocco Ludolph.
Midfielders: Bradley Rothwell, Gus Nelson, Nick Stephenson, Scott Illerbrun and Owen Brown.
Forwards: Jonty Elmes, Ryan Parr, Finn Ward, Jack Willoughby and Sam Parry.
Elmes is the name neutrals will know first. He scores in bursts and he tends to score in the games that matter. Around him there’s a defensive unit with genuine size, and a midfield that has basically grown up together through the age groups.
A group that’s already been tested
That’s the bit that stands out, really. Junior squads are usually a pile of promise and guesswork. This one has a Johor silver medal and a qualifier win over Australia in the bank before the tournament even starts. They’ve travelled together, lost together, and won the one game their whole rivalry is judged by.
It doesn’t make them favourites. The Junior World Cup field is brutal, and India at home will take some shifting. But New Zealand sides are at their most dangerous when the group is tight and the expectations sit elsewhere — the seniors showed the same shape naming their India tour squad this week, and Australia’s juniors feed off the Kookaburras squad named today. For our money, this lot are a quarter-final team at minimum, and a horrible draw for anyone who gets them before that.
