As soon as one goal is reached there is always another waiting.
That is kind of how it was for Southern's Black Sticks duo of Blair Tarrant and Hugo Inglis during the recent Champions Trophy.
The pair have returned to the region to do some coaching before rejoining the national squad early next year and said the Black Sticks would have been satisfied with a top-four placing at the beginning of the tournament. But the team's aspirations changed the moment it reached the play-offs.
"Our goal was always to make the top four but we were never going to settle for that," Tarrant said.
"So we were a bit disappointed in terms of making the top four and not pushing on from there.
And expectations have grown.
People have seen us play and have seen us compete with the top teams and expect more."
Playing against the world's top hockey nations should stand the Black Sticks in good stead for the London Olympics next year. The big win against Korea and the thrilling fightback against the Netherlands filled the team with a new found confidence.
"It was really good to see where we were at ahead of the Olympics. It was so important to do that now so we can get a gauge of where we are at and what areas we need to improve in.
"While it has been great to see we can compete with these teams, we need to do better. We need to turn these one goal losses into wins."
Tarrant was quite pleased with his own form. He got plenty of game time and his role in the side is to cover left defence and left half positions.
The Black Sticks pride themselves on their fitness and that showed when they were trailing the Netherlands 3-0 and fought back in the second half to draw.
But chasing the game is hardly ideal, Tarrant said.
"You can't rely on a strong finish every time and to come back from three goals down."
Inglis had the joy of scoring New Zealand's only goal in its opening game against defending Olympic champion Germany which New Zealand lost 2-1.
"It was good but we really felt the German game was an opportunity which we let slip," Inglis said.
"In the end, it didn't cost us but it could have been damaging. But playing in crunch games like that is an experience you can replicate in training. So for us to be able to play five quality games with pressure on us was valuable and an experience we can draw on to, hopefully, medal at the Olympics."
