The Dutch-raised Black Stick had more reasons than most to relish the Summer of Hockey tournament in the city.
Her grandfather, aunt, uncle and cousins all live in Dunedin — and other family members travelled to the city — making for a special family reunion at the McMillan Centre.
"I always like coming back here," Murray said.
"It’s quite lucky that the tournament’s in Dunedin for us. Quite a coincidence because I think there hasn’t been a big tournament here for a while.
"It’s nice to catch up with them because it’s not always that easy if you’re on the other side of the world. That’s a nice combination to have and I think they also like seeing me play because they haven’t seen me play a lot."
The Black Sticks braved the chilly Dunedin weather during their home tournament last week, even heading to the beach for their ice bath recovery sessions.
"One of the girls was like, ‘Oh, this is your first time in the sea in Dunedin’ and I was like, ‘No, no, I’ve been here before’," she laughed.
Murray, the daughter of former Black Caps opening batter Darrin Murray, was born in Christchurch but her family moved back to her mother’s homeland, the Netherlands, when she was 3.
She grew up in the Netherlands — even pulling on the orange dress as an under-21 player and winning a world junior title in 2021 — before a chance encounter from her Dunedin uncle helped lure her to her birth nation.
"It’s actually quite funny.
"He was, I think, at an NHC [national hockey championship] tournament four years ago ... and he got in touch with some people from Hockey New Zealand.
"He just mentioned, ‘Do you know I’ve got a niece living in the Netherlands but she has a New Zealand passport?’ and that’s when they actually reached out to me."
University studies delayed her Black Sticks debut, but she finally pulled on the black singlet at the Oceania Cup in Darwin last year.
It was a dream start to her international career with New Zealand, Murray setting up Black Sticks captain Olivia Shannon for their only goal in their victory against Australia.
They walked away victorious from that tournament to qualify for the World Cup later this year.
Linking up with her team-mates again during the Summer of Hockey tournament — they finished runners-up to the United States — after a four-month break had been good preparation for their busy season.
"It was good to get together again.
"I haven’t seen most of the girls since Darwin and Oceania Cup, so good to have some time together to keep working on what we were working on and get it ready for the World Cup.
"It’s a nice preparation and nice to have some other teams here to play, which will be similar to have we’re going to face there.
"It’s always good to have a bit more time together also as a team."
