When Scott Cosslett opened his email he couldn't quite believe it.
“I was stoked to get the email and the call from Shea,” Cosslett says. “I wasn't expecting it at all anytime soon, so it was a great surprise.”
After a year and a half out of the environment, Cosslett has been named in the Vantage Black Sticks Men's squad for the Slumberzone Indian Centenary Hockey Series.
Cosslett made his debut on 4 May 2024 against Canada at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh, Malaysia. He thrived in the environment and earned his selection for the 2024 and 2025 Nations Cup.
But behind the scenes, his hips were giving him trouble.
It all started when Cosslett was 16 years old. He had been battling and managing hip pain since then and despite efforts to overcome this, he had to undergo labrum surgery to repair the damage.
“Then just due to a lack of rehab through that period and instability, I re-aggravated my injury and then played the 2025 Nations Cup in Malaysia,” he says.
The pain built through the tournament, especially towards the back end.
“I'd go back to the hotel and struggle to get to sleep and wake up with throbbing hips,” Cosslett says.
He got through the last few games of the tournament with physio treatment and pain relief, but he knew something wasn't right.
Back in New Zealand, he saw the team doctor. MRI scans showed little to no cartilage in his hip, along with bone spurs and a torn labrum.
The first plan was to treat it without surgery and get him back for the 2026 FIH Hockey World Cup. The pain didn't go away.
In January 2026, Cosslett had a full labrum reconstruction. It ruled him out of the World Cup and kept him out for the nine months that followed.
Missing a World Cup year was hard to take.
“I was more relieved that there was a way to deal with it, that I could potentially come back to international hockey and do it pain-free,” he says. “But obviously knowing that I'd missed the 2026 FIH World Cup, and fixtures between surgery and the end of the year, it was kind of hard to deal with.”
Then came a change of mindset.
He spoke to people in his support network and to the coaches, and started to see the time out differently.
“I'd never get a year and a half out of my career ever again to try and get my body in the right place,” Cosslett says. “So I kind of had a change of mindset.”
He used the time well. Cosslett spent more hours in the gym, and added Pilates to help with the mobility in his hips.
“And a bit of yoga as well, which I never thought I'd ever do,” he says. “And spent a bit more time playing golf as well, which has been good fun.”
The people around him made the difference. Cosslett thanks his family, his girlfriend and his employer, Muriwai Golf Course, who have been flexible with his return to play and his rehab.
He also thanks his mates, who he says may not realise how much of an impact they had.
“Just being able to talk to them,” Cosslett says. “I've been very lucky and very fortunate in that sense.”
Now the comeback is on. Cosslett is back playing for the Tridents at the Premier Hockey League (PHL), his first high-level hockey since the surgery. He was on the sideline for last year's event.
“So excited to use that as my prep towards my return to hockey,” he says.
Next comes the India series, which Cosslett calls “quite a historic series to come back for”.
The Vantage Black Sticks Men host India 19 to 22 November at Lloyd Elsmore Park. The series will be live on tVNZ+.
Wearing the black shirt has been a dream since Cosslett was a kid.
“Everyone that aspires to play for their country probably starts from a young age, so I've definitely had that fire burning for a while since I was a kid,” he says. “That was definitely motivation.”