The Black Sticks have arrived home from their second-place finish at the World League tournament ready to go a step higher on the podium at next year's Rio Olympics.
The disappointment of their 5-1 loss to Argentina in the final is the perfect motivation.
"To win a medal this close to Rio gives you confidence to know you're on the right track. The last game gave us a lot of wake-up calls, a lot of things to work on and also Stacey Michelsen shows that we've got a lot of quality players in the team," coach Mark Hager said.
This was the best result the team has ever achieved and their first ever final against a full international field.
"The thing with us over the last two years is that we've got so close but just keep on falling at the semifinal hurdle so it's really awesome for us as a group to get past the hurdle and it gives us a lot of confidence and belief in what we can achieve next year," Michelsen said.
As much as the silver medal did boost confidence, Argentina handed the team plenty of lessons particularly the importance of taking what chances come their way in high pressure games.
"We've just got to be able to learn to finish those and as we learned in the final we have to be better on defence. We're pleased, we found some strengths, the young kids did well and showed they can play at that level," Hager said.
After a short break, the Black Sticks won't have to wait long to get a bit of revenge.
"We're back to Argentina in February-March so it'll be a good competition. The team will change a little bit, we have to give some other players a chance but it's exciting times for us."
And one that hopefully comes with a golden ending.
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