But now the hard work starts.
Russell (24), a hockey star at Otago Boys' High School who has gone on to pick up 60 caps for the Black Sticks, is back home in Dunedin for the Christmas holidays.
It is a chance to freshen up after a hectic couple of months when the national side lost its chance to go to the Olympics, before getting an entry through something of a back door.
Russell, who is yet to be named in the squad for 2016, which should be released in the coming weeks, says it was a longer wait than most thought before getting the news a few days before Christmas the New Zealand team would head to Rio de Janeiro.
New Zealand had lost to Australia in the Oceania Cup in Stratford in October, losing its chance to qualify for the Olympics.
A reprieve, though, came on on December 17, when South Africa lost its appeal to go to the games and New Zealand was invited to take its place.
Russell said it had been something of a frustrating wait.
"We were always reasonably confident we were going to get in. But it just took a bit longer than we thought it would.
"It hardly seemed fair. We had to beat Australia, the number one team in the world, while South Africa had to beat Egypt, which is something like 21 in the world. It seems like they just want all the teams from one continent.''
Russell will head back to his Auckland base next month to resume training.
He flats in the city with fellow Southern Dogs players Nick Elder, Jeremy Morris and Blair Tarrant.
Tarrant is also in the Black Sticks while Elder and Morris are in national junior programmes.
Russell, who hails from the small seaside settlement of Karitane, said he enjoyed Auckland.
"You have to be there for hockey, really. I spent a few years after school down here and you just don't get the training. You don't get the hard games every weekend.
"Up there you're playing against good players every week. You've got people you can train with all the time.''
He started a plumbing apprenticeship in Dunedin but is now studying civil engineering at Unitec in Auckland.
Training every day was tough, and though he did get compensated financially, it has nothing on the scale of rugby players.
Russell though has the chance of what every sportsman dreams about - to represent your country at the Olympics.
But it is not going to be easy to make the final Black Sticks squad, ranked No8 in the world.
The initial squad of 25 will be named next month and be reduced to 16 for the Olympics.
"It is going to be very tough. I'm a defender and there is a lot of competition among the squad. It is going to be cut-throat. I'm pretty happy though with the progress I've made in the past 12 months.''
"It is bloody exciting, to think you'll be going to Rio. I can't imagine what it's going to be like.''
One of the strings to his bow is he is a drag flicker from penalty corners, the art of finding the goal from the dead ball situation.
Like most skills, it comes from plenty of practice.
"You're probably looking at doing say an extra 15 minutes of shots after training. As much as the body can handle really. You get sore hips, sore back.''
Russell, though, must be doing something right with his practice.
In those 60 caps for the Black Sticks he has amassed 20 goals through his skills at the edge of the circle.
