If we couldn't compete there because of scheduling issues why not bring a team down here, especially if money wasn't the single defining reason why we didn't in this window. PNG would have given us a run for our money, or even Fiji..
Or think outside the box and play the game on European soil, during the sanctioned Fifa window. Plenty of teams here or nearby who could afford a 3 hour plane ride to get a game!
Europe wouldn't really work in the March window, as nearly all the side would be coming from the Sth Hemisphere ie A League/Handy Prem. MLS/USL payers unavailable, and same likes Reid, Thomas & N Boxall. Wood, Rojas maybe also reluctant to play given their club situations.
But yeah a training camp plus game in Auckland very Fiji, is not a bad idea. They may even try something like that the in June window as a cheap option.
Basically they had been eyeing this Malaysian tourney up since pre Christmas, but it all sort of unravelled at the last minute. Fudgeed up when they couldn't get Handy Prem semis rescheduled, nor Malaysian FA to push the first tourney game (scheduled too close to preceding A League and other club games) back by a few days. NZF incompetence really, highlighted by Solomon Islands getting called up as AWs replacements.