RUGBY FOOTBALL

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21811, 17 June 1936, Page 15

RUGBY FOOTBALL

CANTERBURY TEAM CHOSEN WEST COAST MATCH FIRST FIXTURE OP THE SEASON Canterbury’s Rugby team to meet the West Coast in the first interprovincial match of the season at Greymouth next Tuesday was announced by the selector (Mr W. J. Whitham) last evening. The team is as follows: Backs Pull-back: G. T. Nolan (Old Boys). Three-quarters: D. G. Cobden (Old Boys), R. Brown (Sydenham), R. Chinnery (Sunnyside). Five-eighths: K. S. Mortlock (Old Boys), J. A. Hooper (Merivale). Half-back: C. Clark (Albion). Forwards Front row: J. O. Hattersley (Sydenham), R. Burke (Sunnyside), J. Mahoney (Christchurch). Second row: W. Sweeney (Albion), H. Milliken (Sunnyside). Back row: J. E. Manchester (Christchurch), W. Coll (Athletic), J. G. Rankin (Old Boys). Emergencies—Back: W. K. Greer (Sunnyside). Forward: N. J. McPhail (Old Boys). FEW SURPRISES A WELL-BALANCED SIDE There are few surprises in the selector’s final announcement, and the team, although it does not represent the full strength of Canterbury football, impresses as a sound and well-bal-anced side. Deavoll’s arm injury, of course, deprives the team of one of the best forwards in New Zealand, but Canterbury will nevertheless have a fine forward pack. The Ail Black winger. G. F. Hart, was not available (or the trip, and J. J. McAuliffe, Canterbury’s half-back last year, is temporarily out of the game owing to a broken collar-bone.

The most impressive feature of the forwards is the absence of “shiners.” and the selector has apparently been prenared to omit even such an outstanding loose forward as Pablechque, of Sunnyside, to secure a pack of determined. hard-rucking forwards. This is the only omission that will cause much surprise. Burke and Mahoney will be playing in their first representative match. The. former is a fine hooker, who has weight and speed, and the latter, like Hattersley, who did so well in the All Black trials last year, is a fine, honest worker in all departments of forward play. The locks are big, strong, and heavy, and both Sweeney and Milliken have had plenty of experience in big football. Coll, the middle man of the back row. is another forward well over 15 stone, and has thoroughly earned representative honours this year. He is a great battler in tight and loose. Manchester has lately been showing much of the brilliance in the loose which the exigencies of the British tour caused him to forgo, and he is still one of the best forwards in the country. Rankin is the loose specialist—a player of the old wing-forward school, who is unexcelled in this type of game. He will have plenty of opportunities to “wingfor Canterbury’s heavy scrum should be able to hold most of the opposing packs it will meet in the season. Nolan was the obvious choice for full-back, and Cobden had the strongest claims to a position on the wing. There were several candidates for the ether three-quarter positions, the greater difficulty being in finding a good centre. Both G. B. Eathorne and Greer have been rejected probably because both are to a certain extent individualists, and the selector has made the useful experiment of playing Brown, representative winger last year, in that position. Chinnery’s selection for the t other wing is deserved, although it must have been a toss-up between the two if Brown had not been fitted in esewhere. Mortlock was assured of the secoriH five-eighth position, and Hooper, who has represented Canterbury at first five-eighth, has been preferred to Henry for that place. Hooper played a brilliant game last Saturday, while Henry was sadly below form. Clark is by no means a brilliant half, but ho is plucky, is not afraid of work, and gives good passes from the scrum. He will be playing in the representative team for the first time, and should do well. UNPIN ANCIAL PLAYERS REPRESENTATIVES GIVEN TIME TO PAY Two members of the Canterbury representative team chosen to play against West Coast at Greymouth next Tuesday were reported to be unfinancial with their clubs at the meeting of the management committee of the Canterbury Rugby Union last evening. They will be given until Friday, at 5 o’clock to pay their subscriptions and present the receipts to the union. Mr E. V. Phillips said he understood that no player who was unfinancial was to be selected. Mr W. A, Britten said that to allow them to wait to see whether they were selected before paying their subscriptions was unfair treatment of the clubs. The selector will be advised that no unfinancial player is to be selected in future.