STRONG WEST COAST TEAM

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21812, 18 June 1936, Page 9

STRONG WEST COAST TEAM

Canterbury’s First Rugby Hurdle

Although there has been no serious football so far this seaWest Coast team to meet Canfcmy at Greymouth, on Tuesday. aßpe grs’ likely to be a solid combinamore evenly-balanced lino in recent seasons. The final dejjgjflO of the selectors will not be frfftm until after next Saturday's club gxtores, but in the majority of cases tlair choice seems fairly clearly indifgfcd. Many of last season’s stalwarts hold their politicos, but there are several pevreomers, who appear likely to strengthen the team, in all departments. Although he has been playing as eeotre-three-quartcr in club football ygougbout the season, the All Black, (j Gilbert- is certain to fill the fullWt position, particularly in view of the waning tests with the Australians. He i* 3 greatly improved player since the English tour, although this has not •Iveys been noticeable owing to the ygeful attention that he invariably meeives from opposing teams. His lumdiing is excellent, and his lineIfrfring good, but the same cannot be mid of his goal-kicking, which remote has taken a most erratic turn. Mann’s Great Form If, Mann is a certainty for one of fee wings —in fact, he is considered the hmt winger that the Coast has seen mwe Jack Steel. His present form is mobobly better than that which took fSThito the South Island team last mgr. and with his exceptional pace fee was this season’s most successful meinter) he has scored a formidable pjjhraf points in dub games. The other -fa.fr will probably be Pedrotti, the : gfefcetown centre. He is a speedy and ! Vicky runner, and a solid tackier, but hs handling is uncertain. He played | a—far football in Wellington last; mMff. and scored 23 tries as a winger. A. Agnew (Hokitika) is a probable I mice for centre. He has played im- j moved football this season, and on fee wing in the Dittman Shield game m IfrAhika last Saturday showed of dash. He has speed, coupled £Jfes safe pai*. of hands, and his Mtw* is generally solid. There is a 4mrth of good five-eighths, a common fMmf on the Coast, and the probable

Wpweatatives are Collins (GreyMntth) and Hendry 'South Westland). *tth Collins at second. The last-named baa played much-improved football ttm season, with the exception of last Sttanlay. when, as first five-eighths, be was not impressive. Hendry, the teacr Merivale back, represented the Von Coast last year. He is rather MIL but handles and tackles well Md m a fine kick. P. Allsop. the former Albion (Christdtodn five-eighths, must have been ■Bt choice for the place behind the ■MB, bat unfortunately he is not Mflible for the match. M. Davidson Mtillka) is easilv the pick of the reminder. He is playing fairly well in *M football, but his is not an impresM record in big football. A Fine Pack Tbe pack should be as good as any we Coast has fielded in years, and •Ml who would worthily wear repre•MMive jerseys will be on the line. Aicendrett. a brother of the former foPMiauitatives. B. and M. Scandrett. ■ » young player who has filled out ■fo a rugged forward, with plenty of He wdl possibly be played !■ the side of the front row. A Olsen will undoubtedly be the jjns. A tried and proven hooker, foil in splendid form and played progbw his best game to date against jynfbua last Saturday. Ron King, ?* d the star forwards of the last Wy Zealand team, will be one of the •Ml Like Gilbert, he has shown im*M®ent. despite attention from oppMW*. and will make a splendid gM- Gilman < South Westland 4 JJ** * likely second lock. Bigger HiM King, he is not as fast, but works 3* «d handles well. He is invalu- ■ the line-outs. aeandrett and R. Birchfield seem M stmaahle side men, but there are iates for the positions. Playing fine football, and best of the Greymouth rticularly in the loose, well known as a repreballer. and is playing up ’« form. There may be r ones when the last man y chosen, and those with races appear to be Kear le. Berry. Cox. Gordon and), with Thiele and

ror P f haps the pick. Both are handiS • e ? pec ? ally so * while he backs d JOms m well with the

Canterbury’s Solid Team Canterbury’s team to play the West Coast was reviewed in “The Press” th2 e H d l=’+h^ d K lt A need only be added tha- it is the best available. The All ?hf?r,n inge S’ S- F A Hart - cannot make the trip, and H. Deavoll, one of the Au°lX Ce Lilt fo £ wards , and J. J. MeAulme, half-back, are out of the game at the present time with injuries. To the considerable number of tried and Proven Players has been added some new and promising material. R Chinnery, winger, and C. Clark, halfhnt fhl% new ‘ cap , s ” among the backs ’ tHnß th hJ° rmer P la y ed All Black liif l before suffering a bad injury } a f T season ’ aad the latter has played foi Town again A the Country. Burke, the hooker, Mahoney (front row)’ W +h Coll (centre of the back amnnp tiL * he naw representatives among the forwards, and like the S? ty i° f tbe P ackm en are solid scrum .° I -n I vs £ orwar ds. Canterbury’s 11 be heavier than it has been for some years, the selector having down WB ftf\ e Principle recently laid tt i at heavy men are needed in S thp° nt r ° W as well as in other parts of the scrum. v wi f, ve^ ything indicates that the match w 11 contested between two and lf i 1; is as exciting as in the last few years West Coast Rugby enthusiasts will have no reason to SSteSSar ptey. a '“ ence ° f fast and DIGBY’S EASY WIN IMPROVED FORM IN WOMEN’S HOCKEY Although the women's hockey season is half way towards completion, it is not yet possible to forecast the winner of the senior competition. Saturday’s games on grounds which were generally in poor condition produced the best so far this year, but did nothing toward making the final position of the teams definite. Most of the matches on Saturday were won easily, but with Pukaki and Digby’s the margins were unexpectedly largeThe positions of the leading teams remain the same, but Pukaki’s improved form makes it a distinct possibility for championship honours. Hornby and Rangiora, playing on their own grounds, maintained their places with wins over Aranui and Canterbury College.

The newly formed Sunny side team played a friendly game with Technical A, and although Technical won fairly easily Sunnyside put up a very creditable performance. As was to be expected, the side had little combination, but there were several good individual efforts. The side has the material for the making of a strong team, and it will not be long before it enjoys a win. A feature of Saturday’s game was the fine form of the goalkeeper, who made some clever saves. PukaJki Improves In beating Kiwi by five goals, Pukaki went much better than in the previous round against West Christchurch. However, it cannot be said that the form shown was equal to its achievement last year, when it won the championship. The team was not at full strength, but the absence of one player should not have made such a difference. The forwards gave easily the best exhibition of passing seen this season, but the number of rushes that broke down was greater than was expected. The halves, although not as strong as last year, were not fully tried out, a remark that applies equally as well to the backs, of whom K. Uru was playing probably her last game before leaving for Dunedin, to take up nursing. Kiwi was expected to put up a good showing, if not win, against last year’s champions, but at no stage of the game did it look like winning. The form displayed was not nearly so good as in previous games, and their play suggested that the match was over before it started. The feature of the day was the greatly improved form of Dlgby's, who previously had played rather poorly. The team’s game against Technical B was expected to be closely contested, but the winners had things all their own way. The forwards passed the ball about freely in pretty rushes, and the backs answered all demands. The Technical team had a day off, both forwards and backs mixing a little good play with a lot of bad. West Christchurch scored its first win of the season against Training College in an evenly-contested game. The standard of play was high, but the college forwards lost chances through too many breaches. Important Game With the competition so open the game between Hornby, the present leaders, and Pukaki on Saturday will have an important bearing on the final positions. Neither team if it is to win the championship can afford to lose, and as each has strong forwards, high scoring may be recorded. Rangiora and Technical A should win against Kiwi and Technical B, but the other games between West Christchurch and Aranui, and Digby’s and Training College are open. As Canterbury College, which has the bye, will be in Wellington for the University tournament, Sunnyside will play Redcliffs, the present leaders in the senior B grade. _