PEOPLE IN THE PLAY

Press, Volume XCVI, Issue 28370, 31 August 1957, Page 5

PEOPLE IN THE PLAY

One young Albion forward who has shown considerable promise this season is D. Neilson. Neilson has shown good speed and has been outstanding in the loose. He has also proved to be a hard man to stop once he has found a gap in the defence.

The referee at the South Island championship ski meeting recently, Mr G. W. A. Day has had more than 20 years experience as a skier and official. Mr Day was one of a small band of men who began to organise skiing in the province before the last war, and his enthusiasm for the sport has not faltered. Well-known by ski-ers throughout New Zealand, Mr Day has achieved a fine reputation for sportmanship, and although his competitive ski-ing years are past, he is a fount of knowledge and help to youngsters.

An Italian sports committee has named the Australian Olympic gold medallist, Lorraine Crapp the “outstanding sportsman or woman for 1958" and she has, therefore, earned the Christopher Columbus award. The Italian Olympic Federation has invited Miss Crapp to Genoa on October 12 this year to be presented with the award. All her expenses will be paid, by the Italian body. Her coach, Frank Guthrie, has accepted an invitation by the Italian federation to make a lecture tour of Italy. He will leave on October 10.

The president of the Hungarian Football Association, Mr Marcel Nagy, who has emigrated to Australia, has been authorised by the international controlling body of soccer to help build up the game in Australia. Mr Nagy has been one of the most influential men in European soccer for the last 40 years. Among his plans are a nation-wide football pool, with the profits channelled back into the game, a national insurance scheme to assist injured players and Importation of overseas teams and coaches.

In the last few weeks the New Brighton senior Rugby team has had a number of players filling the position of hooker, left vacant when the regular hooker, C/ Browne, broke an arm at indoor training. Browne’s loss was a severe one for the team, because he was playing well both as a hooker and as a forward. Early in the season he took ■tight heads from both representative hookers, V D. Young (Technical) and J. Creighton (University). Browne, still under 21, should have a fine future.

Mr L. A. Wood, a well-known Wanganui cricketer and cricket historian, died recently, aged 59. He played for Wanganui from the 1913-14 season till the 1939-40 season in Hawke Cup matches and was also a captain of the side for many years. He led Wanganui against the 1935 touring M.C.C. team of which the Governor-General designate (Viscount Cobham) was vice-captain. Mr Wood’s final representative match was for Wanganui against Wellington in 1947.

Recent additions to the list of Federated Internationale Football Association referees are Messrs R. Lund (Auckland) and D. Welham (Dunedin). Mr Lund was one of the two New Zealand Soccer referees selected to contfol matches at the 1956 Olympic Games and Mr Welham recently refereed the AustriaNew Zealand test match in Wellington.

The Southland captain and All Black first five-eighths, W. R. Archer, - will probably re--11 r e from representati v e Rugby at the end of this season, according to a report from Inverca r g i 11. Archer played for Otago from 1953 until last year, when he transferred to Southland. He played for New Zealand Colts in 1951, and played in two tests against Australia in 1955 and South Africa last year. An Injury suffered in the third test at Christchurch kept him out of the final test. Archer will probably take up coaching when he retires.

The accent was on athletics at a recent wedding in Richmond, Surrey. Two leading British athletes, John Disley, a steeplechaser, and the woman sprinter, Sylvia. Cheesman, were married. The best man was Christopher Brasher the 3000 metres steeplechase Olympic gold medallist and among the guests were Chris Chattaway and Derek Ibbotson and his wife.

Following in the footsteps of three brothers, is G. McKenzie, who was the full-back for Southland in the recent match against Otago. Of his brothers, Jack is the former Southland half-back and captain and lan and Gordon also played for the province. Their father, Eris McKenzie, was a member of the 1920 Southland team which won the Ranfurly Shield.