Trials A Waste Of Time

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30479, 29 June 1964, Page 6

Trials A Waste Of Time

It would be no surprise if the Canterbury hockey selectors are reaching the conclusion probably arrived at by the players some time ago: that the series of trials being held on Saturday morning are accomplishing nothing apart from exposing the limitations of some players, particularly in the forwards.

That Saturday’s trial followed the identical pattern to those of earlier weeks goes without saying. For one thing, the players have in the backs of their minds that they have club matches in the afternoon, very possibly an important fixture. The clubs, idealistically, are the back-bone of a sport in any province and a player is not going to jeopardize her team’s chances by being too tired to play well. Trial form is ignored too often for that. Another point is that the condition of the-grounds, the coolness of the weather and the comparatively early hour means that the players are not attuned to play very seriously or very well. They can hardly be blamed.

The third, and perhaps most discouraging aspect for some players, is that the “A” team appears to be almost finalised in the minds of the selectors. The way this team, which shall be called the Red team because of the colour of the uniform, lined out on Saturday was: B; Strong; J. Gunn, Y. Turner;.?. Anderson, L. Watson, J. Capstick; J. Hayes, R. Kuskis, G. Phillips, K. McKerrow, D. Eddy. The Other team was:

J. Wilson: J. Murray, L. Drummond; A. Colville, J. Witte, A. Rouse: B. Turbott, M. O’Brien, J. Davies, L. Rutledge, S. Rich. At half-time, the two halflines were changed, P. Anderson was replaced by R. Anderson and then herself replaced Turbott; and B. Makinson replaced Strong. Later the two goalies changed teams. The most redeeming feature for the Selectors—and it must have brought a glow to their eyes—was the play of Phillips as centre-forward. She was one of the few players to move at spiritedly, and her oppor-

tunism in the circle resulted in three personal goals. Poor Left-Flank But a less-pleasing sign- was the play of Eddy and McKerrow on the left-flank. It has been demonstrated time and again that Eddy is not a left-side player, but still she Is not given a chance on the right wing, while McKerrow's play has deteriorated steadily since she has been taking part in the trials.

The right side Is almost as bad. Hayes has never reproduced in the trials her form in club matches and this was not aided by the positioning inside her of Kuskis, who steadfastly refuses to believe that the right-wing is the most dangerous line of attack.

After the actual game was concluded, some practice in taking corners was held. One player missed or mis-trapped four of the five corners hit to her so the counting stopped; and shortly afterwards, so did the trial.

Bush Wins.— Bush beat Taranaki, 4-2, in a women’s hockey match at Stratford on Saturday. —(P.A.)