Southern In Shock 13-12 League Win

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31991, 19 May 1969, Page 15

Southern In Shock 13-12 League Win

(From Our Rugby League Reporter)

AUCKLAND.

The 21-year-old West Coast Rugby league fullback, G. C. Ladner, completed a hat-trick of triumphs in representative matches this season when he kicked a last-minute penalty goal to enable Southern Zone to beat Northern Zone, 13-12, at Carlaw Park, on Saturday.

Ladner, the outstanding success in the national under-23 trials and later the chief instigator in West Coast’s Rugby League Cup win over Canterbury, kicked his fourth goal from a simple position after O. G. Danielson had been caught off-side only feet out from his goal-posts.

In addition to his placekicking, Ladner drew repeated applause with long line kicks and penalty kicks to touch, sure defence, and outstanding positioning and handling. His greatest individual impact on the game, however, was a brilliant 45yard field goal soon after half-time.

Southern's victory was the biggest upset in first-class Rugby league for years, and its first win since the interzone series began in 1966 Until the last few minutes, when Southern stormed the Northern try-line, the match bad been most disappointing. There was little cohesion in either team, passing and handling faults were too numerous, and there were very few occasions when the penetration that New Zealand will need against Australia was evident.

R. B. Tait had taken Northern back into the lead with a penalty 13 minutes from full-time. Ladner failed with a field goal attempt and a 40yard penalty opportunity before Northern mounted two attacks that nearly sealed the game. «H*T SAVE

The Southern wing, M. P. Brereton, made a magnificent save when W. G. Deacon broke away from the defence and kicked ahead over the line. Brereton raced tack to snatch the ball away from Deacon's grasp and carry play 25 yards from the line. Moments later R. I. Orchard, who had replaced the sluggish H. K. Emery at half-time, crossed the try-line but was held up and could not force the ball.

Southern then took the initiative and a passing move carried play deep into Northern's territory. The ball was swung out along the line and G. R. Cboksley. later named the ••player of the day” by the Auckland Supporters Club, reversed the ball into R. Farrell, who was tackled by Danielson. Mr J. Campbell, the referee, correctly ruled Danielson off-side. Neither team even approached the standard expected of a firstclass Rugby league XIII. Very few players were innocent of the passing, handling and positional errors that kept Mr Campbell’s whistle in tune.

C. E. O'Neil won the scrums, 18-14. after trailing. 9-10. at

half-time. It was not until O’Neil re-shuffled his pack—R. Farrell moved from second-row to prop in place of J. D. Hibbs mid-way through the first half—that he gained the upper hand over D. Parkinson, who had the benefit of a much more experienced pack. GOOD TRIES

The tries scored by Brereton and F. Schuster (Northern) were most attractive and the third, by H. R. Sinel, followed a run by Danielson and an in-pass to Sinel to send the defence in the wrong direction. Cooksley initiated Brereton’s try when, after some scrappy play, he scooped up a loose ball near the half-way. R. S. Walker was present to carry the move on, draw D. Kay, and send the flying Brereton across the line. Schuster scored just before halftime, to give northern a 7-5 lead, after Tait had joined the back-line from a scrum and split the defence open. Only when Cooksley and the deceptive T. Patrick worked two reverse passes from set play did Southern really test Northern’s defence even though Southern held an over-all territorial advantage and almost completely dominated the first quarter. The Northern backs, too. had little imagination on attacks and were kept in check quite comfortably. Any suggestion that Ladner’s hesitancy when moving in to tackle, as he had shown on occasions against Canterbury, was a permanent part of his play were completely dispelled when he confidently moved into F. R. Christian and Key when the Northern three-quarters ran clear of their opponents with only Ladner to beat. POOR DISPLAY In contrast, Tait played most poorly. His handling was quite suspect and he was not able to match Ladner’s length in kicking. Brereton, whose strong running up the touch-line caused great consternation in the Northern cover-defence, was the most impressive wing. Key, who nearly scored after Christion had centre-kicked over the goal-line, showed penetration when coming infield. The others, B. Jager and E. H. Baker, had fewer oportunities but Baker could do nothing right when he got the • ball.

The Southern centres, S. Rob leston and W. K. Johnsen, were inclined to retain possession for too long but kept Schuster and Christian under a fairly tight hold. Patrick displayed a bewildering side-step and lost nothing in comparison to the more experienced R. L. Carey. Cooksley tackled most effectively, on occasions lowering Northern’s front row forwards, and had the better of H. Knockey on attack, although he appeared tentative around the scrum base in the early stages. GOOD FORWARDS Apart from O’Neil*s hooking, Hibbs, W. Hargreaves, R. S. Walker (Southern) and Deacon (Northern) were the most impressive forwards. Hargreaves kept harrassing Danielson, Emery and Orchard, a trio with the combined experience of more than 100 international matches in comparison to the West Coast’s prop’s hand-full of provincial games; Hibbs again tackled with praiseworthy enthusiasm and application and Deacon was the only Northern forward capable of escaping the Southern defensive screen. Walkers’ long passes enabled Southern to. clear the rucks quickly and he covered most efficiently on defence. But even these players lacked combination when in possession. Forwards received the ball when standing flat-footed and there was little running in unison. Emery was most lethargic although it was noticeable that his bulk assisted Northern to push their opponents off the ball in a number of scrums even though ONeil had beaten Parkinson for the strike. A. W. Thompson and Farrell, along with their opponents, Danielson, Kriletich and Sinel, were leading culprits in the series of mishandling and wildpassing periods. There were, however, brief glimpses of Orchards ability to beat opposing forwards with speed and guile. Brereton scored Southerns try and Ladner kicked four goals—from seven attempts—and a field goal. For Northern, Schuster and Sinel scored tries

and Tait kicked three goals from five opportunities. Mr Campbell awarded 12 penalties to Northern and 10 to Southern.