League representation likely to be small

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32322, 13 June 1970, Page 9

League representation likely to be small

(By

J. O. COFFEY)

r THE four provinces com--1 prising Rugby league’s southern zone —Wellington, Canterbury, West Coast and Otago—will be fortunate if they provide more than a quarter of the 60 players required for the national coaching school and trial matches leading up to the selection of the New Zealand team to play Great Britain in the first test on July 11. The list of 30 players to attend the four-day school at Rotorua, beginning on Monday week, will be announced after the representative fixture between Canterbury and West Coast

at Greymouth tomorrow, a game which will be watched by two members of the New Zealand panel, Messrs D. L. Blanchard (Canterbury) and M. W. Church (Wellington). Mr Blanchard said recently that members of the New Zealand XIII which will play the Coaching School XIII in the final trial on June 27 would not be required for the instruction course at Rotorua and it is probable that this combination will be very similar to the team which beat Australia in the second test last season.

G. R. Cooksley (Canterbury), G. C. Ladner (West Coast), W. P. Noonan (Canterbury), C. E. O’Neil (Wellington) and M. P. Brereton (who transferred from West Coast to Canterbury earlier this year) were the only southern zone players in the successful test team and Noonan has since joined the CanterburyBankstown club in Sydney.

Four other southern players, T. W. Patrick (Otago), J. D. Hibbs (West Coast), A. S. Rolleston (Wellington) and R. S. Walker (Canterbury), played in the first international against the Kangaroos and were members of the training squad for the second test. It would be a major surprise if any of these players were to be omited from the four trial teams to play at Auckland on Saturday week. Other southern contenders for test positions or selection for the New Zealand squad to take part in the world championship series in England later this year will be looking to inclusion in the 30-man coaching school as a stepping stone to higher honours.

Three Canterbury forwards, K. McDonald, R. J. A. MacKenzie and A. W. Thompson, have forwarded reasonably strong claims for school nomination. McDonald, having proved himself to be a most vigorous second-row forward in his first-class debut against Auckland, will have a further opportunity to ensure a place in the

Rotorua squad when he moves up to the front row against West Coast. The former Kiwi secondrow forward, J. K. Dixon, will be making his first representative appearance since 1968 for West Coast tomorrow after undergoing a shoulder operation last year and Messrs Blanchard and Church will undoubtedly be taking particular interest in his play. A. P. Dennehy, who was considered most unfortunate not to tour Britain and France in 1965, and the former southern zone centre, W. K. Johnsen, will be seeking further consideration from the selectors, while W. Hargreaves should have benefited from zone and island representation last season. The youthful wing, J. B. Low, will be attempting to carry his fine try-scoring record from club to provincial level against Canterbury. The leading Wellington contenders are the centre, J. Whittaker, and the New Zealand under-23 forward, R. Tupaea, although the transfer of Noonan and O. G. Danielson (Auckland) to Australia might leave the way open for the former international prop, G. M. J. Smith, to make another bid for Kiwi selection. T. Toleafoa, the widestepping Otago threequarter, would probably be the only player, apart from Patrick, from that province to merit more than passing consideration before the coaching school complement is announced tomorrow or Monday.

termined defender, D. Wallace, the former New Zealand captain, another strong mid-field player, B. Baker, a high goal scoring centreforward, and Watson, a clever, elusive wing. Two of the team are no strangers to Canterbury soccer, having played for Christchurch clubs at one stage. J. Young is a former Western player and R. Cattle was in the ShirleyNomads side that went through to the national Chatham Cup final in 1963. It is highly possible that the best of Western Suburbs has yet to be seen, and that Kiss might be able to draw out from the team its obvious potential over the exacting second half of the season. Should he be able to make this transformation, Christchurch United could be the first to face the newlook Suburbs. Western now has little to lose, everything to gain; Christchurch United must keep on winning to stay among the prize-winning contenders. As the underdog, Suburbs could this week-end produce the bite their play has so far lacked, particularly as some opponents might approach their matches in an over-confident mood.