North-South league match

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32536, 20 February 1971, Page 18

North-South league match

(N.Z. Press Associations

AUCKLAND.

Delegates to the New Zealand Rugby league annual conference last night recommended the league council to reintroduce the northern zone versus southern zone game as an annual fixture.

Where practical, this: match will be used as a trial for selecting future Kiwi sides. However, suggestions that the game be the main trial every year were not supported as in some cases more than one New Zealand team is chosen in a single season. The president (Mr R. G. McGregor) said that this year a team would be selected to play the visiting Australian side early in the season, while the main task of the selectors will be to select a team to tour England and France towards the end of the season.

The delegates supported the staging of the Auckland v. Rest of New Zealand game, which is to be played in May as part of the Auckland centennial celebrations. AUSTRALIAN TOUR

Mr McGregor gave brief details of the proposed visit

to New Zealand this year by the Australian representative team. Originally, the Australian League proposed a weekend visit involving three games but this may now be lengthened to just over a week.

If the Australians decided on the longer tour, it would 1 possibly begin in Christ-; church with a test match. A mid-week game en route to Auckland might follow, with the second test on the Saturday and the final game against Auckland on the Monday. The other tour involving a visiting team will be the six matches to be played by an Australian Universities side in August. The team is due to arrive in New Zealand on August 10 and play Otago University two days later. The first inter-university test is scheduled for August 14 in Christchurch, to be followed by a match against a combined Massey-Victoria team in Wellington, the seclond test on August 24 in Auckland, a game yet to be {decided on the following Wednesday, and the final test in Auckland on Sunday, August 29. NEW COMPETITION A remit proposed by the Wellington delegate (Mr K. English) for a new provincial competition was discussed.

He recommended that it should not start until at least the 1972 season. Another move from the Wellington League, that the Rugby League Cup be at stake during any match iq which the holder was play* ing, was heavily defeated. 1 Otago was successful in it# I efforts to have the word! “major leagues” deleted from the definition of the teams eligible to hold the Rugby League Cup. In the past, minor leagues have not been able to hold the cup if they [were successful in defeating the major league team whies held the trophy at that tima COACH RETIRING The director of coaching Mr C R Mountford (AucM land), is to retire from ttf position in April. Mr M» Gregor said that Mr Mount! ford had decided not to com tinue in his position wit# Rothman* Sports Foundation “Any new appointment that the N.Z.R.L. may makl will not be a member of th| sports foundation, but thil did not mean that Rothman, were withdrawing their sup port,” said Mr McGregor. [ The conference will bj continued today when thl main topics likely to be di# cussed are the national rep rd sentative programme an< some alterations to the law) of the game.