Murphy danger man to Kiwis

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32715, 18 September 1971, Page 48

Murphy danger man to Kiwis

(From J. O. COFFEY, N.Z.PA. special correspondent) WARRINGTON. The return of the former Great Britain captain and stand-off half, A. Murphy, will bring Warrington back to full strength for its match against the New Zealand Rugby league tourists today.

Murphy has been res*ponsible for a revival at Warrington, which finished well down the league table last season.

He joined the club as player-coach after leading Leigh to victory in the Challenge Cup final at Wembley in May, and has been active in strengthening the club on the transfer market. An injury kept Murphy out of the last two games, but even in his absence Warrington gave evidence of further progress by holding the championship front-runner, Salford, to a five-point ginMOVED WITH MURPHY Two of the forwards in Leigh’s cup-winning combination of 1970, the British tourists, D. Chisnall and G. Clarkson, moved to Warrington with Murphy. Chisnall was recently ordered off for the fourth time

in two seasons but he does not appear before the judiciary committee until after the week-end. Particular interest will be taken in the performances of D. Whitehead, who will be Britain’s full-back in the first test today week, and K. Pittman a former Kiwi trialist who subsequently signed with Warrington to obtain further experience; Whitehead is regarded as one of the most accurate goalkickers in the league, and Murphy has been pleased with the potential and speed shown by Pittman on the wing. MANY CHANGES

New Zealand cannot afford another defeat on the eve of the test, and only the fullback, M. J. McClennan, the centre, J. A. Whittaker, and the prop, R. I. Orchard, of the players who were so outclassed by Castleford, have been included in the team for today. D. Sorensen has been given a tough assignment in his debut, in opposition to Murphy, who made his first visit

to Australia and New Zealand as a teen-ager in 1958.

The outcome of the match may depend on how well the Kiwis can contain Murphy. If he is allowed any leeway, he will certainly take full advantage. The New Zealand team will be: McClennan, R. C. McGuinn, F. R. Christian, Whittaker, P. C. Orchard, Sorensen, K. L. Stirling, R. I. Orchard, W. J. Burgoyne, D. J. Gailey, G. M. Smith, W. G. Deacon, R. F. Williams.

Rvqby.—Mr K. C. Gawn (North Otago) has been appointed as referee of the Ranfurly Shield match between Auckland and Waikato on September 28.

Three Christchurch off-shore power boats will take part in the AtlanticAuckland Boat Show sixhour marathon on the Waitemata Harbour today. The jet boat shown in the above photograph will be crewed by the successful North Island motor-racing driver, D. Marwood, and S. Fisher, of Christchurch. F. Simpson, the Christchurch boat builder and driver, will be in Mr Fl-Glass, A. Rodgers will have his boat, Goldflnger. The new jet boat, built for Marwood, is powered by a 390 h.p. Oldsmobile engine driving a Berkley single-stage jet. The engine and jet unit were bought as a package from California. In March this year, an American boat, Menace, with a Berkley jet unit, set a world jet boat speed record of 104 m.p.h. The Piranha model boat, 17ft, fibreglass with hydra gull-wing lift, was built by Cooke Bros. On a test run, it accelerated from 0 to 60 m.p.h. in eight seconds, and the builders are confident that the boat will top 60 m.p.h. in the marathon in almost any weather.