Former captain out of Aust. league side

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33957, 25 September 1975, Page 30

Former captain out of Aust. league side

(New Zealand Press Association —Copyright)

SYDNEY. The selected half-back. Tom Raudonikis. has surprisingly been dropped from the Australian Rugby league team to play New Zealand in the international championship at Auckland on Saturday,

The team is one of Australia’s rawest. Seven of the 13, including the whole front row, will be making their test debuts.

Raudonikis, a former Austrialian captain, has been replaced by John Mayes, a test newcomer who was originally a reserve. Ray Higgs and Greg Reivers were also named to replace the injured forwards Terry Randall and Arthur Beetson in the test side.

The changes came about because the Australian selectors on Sunday picked 13 players plus five reserves. They were overruled by the Australian Rugby League, which said that in accordance with tradition, the test 13 would be chosen by the two managers and the coach. The team they named today is:— Graham Eadie; John Rhodes, John Brass (captain), Mick Cronin, lan Schubert; John Peard, John Mayes; John Quayle; Jim Higgs, Lew Platz; Greg Veivers, George Piggins, lan Mac Kay. The co-manager, Mr Bob Abbott, said the five other players in the squad would be reserves. They are Raudonikis, Allan McMahon and Jim Porter (backs), and Gregy Pierce and Denis Fitzgerald (forwards). Mr Abbott said he understood it would not be necessary to nominate two reserves in advance, if it

was they would be named shortly before the kick-off. Mayes is the successful Eastern Suburbs half-back in Sydney and combines well with Peard, the test fiveeighths. Raudonikis, however, was outstanding for Australia in earlier games this season.

The 13, described as virtually a “B” team, has been weakened by injuries, including the captain, Arthur Beetson.

i Beetson pulled out on Tuesday because of a jarred knee sustained after running only 2400 metres in a training run through a city park. The captain of Sydney premiership winners, Eastern Suburbs, injured the knee in the final against ManlyWarringah, and further aggravated it in the record 38-0 grand final trouncing of St George last Saturday. Blacks insulted Beetson, who last captained Australia in the second test against England last season said: “I think I’d be right to play on Saturday but there are four days to go and it would be unfair to the selectors and the replacement player to gamble on being fit and then withdraw at the last minute.” Beetson’s teammate, the centre, John Brass, has been named Australia’s captain for the first time. The Australians have been told to behave on their sevenday tour of New Zealand, or jeopardise their prospects

of touring Europe for six weeks in October and Novem. ber.

Australian officials have been concerned at incidents during recent international and interstate tours, and have tried to create a new image for Rugby league. Several Australian players were accused before the New Zealand v. Australia game at Brisbane in June of insulting several black guests at their hotel, including the American boxer “Sweet James” Marshall. The 18 players chosen for the New Zealand tour have been told that the 22-man squad to tour Europe will be chosen on Tuesday night by Trans-Tasman telephone link between the various selectors in Auckland, Sydney and Brisbane

With the injured forwards, Arthur Beetson, Terry Randall and John Donnelly, all expected to be available, and a second hooker likely to be chosen, one or two forwards travelling to New Zealand could easily miss out on the tour of Europe. All except one of the players are tough and highly skilled professionals. The lone exception is the powerful centre, Mick Cronin, who prefers to pull beer at the family pub south of Sydney than to earn well over $A12,000 a season in Sydney league

Good senior players can get SABOOO to $A15,000 a season, plus match payments of SA2OO a win or SA6O a loss for a season of 25-30 matches.