League prop contenders

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33958, 26 September 1975, Page 20

League prop contenders

(By

JOHN COFFEY

Four candidates have emerged for the front-row position that has been vacated by John Greengrass in the Canterbury Rugby league team to meet Auckland in the final of the national Rothmans championship at Carlaw Park on October 7.

Greengrass, certainly, and probably Bruce Dickison will not be available because the New Zealand squad departs for the second* round of the international series in England, France, and Wales on the same day.

The contenders for their positions have been clarified by- the announcement of the Maori and Pakeha sides to play in the final trial at the Show Grounds next Wednesday evening. It would appear that Greengrass’s substitute will be either of the ChristchurchEastern Suburbs team-mates, Alan Rushton (Pakehas) or Kip Winika (Maoris). The logical replacement is Rushton. whose first-class career extends back to 1970 and who served Canterbury well this season when Greengrass was injured. However, Winika has been very forceful for Eastern and will have the assistance of the other representative prop, Stewart Hogg, in the Maoris front-row. Mark Fuller, another member of the Canterbury squad but not a specialist prop, has been selected for the Pakehas, and the improved Papanui forward, Angus McGregor, is one of the reserves. Leon Paskell, an eleventhhour addition to the Canterbury team against Wellington last Saturday, might well have done enough in his few minutes on the field to clinch inclusion as Dickison’s replacement in the centres. Paskell and Dickison combined extremely well for Eastern, and it is possible that they would have been partners in Auckland had Dickison not been promoted to the Kiwi training group. The other regular Canterbury centre, Francis Law-

rence, will be challenged by Gary Taie in the PakehaMaori game. Lawrence has been of immense value to Kaiapoi as a try-scorer and goal-kicker without performing with such authority at representative level.

The Pakeha team was named yesterday, and only the reserves. McGregor and Andrew Bailey, have not been in at least one Canterbury squad this season. The team is:—

Noel Turner (Eastern): Mocky Brereton (Marist-Westem Suburbs), Lawrence, Paskell. Lewis Hudson (Linwood); Graeme Cooksley (Eastern), Wally Wilson (Linwood, captain); Rushton. Dale Brown (Kalapol). Fuller (Kaiapol); Mark Broadhurst (Papanui), Rex Dalzell (Linwood); Barry Edkins (Eastern). Reserves: Kevin Williams (Pananul), Bailey (Addington), Rod Kirk (Addington), McGregor. Training Show Grounds, Monday, 5.30 p.m. Anyone not available ring Gary Clarke, 64-759 (business). —Advt