NEW RUGBY LEAGUE HOOKER Rushton no longer 'just one of the boys'

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34128, 14 April 1976, Page 16

NEW RUGBY LEAGUE HOOKER Rushton no longer 'just one of the boys'

(By

JOHN COFFEY)

A piece of advice given by a former Great Britain prop, Terry Clawson, will probably be put to good use when Alan Rushton packs down for the Canterbury rugby league team in its Amco Cup debut against Eastern Suburbs at Brisbane next Wednesday evening.

Kusntun, a second-rower or prop for Canterbury in 15 matches since 1970. will face an imposing assignment in his first representative appearance as a hooker—in opposition to the Australian test veteran. John Lang. It would be surprising if the identity of his marker was not uppermost in the mind of Rushton, for Canterbury's fixture at Lang Park. The ground was not named after John Lang, but he is held in extremely high regard in his home state. Although Rushton has not seen Lang in action, he was told by Clawson two years ago that the Australian was very adept at swinging on the shoulders of his props in the scrums. Rushton. considerably bigger in physique than Lang, has also experimented with such tactics in club football, only to fall foul of referees.

However, Rushton is confident that Canterbury will give a good account of itself, especially if the team regains the combination which was evident in the memorable match with the Welsh tourists last year. He has already tasted some success at the expense of a seasoned Australian hooker, beating John McMartin for possession for a MaristWestern Suburbs Invitation XII! against Parramatta, of Sydney, in September. The presence of John

Greengrass aj one of his propping partners is heartening to Rushton, but the lack of a specialist frontrower among the reserves causes some apprehension. The other prop, Stewart Hogg, has been troubled by injuries, and it would be necessary to transplant either Mark Fuller or Rex Dalzell, both better known in the second-row, if Hogg’s problems recurred or if Rushton or Greengrass had to leave the field. Rushton regards his game for the South Island XIII against Britain in 1974 as perhaps the highlight of his first-class career. The Welsh match is another that he vividly recalls —“you had to watch yourself, with John Mantle and Jim Mills in their front-row. There were sly ones coming at you all the time.”

In spite of the comparatively few matches that Rushton has had as a hooker, he has enjoyed considerable fortune. He first played rugby league with Christchurch - Eastern Suburbs in the eight-years grade, and was a secondrower from then until he emerged in premier tootball at the age of 17.

It was not long before Rushton’s determined style came to the attention of the provincial selectors, and he was actually named in a Canterbury squad when he was only 18. Rushton considered that this was a little young for promotion and he decided to wait another 12 months. Since then, he has had a chequered record — three appearances in 1970, one in 1972, three in 1973, four in 1974. and four last season. Looking back. Rushton still considers that he may have been promoted too early. “When I started, the pack included Jim Fisher, Rod MacKenzie, Jim White and Rod Walker. I was just one

of the boys, along with Tony Coll, who was in the reserves.” But Rushton blames his own lack of fitness as a reason for his not finding a permanent position. Because of his youth, he began to take representative selection for granted, an attitude that has changed considerably in recent years.

The switch from the second-row to prop was prompted when Eastern “just had no-one else.” His debut as a hooker was against MacKenzie when Eastern lest to MaristWestem Suburbs in a championship semi-final in 1973: “MacKenzie taught me a few lessons then, and that was my only game at hooker until towards the end of the 1975 club programme.”

Graeme Cooksley, the Eastern captain-coach, moved Rushton into hooker to complete a front-row combination with Kip Winika and Terrv Gillman. They were immediately successful. and Eastern went on to claim both the premiership and championship titles.

“I have no real preference for prop or hooker. Hooker is very satisfying when you are winning the ball, and it tends to keep you more awake. At prop you can sometimes get into a lazy frame of mind, but a hooker realises just how vital having the ball is,” Rushton said.

Even Papanui, the titleholder since 1971, could not contain the Eastern frontrow last season. and although they would not have known it. Greengrass and MacKenzie played anonymous roles in Eastern’s triumph. Rushton, \Vinika and Gillman spent much time on their own trying to perfect the skills

learned from Greengrass and MacKenzie in previous club clashes, and Rushton said of Gillman, especially, that “he improved so much it wasn’t funny” (to the opposition). Last September provided Rushton with the heady moments of helping Eastern to only its second championship victory — “four years ago I told a bloke that I would never retire until Eastern won a grand final, and he laughed at me” — and then the crushing disappointment of being only a reserve when Canterbury beat Auckland in the Rothmans final.

“That just about sewed up representative football as far as I was concerned. That was the game that I had trained for all season; there were no doubts about my fitness then. But Mark Fuller played at prop, and I sat in the stand.” Rushton was champing at the bit for the 80 minutes as Canterbury gained its only win at Carlaw Park. Both Fuller and Hogg suffered injuries, Rushton quickly discarded his track suit, only for his teammates to remain on the field, and a frustrated Rushton to retake his seat. In the last few weeks Rushton cut his odds on making the Amco Cup squad from those of a comparative outsider to outright favourite as a hooker. At the start of the trials, he was ranked third behind Dale Brown and Murray Wright as hooker, although his versatility made him a good bet for a place in the 17-man squad.

Transfer troubles put paid to Wright’s chances, and Rushton pushed himself ahead of Brown by outstriking the regular Canterbury hooker by comfortable margins in each of the last two trials. He praised the assistance that he received from Greengrass.

It seems that Rushton might be further burdened at Brisbane with the task of ball distributor, an aspect of his play that is worrying him at the moment. He is still running from the play-the-balls with his characteristic power, hut some of his passing has not been timed to his own high standards, and he intends to concentrate on improving this if the Canterbury coach (Mr Jim Fisher) uses him in this role. At 25, Rushton is now producing the best football of his career. He has earned a reputation as perhaps the most uncompromising forward in the premier competition, and his rugged defence has no hint of selfpreservation. The manner in which he can launch an attack in centre-field, with his loose forwards positioning themselves for his passes, has proved a major

factor in Eastern’s rise to prominence. Another is team spirit, m a club that has brought most members of its premier squad up from the midget grades. Rushton does not exaggerate when he says that “it would have taken a pretty good side to beat us last year, with the great side-line support that we had, and Cooksley’s professional approach.” Overseas, rugby league front-row men are not considered to have reached maturity until they are of Rushton’s age, and both Eastern and Canterbury can expect many years of fine football from this very unassuming and accomplished forward. John Lang is likely to find out at Brisbane that the Canterbury' hooker is no longer “just one of the boys.”