‘More emphasis needed on representative league’

Press, 20 October 1976, Page 24

‘More emphasis needed on representative league’

By

JOHN COFFEY

A greater emphasis on representative, rather than club, football and a change in the composition of the provincial selection panel have been advocated by Mr Jim Fisher, the retiring coach of the Canterbury rugby league team. Only by having a longer representative programme, a less extensive club season (with an earlier start to cover possible Amco Cup requirements), and discarding the present system of having three selectors would Canterbury fully realise its potential, according to Mr Fisher. The New Zealand Rugby League’s decision to switch the national Rothmans championship from a round-robin basis between the five strongest leagues to make it a virtual knock-out tournament was detrimental to the code, Mr Fisher said. “If rugby league wants to further improve its standard, the leading sides must meet every year, preferably at home and away. The scheme used this season was back to front, and with the lack of football it would have been impossible to name a true New Zealand squad had there been a World Cup series. “There was not enough variation in Canterbury’s

games. We had six matches (compared to nine in 1975) and three of those were with West Coast. In spite of the expense involved, it would be worthwhile to have a seven or 10-day northern trip, taking in opposition such as Taranaki and Northland,” Mr Fisher said.

“Canterbury is earning a reputation as a slow starter, and the best has not been brought out of the team until it encounters Auckland late in the season. The performance in losing narrowly to Auckland at the Show Grounds last month was the finest by Canterbury for many years, yet we are now left up in the air wondering what will happen in 1977,” he said. If Canterbury is again invited into the Amco tournament, an earlier representative fixture would need to be arranged to fuse some measure of team-work. When Canterbury travelled to Brisbane for its Amco debut in April, it met a side that had been playing football from the middle of February. The greater understanding between the Australians, and Canterbury’s rustiness from the summer

lay-off, was evident in the one-sided result. "“Our club season is far too long, stretching as it does from early April until the middle or late September. If it was designed in a better way, there would be more time to concentrate on representative commitments, and we would probably also have the services of those player-coaches who have placed their clubs first in the past,” Mr Fisher said. Mr Fisher was pleased that the board has decided to elect its selectors and coach for next year on November 8, and he suggested that a large squad, numbering about 26 or 30 players, should be chosen just after Christmas. Preparation could then begin under a specialist physical training instructor and the coach — “that should just about put us on a par with the Australian teams. “I realise that part of the success of the Australians results from the big money involved. But we can do just as well with dedication, as has been seen on the West Coast. The Coasters have few players to pick from, although they always seem to muster a well-equipped

team,” he said. The composition of the provincial panel has been an often hotly-debated point for some time. In the past, there were instances when two-man panels tended to lose touch with the controlling board, and the present policy is to have two selectors from club nominations and a third drawn from the board of control. The role of the board nominee has never been fully thrashed out — one incumbent might regard his task as that of liaison officer, while another would be just as firm in his conviction that he has equal voting rights. “I would like to see either a two-man system —- one selector to choose the backs, the other to name the forwards — or a sole selector-coach, as is used by Auckland. The team manager would then be responsible for the contact between the selectors and the board, but would not have any say in the constitution of the team,” “It is not always a joyful thing to be the Canterbury coach these days, because of the interference from outside; Canterbury has the depth and talent to regain the Rothmans

championship if the winning of matches was left to the selectors, coach and players,” he said.