Camp may be key to Kiwi league team

Press, 11 April 1977, Page 14

Camp may be key to Kiwi league team

1, 3' rij By JOHN COFFEY ■V An uphill struggle will be faced by any New Zealand 5;, rugby league World Cup ie: contenders w’ho are not "• among the 30 trialists to be named on Tuesday to attend a five-day camp at Waipu Cove, north of Auckland, (later this month. Although the national se•j’l lectors (Messrs Ron Acko land, Maurice Church and .0 George Menzies) will an- ® nounce two New Zealand xi; and two zone trial sides at n the conclusion of the camp ® on April 29. players asked a to assemble at Waipu Cove j will undoubtedly be favoured 5 for the Kiwi team. Canterbury should be well represented. Past form and g present fitness suggests that Michael O'Donnell (Fullback). Eddie Kerrigan (wing i. Mocky Brereton (wing), Bruce Dickison (centret. Bob Jarvis (standoff half). Terry Gillman (prop). Wayne Robertson 5 (prop), John Greengrass 5 (prop) and Mark Broadhurst 9 (second-row) have claims o which must be seriously 0 considered. •2 They can be divided into 5 three categories. Brereton, o Greengrass and Robertson ■°.are all former internationals seeking a return to test foot- ?; ball. The verve shown by n Brereton at this early stage »- o' the season proves that he is better prenpred than most „ candidates, anti Robertson — d arguably the best hall dis- ?• tributor in the country now ',r that Dane Sorensen (Auckland) is in Australia — and Greengrass are eyeing the comparatively vacant front■tirow roles. ’vl Jarvis has a virtual morts> gage on his position, and {yDtckison and Kerrigan are young backs who are ex-

pected tb develop their skills e further now that they have 1 had a taste of top-class “ rugby league. p The three non-inter-t nationals in the group, • O’Donnell, Gillman and j Broadhurst, made considerable progress a season J iago. O’Donnell was without I, I doubt the most positive fullback in New Zealand and ~|his ability to cover the cen- . Itres in case of injuries (j’rhould further boost his chances: Gillman was recoga nised by his promotion to j-’the New Zealand XIII 5 against Sydney, and Broadj hurst was quite rampant in e his displays for Canterbury ,| ana South Island. Apart from Jarvis, all of I these players will have to j repulse serious challenges t from players in other leagues. It is therefore all t the more unfortunate that 1 n<> selectors were present 1 when Canterbury all but beat Auckland in the Rothmans final last September. Warren Collicoat (Wellings ton) will need to have im-j t proved on his form of last ..season if he is to retain the full-back duties ahead of O’Donnell, the young Auck- . land representative. Gary J Kemble, and the former All ' Black, Joe Karam. The pacy Waikato wing, Kevin Fisher, made a more J than pleasing impression when scoring twice against ” Svdnev. and it is of note ' that the former Kiwi Colt, 1 Ashlev McEwen, has returned to Auckland after ’ attending Otago University. ’’ Don Munro, of Wellington, must also be on the short 1 list. e It would surprise if ■ Dennis Williams (Auckland), who was dropped from the - Svdnev fixture, does not ref turn as one centre trialist, e with Fred Ah Kuoi, Chris ■■Jordan (both Auckland),

; John Whittaker and John ; O’Sullivan (both Wellington) i (being others well in the run-' ning. Auckland is strong among | the inside backs, even since i I Jarvis’s move to Canterbury. Dave Sorensen is still a very '!talented stand-off, and John .Smith — now permanently < behind the Te Atatu club Jpack — Shane Dowsett and ‘I Shane Varley are the most scrum-halves. ! If Dane Sorensen is not ’.brought back from Australia 'lfor the World Cup, Rob- > ertson and Greengrass must I have excellent opportunities ■ of heading off the Auckland ’lpair, Lyndsay Proctor and! ■Albie Hansen, with Willie Southern (Taranaki) being' ' an outsider. > Tom Conroy (Auckland) is, t|the enigma of the forward] ■formation — the regular] I Kiwi hooker in the 1975] ; world championship, he is ' . preferred in the second row] : by his club and province.] ■ Murray Netzler (Auckland) probably has the edge on] the youthful John Griffin I (West Coast) in the special-] list hooker ratings. . There is no shortage of: ■ ability in the second row.: . Tony Coll (West Coast) is a.] ■ 'certainty, and Kurt Sorensen! II (Auckland) is not far behind: him. They are joined by two former Kiwis making come-1 !ibacks, Ray Baxendale (West: I Coast) and Eddie Heatleyl the New Zealand' . XIII reserve, Bruce Gail (who recently transferred ,]from Taranaki to Auckland).: ■ and Mark Graham (Auck-I Hand), Graeme West (Taran-! aki) and Broadhurst. Whare Henry (Wellington) ] was the New Zealand XIII ] ‘‘loose forward, but he was: disappointing when Taranaki I ■ beat Wellington last week-: ■ end. and the selectors might] well look to Baxendale,: Heatley or even Coll to be: , at the back of the scrum. i