Big chance for Barkle

Press, 17 May 1978, Page 34

Big chance for Barkle

Gary Barkle, who will make his representative debut against West Coast in Greymouth today, has the ball at his feet in more ways than one. With the withdrawal of Mark Romans from all rugby, the 19-year-old University B half-back could become the infant prodigy of the Canterbury team.

Romans said yesterday that it was difficult for him to assess Barkle’s worth, as he had seen very little of him in action. “But I think he is playing well at present, and he shows a lot of potential,” he said. Barkle’s rival for thehalfhack position for the important match against Queensland at the end of the month will be Steve Scott, the 22-year-old Shirley player who as in the New Zealand Colts sides of 1975-76. He was added to the squad when Romans withdrew from the Coast match.

The teams for the game in Greymouth this afternoon are unchanged, the weather on the Coast was fine yester-

day, and the Arthur’s Pass road, although a little battered in places, is open. The Coast team has been warned that it could be “all but annihilated” by a Canterbury side smarting from its defeat by a composite side in Amberley. In an article in the “Greymouth Evening Star,” Larry Trowbridge, the rugby writer, said the home team’s only hope was in the power of prayer — “in that Canterbury will drop every pass and that each forward will break a leg before the match starts.”

The article brought a quick reply from Ross Dixon, the Coast captain, who appealed for more encouragement from the newspaper for the home team’s efforts.

Canterbury will be slightly inconvenienced through having to make the return journey by bus on the same day. But the selectors, Messrs Stan Hill and Gerald Wilson, said this did not outweigh the advantage of having a solid build-up game for the Queensland trip next week.