Easy rugby league win to Northern

Press, 1 October 1979, Page 29

Easy rugby league win to Northern

By JOHN COFFEY Northern Division (New South Wales) recovered from a nine-point deficit to beat a Canterbury XIII. 2913, in the opening match of its rugby league tour of New Zealand at the Christchurch Show Grounds yesterday. In gaining its victory,! Northern proved that wing-; three-quarters if blessed | with the dual assets of) strength and speed, can be much more than simply the ! book-ends of a back-line. j The brothers. Les and' Noel Cleai. who can move! their 104 kg physiques with| more than the usual measure ; of mobility, were frequently I brought in from the flanks I to provide penetration on; the fringes of the forward) exchanges. Both scored tries by suchj means and were responsible! for a number of other deci-! sive breaks as Northern [ struggled to find its football legs — it trailed. 4-13. after 30 minutes — to win comfortably against a weakened, but determined, provincial (election. Northern had the biggest three-quarters to have played tn Christchurch formany years, and any unsus-1 pecting supporter might! have been forgiven for: thinking that its coach (the! former Australian wing. Don) Adams) had simply reversed I ♦he back and forward roles; for an end-of-season romp. ! But. even if the goal-kick-1 :ig centre-three-quarters. I Jim Leis, is equally familiar I

with the loose forward and second-row positions, there was no such ploy. Northern gradually assumed superiority in midfield and Leis, twice, and the captain, Arthur Barnett, also contributed tries as the visitors assumed dominance. I That Northern should score seven tries was a credit to its attacking skills, I for Paul Truscott and Danny 'Millward, who shared the I hooking responsibilities for |Canterbury, provided possesIsion from 18 of the 27 [scrums. j However, the Northern | ball-handling and backing-up was of a higher level than I that of its opponents. Once I a gap had been wrested j open in Canterbury's first |line of defence, there was 'invariably someone in supiport to keep the movement [alive. Only some sterling last-ditch tackles by Michael .'O’Donnell prevented Northern from leading by more than 15-13 at the interval. It was a prosperous afternoon for the outside backs. Russell Seaward, on the Canterbury right wing, provided one of the highlights : of the match when he ran land swerved more than '6O | metres to beat two rivals for .) his try. and Lewis Hudson, I Mark Vincent and Merv ■lClarkson also had their moIments on attack. j The Canterbury halves, , Bob Grant and John Mac[Gougan, gained the other ■ | tries for the home side, redacting quickly to capitalise lon rare defensive errors by

I Northern. Although dwarfed » by his sturdy partners in the t backs, the Northern stand- - off, Casey Mclnnes, had an , extremely lively game and it - was his try, the third in ■ seven minutes by Northern - late in the opening spell, which placed his side ahead. 1 Lester Wilson, making a i welcome return to the ,[Canterbury colours, was a > deserved recipient, with Les ; Cleal, of one of the “man of r the match” awards. Wilson - moved on to his passes at 7 pace and was very active in his defensive duties. r The management of the 5 touring party also made a i special award to the Canter--3 bury captain, Mark BroadI hurst, who was taken to host pi tai after the match to have san X-ray of suspected ■lbroken ribs. t) Northern had a competent ?[pack, although it was the II backs which took most of -Ithe limelight. Peter Rodden a proved himself to be a loose forward of quite some po- - tential. and the determined . prop, Mick Lewis, survived e some unfriendly treatment • by Millward to emerge with 5 credit. 11 Scorers. — )l Northern Division 29 (J. r I Leis two, M. Lewis, C. J Mclnnes, L. Cleal, N. Cleal, v A. Barnett tries; Leis four -'goals) beat Canterbury XIII [l3 (R. G. Grant, J. MacGou- .. Igan, R. V. Seaward tries; L. -|E. Hudson two goals). Halfrltime: 15-13. Scrums: Canter--[bury. 18-9. Penalties: North2'em, 7-6. Referee: Mr K. R. CBlackler.