Exciting international feast of water polo

Press, 26 December 1979, Page 12

Exciting international feast of water polo

Bv

RAY CAIRNS

“It started off interesting; it became exciting; and then as the entries came in, it was downright frightening.” This was the reaction of Warwick Williamson, chairman of the Canterbury Water Polo Board, to the Derry’s International Festival of Water Polo that his board is conducting at Queen Elizabeth II Park, starting tomorrow.

Without question, the next five days are the greatest feast of water polo to hit New Zealand since the New Zealand Games five years ago, and perhaps the biggest carnival of its sort in the southern hemisphere.

After it has all shaken down. 12 teams are contesting the tournament: the

I.P.S.A. Aquatics from Downey .in California; five teams from Australia; the top five New Zealand club sides, plus a composite XI. The Australian sides are the Queensland A and B teams, .a so-called New South Wales team, Australian secondary schoolboys, and the South Australia under-18 team. The New Zealand teams are Beckenham-Sockbum, Wharenut (both of Christchurch), Maranui, Hutt (from Wellington) andAucklancTs Newmarket team.

It is usual that the American entry, 1.P.5.A., is an unknown quantity, but it is just as usual that no Californian team has ever come to these shores without being a presentable performer. So Mike Moode’s team must command respect, even if it can field only the bare seven players.

Queensland, the most obviously aggressive of the Australian states in seeking improvement of itself, has again sought out a top-line American coach, in this case Martin Davis. As a state side, it twice beat and twice lost to New Zealand earlier this month; and it perhaps earns top ranking for this tournament; it is a little bit of a shame that its second side is that of an under-20 XI as first indicated; it is instead a Queensland B team.

While it is somewhat disappointing, it is also a relief to New Zealand teams that Peter Montgomery and Peter Kerr, two astonishing choices for the New South Wales B team, are not now touring. Even so, the second XT of Australia’s strongest state is still a formidable com-

bination, with another full Australian representative in Robbie Bryant and wellknown visitors like Ray Mayers, Mark McNamara and Tony Faison. Then there are the youngsters’ squads; the Australian secondary schoolboys and South Australia’s under-18 touring side which will later be sub-divided to play New Zealand teams at under-18 and under-16 level. If the evidence of all a g e-g roup Australian teams to New Zealand is accurate, these sides will not be very easy meat for their home opposition.

But the home teams have another requirement. This tournament doubles as the second round of the New Zealand men’s club championship, and there is considerable lost ground to be made up by the Christchurch teams. Beck-enham-Sockburn has a formidable record in the last five years, but finished only fifth in the first round, at Labour Week-end in Wellington. Its experienced captain, Dennis Reid, New Zealand’s most-capped international until he was dropped a few weeks ago, insists his team will adopt a “low-key, but positive and dominant approach. We prefer to show, rather than tell, the water polo fraternity of our aims.” And at the same time. Reid would not acknow-

ledge that he was seeking personal satisfaction after being summarily discarded from the national team. All he would say was that his side was “going out to compete worthily against the overseas competition. The club has had a rest period and is ready to go back and take over control.” Pressed further, Reid said that, “as a team of individuals, we all have something to prove, and as a combined working unit, we should be able to He said that he felt excited about the opposition which will be presented

by this forthcoming tournament. Reid has no doubt that “that so-called New South Wales B team and Maranui will be strenuous opposition: particularly Maranui because of its tremendous performance in that Queensland tournament this month. Queensland, too; they’ll be good, and so will that Australian schoolboys’ team.” But Reid insisted that no one team would be dominant over the others. “They’ll all tend to lift themselves in this situation, to even out, and it is good to see a lot of overseas players joining in the competition.” Third it may have been in the first round of the New Zealand club competition, but it is difficult not to see BeckenhamSockburn improving

dramatically at this tournament. It has its strong guiders in Reid, Mark Harding and Bryan Mustchin. the covering of John Symon and Mark Trembath, the swiftness of John Davie, the promise of that exceptional young personality, Lachie Marshall, and the coolness of Martin Forbes. It all adds up to a formidable hurdle for any team, even Maranui which has considerable strengths. But for all its outstanding record in Queensland, the feeling remains that Maranui will not perform so well at this tournament as at the last; and nor will Hutt. Certainly, Russell McConnochie has performed wonders with a side that also leans heavily on Grahame Duffy, John Gallagher and Stephen Williams, but the absence of rhe New Zealand team in Australia has undoubtedly hindered its preparation. Wharenui has had a very mediocre build-up to the tournament, and appears to lack depth. Richard Clark is the main driving force, John Koens the strong-working hoieman, but they get precious few rests. More assertiveness would make Wharenui a much-feared opponent. Newmarket will undoubtedly pose the problems it usually does, but will also probably lack the consistency which could make it a fierce competitor.