Problem of ‘plastered’ players
By
JOHN COFFEY
Sonny Rolleston, the Eastern Suburbs premier rugby league coach, could hardly be blamed for thinking that broken thumbs should be considered a contagous disease. Three of his forwards, Barry Edkins, Jim Churcher and John McGuiness, have suffered identical injuries in the last few weeks and all have an arm encased in plaster. Worse still, all three are expected to miss the N.Z.I.G. championship. play-offs which. begin with Eastern meeting the premiership co-
winner, Marist-Western Suburbs, in the major semi-final at the Show Grounds on Sunday. The victor advances straight to the grand final on August 31. Edkins, a member of the Kiwi pack in both tests against Australia in June, is the most serious loss. He has assumed the role of forward leader held in previous seasons by Alan Rushton and Grant Findlay and is responsible for directing Eastern’s manoeuvres in centre field. It was originally thought that Edkins would be available again after next weekend, but he is not now due
to have the plaster removed until September 2, just four days before the trial to select the New Zealand team to tour Britain and France. Any earlier return would increase the risk of aggravating the injury. A very conscientious sec-ond-rower, Churcher was outstanding in Eastern’s championship triumphs in 1975 and 1979. McGuiness was Eastern’s first-choice hooker this season. Marist has lost only one regular; premier player. Wayne O’Donnell has been advised to rest until next season because of an eye injury ■ suffered some weeks ago.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19800813.2.168
Bibliographic details
Press, 13 August 1980, Page 36
Word Count
254Problem of ‘plastered’ players Press, 13 August 1980, Page 36
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Press. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Copyright in all Footrot Flats cartoons is owned by Diogenes Designs Ltd. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise these cartoons and make them available online as part of this digitised version of the Press. You can search, browse, and print Footrot Flats cartoons for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Diogenes Designs Ltd for any other use.
Acknowledgements
This newspaper was digitised in partnership with Christchurch City Libraries.