SIDELINES

Press, 5 March 1982, Page 17

SIDELINES

THE HULL CLUB, which has the services of three Kiwibacks, Gary Kemble, James Leuluai and Dane O’Hara, started out as a 7 to 2 favourite to win the British rugby league Challenge Cup final at Wembley in May. Its closest rivals in the estimations of the bookmakers were the championship leader, Widnes (5 to 1), and the neighbouring club, Hull Kingston Rovers (7 to 1). The clubs of the other Kiwis playing in Britain were at far more lucrative odds: Wakefield Trinity, which has Ray Baxendale in its pack, was at 25 to 1, and Workington Town, Shane Varley’s side, was at odds of 150 to 1. FOUR OF THOSE Kiwis are still in the running for a trip to Wembley after the second cup round last week-end. Hull was required to meet the London club. Fulham, and returned north with an 11-5 victory, while Wakefield beat Oldham, 1812. Varley’s aspirations ended when Workington - lost to Bradford Northern, 17-8, and Hull Kingston Rovers was eliminated by Leigh, 18-17. Widnes just got home at Wigan, 97. and, in other games, Leeds beat Barrow, 9-1, Castleford had a 31-6 win at Batley, and Halifax was too good for Rochdale Hornets, 28-7. BOWTLS IN DUNEDIN is soon to lose one of its best players, and ablest administrators. The, former New Zealand representative, Kerry Clark, is shifting to Wellington on transfer with the Justice Department. The move will probably mean that Clark will lose, if only temporarily, his seat on the N.Z.B.A. council and his position as a national selector. He could remain, though, as New Zealand’s delegate to the International Bowling Board. In any event, it is unlikely that Clark will be out of a top job for long. CLARK IS NOT Dunedin’s only bowls loss this year. Last month another of its national councillors, John O’Dea, died, five weeks after he had collapsed on the green while competing at the Dominion tournament in Christchurch. Mr O’Dea was awarded an 0.8. E. for his services to the community last year and although only in his first year on the N.Z.B.A. council he had already stamped himself as an administrator of exceptional worth. FIVE NEW ZEALANDERS, Gary Prohm, Fred Ah Kuoi, Mark Broadhurst, Kurt Sorensen and Mark Graham, are included in the latest “World XIII” compiled by the British rugby league magazine, “Open Rugby.” They join five Australians, two British representatives and a Frenchman. The team is: Phil Sigsworth (Australia); Des Drummond (Britain), Steve Rogers (Australia), Mick Cronin (Australia), Prohm; Ah Kuoi, Peter Sterling (Australia); Royce Ayliffe (Australia), Christian Macalli (France), Broadhurst; Sorensen, Graham; Steve Norton (Britain). KEVIN HERLIHY, New Zealand's greatest softball pitcher, might yet be back on the mound in 1984 for a record sixth world series. Herlihy, aged 34, did not play at all at home this summer, but is now out of temporary retirement and on his way to the United States to rejoin Saginaw Bolters, of Michigan. The big Waikato man has indicated that the rest has rekindled his enthusiasm and he wants to pilch in 1984. Only three softballers, all New Zealanders, have contested the five world series (1966, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980) held so far and reappearances from the other two, Paul Rogers and Terry Nunns (both aged 37), are extremely unlikely. ONE OF THE most remarkable of all last-wicket cricket partnerships was recalled recently when the former New South Wales medium-paced bowler, Halford Booker, died in Sydney. Hooker joined Alan Kippax with his side 113 for nine “ in reply to Victoria’s first innings of 376 at Melbourne in 1928-29, and for hour after hour he defied the bowlers in a world-record stand of 307 runs. Kippax finished 260 not out, and Hooker made 62. New South Wales went on to win by 44 runs. THE REVISED FORMAT for the Watson Shield interclub bowls competition has proved most successful. Played on Tuesday evenings it caters for singles, pairs j and fours games. The four teams through to the semi- j .finals are Papanui 11, Spreydon, Woolston W.M.C. and ( Burnside I and because of the loss of daylight saving the ; - last two rounds will be played during the day. probably ] on a Sunday in conjunction with another centre tournament. ( IT IS JUST as well for the two Christchurch bowling centres 1 — men’s and women’s — that the price of gold has dropped < in recent months. There has been an unprecedented string of 1 gold medal winners this summer and there could be more yet > before the season ends next month. To date three men, i Travis Coup (Kaiapoi), Jack Dale and Graham Stanley (both < South Brighton), and two women, Joan Rennie (Rangiora) and Gwen Kelly (Linwood), have achieved their fifth centre title 1 this season. ]