Wellington opponent in Tusk Cup draw

Press, 1 April 1985, Page 30

Wellington opponent in Tusk Cup draw

Canterbury’s representatives will meet opponents from Wellington and Hawke’s Bay in the opening round of the national Tusk Cup inter-club rugby league knock-out tournament later this year.

The draw was made at the New Zealand Rugby League conference in Auckland on Saturday. The top Canterbury side had a home match against the second-ranked Wellington team, with the winner to play the nominee of. either Gis-borne-East Coast or Midlands for a place in the semi-finals. That fixture would also be at Christchurch, though the semifinal would have an away venue.

Canterbury’s No. 2 combination has. to travel to Hawke's Bay for what should be a passage through to the second round. It would then be at home either to Taranaki or Auckland No. 2, with the Auckland No. 1 side as a probable semi-final rival. In a tournament where most of the $25,000 prize-money has

been allocated to the later rounds, there would be much to be gained by having the first of those two options. The winner receives $15,000 and the runner-up $5OOO. Semifinal losers get $l5OO and beaten quarter-finalists $5OO each.

The draw (home teams first) is.—

First round — Game 1, Taranaki v. Auckland II; game 2, Auckland I v. Waikato; game 3, Northland v. Bay of Plenty; game 4, Gisborne-East Coast v. Midlands; game 5, Hawke’s Bay v. Canterbury II; game 6, Canterbury I v. Wellington II; game 7, West Coast v. Otago or Southland (to play a preliminary match); game 8, Wellington I v. Manawatu.

Quarter-finals — Game 9, winner game 5 v. winner game 1; game 10, winner game 8 v. winner game 3; game 11, winner game 7 v. winner game 2; game 12, winner game 6 v. winner game 4. Semi-finals — Winner game 9 v. winner game 11; winner game 10 v. winner game 12.