Hornby, Halswell, chase Tusk Cup

Press, 20 September 1985, Page 32

Hornby, Halswell, chase Tusk Cup

By

JOHN COFFEY

Halswell will virtually be assured of a Tusk Cup semifinal position if it beats Upper Hutt (Wellington) in the first round of the national rugby league knock-out tournament at the Show Grounds on Sunday.

The successful side will qualify for a home game against either Kaiti (Gis-borne-East Coast) or Pacific (Midlands) and should advance to a semi-final showdown with the top-ranked Wellington team and perennial cup finalist, Randwick. By then the Kiwis will be in Britain, and either Halswell or Upper Hutt — the only cup entrants from the major leagues riot affected by tour selections — might be able to capitalise on the situation.

The Halswell coach, Mr Kevin Williams, is confident that his men are back in the frame of mind which assisted them to beat Hornby in the Canterbury championship grand final.

‘lt was hard to motivate them between the celebrations in the days after the grand final, but they have trained well this week. I don’t think they have lost anything in fitness or speed,” said Mr Williams.

He is not worried that the match with Upper Hutt will be only the second in the last four weeks — “hopefully the rest last week-end will have freshened the players.”

But Mr Williams was disappointed that Halswell, as Canterbury champion, was denied the right to defend the Thacker Shield because of a local rule. Confidence derived from its defeat of Hornby to earn No. 1 status among Canter-

bury’s two Tusk Cup representatives will carry Halswell a long way towards victory over Upper Hutt. Both clubs have previous cup experience. In 1983 Upper Hutt beat Runanga (West Coast) and Papanui before losing to Randwick in a semi-final. Last September Halswell eliminated Wanganui United before bowing to Randwick. “We were then relying largely on our defence,” said Mr Williams. “This time we intend throwing the ball around, and the players will be instructed that way. I’m sure the great support we had in the grand final will carry over to the cup.” The non-availability of the full-back, Chris White, and the broken ankle suffered by Jeff Whittaker have caused Mr Williams to reshuffle his back-line. Malcolm Humm reverts to White’s position, and Phil Bancroft is to be scrumhalf. The replacements, Neil Sinclair and Gordie Condon, are both very effective outside backs.

Don Swanston, the loose forward who is to spend a second season with the Wakefield Trinity club in Britain, is delaying his departure because of the cup campaign.

Though beaten by Randwick in the Wellington grand final last Sunday, Upper Hutt has a fine reputation as a team with attacking instincts. Much of its patfern revolves around the loose forward, Mike Kuiti, who is likely to oppose Swanston again when he joins Rochdale Hornets in England. The Waipukurau Rams have survived two protests before being confirmed as

the Hawke’s Bay cup contender, and they will meet Hornby at the Hastings Show Grounds on Sunday. Hornby has added Kami Shelford, who recently returned from the Junior Kiwis tour of Australia, to its squad and should overcome what is expected to be an enthusiastic challenge from an opponent accustomed to a lower standard of club football. The Rams are said to have most impact in the back three of their scrum from their Central Districts second-rower, Kelly Makoire, his partner, Roydon Miller, and the experienced loose forward, Neil O’Dowd. Should Hornby succeed, it will have a home draw in the second round against the defending champion, Mt Albert, of Auckland, on September 29. Mt Albert’s four Kiwis will have left for England the previous day. Other first round matches this week-end are:—

Takahiwai (Northland) v. Paiko (Bay of Plenty) at Whangarei; Kaiti (Gisborne-East Coast) v. Pacific (Midlands) at Gisborne; Runanga (West Coast) v. University (Otago) at Greymouth; Randwick (Wellington) v. Wanganui United (Manawatu). The other Auckland team, Manukau, is to play Huntly South (Waikato).